The study even suggested that a sleep of 45 to 60 minutes could produce a five-fold improvement in information retrieval.
During the study, the researchers split some participants in two different groups. The groups were a nap group and a control group. When the control group watched DVDs, the nap group slept. The study found that the participants in the nap group performed better than the control group while remembering word pairs during a performance test.
According to the researchers, they studied the role of the hippocampus. It is the region of the brain where memories are consolidated. Researcher Sara Studte said in a news release, “We examined a particular type of brain activity, known as ‘sleep spindles’ that plays an important role in memory consolidation during sleep”.
A sleep spindle is a short burst of rapid oscillations in the electroencephalogram (EEG). Axel Mecklinger, professor at Saarland University and supervisor of the study, said that people should consider positive effects of sleep.
Mecklinger further said that it is important for students to have a good rest before they go on to take exam periods.
Return to News Home
