News
Sleep - And You'll Remember
If you're in need to recover some elusive information from your memory database, try with a nap. A recent study found a correlation between sleep and the ability to remember.
Sleep almost doubles the chances of remembering previously forgotten information, scientists found. They believe it makes memories more accessible and sharpens our powers of recall.
Volunteers taking part in a study were asked to remember made-up words they had been told either before a night’s sleep or after 12 hours of wakefulness. The “sleepers” were much better at recalling the words than the participants who had remained awake.
Dr Nicolas Dumay, a psychologist from the University of Exeter, said: “Sleep almost doubles our chances of remembering previously unrecalled material. The post-sleep boost in memory accessibility may indicate that some memories are sharpened overnight. This supports the notion that, while asleep, we actively rehearse information flagged as important".
According to these results, sleep could be cleared of the accusation of being a waste of time, after all.
Sleep almost doubles the chances of remembering previously forgotten information, scientists found. They believe it makes memories more accessible and sharpens our powers of recall.
Volunteers taking part in a study were asked to remember made-up words they had been told either before a night’s sleep or after 12 hours of wakefulness. The “sleepers” were much better at recalling the words than the participants who had remained awake.
Dr Nicolas Dumay, a psychologist from the University of Exeter, said: “Sleep almost doubles our chances of remembering previously unrecalled material. The post-sleep boost in memory accessibility may indicate that some memories are sharpened overnight. This supports the notion that, while asleep, we actively rehearse information flagged as important".
According to these results, sleep could be cleared of the accusation of being a waste of time, after all.