You Snooze, You…Win?

Posted on February 23, 2010 by Lolita Carrico

A new study finds that Spaniards may be onto something with their siestas…because an afternoon nap better prepares the brain to remember things. Likening a nap to rebooting your computer — your brain works more smoothly after a fresh start.

“Sleep is not just for the body. It’s very much for the brain,” said lead researcher Matthew Walker, an assistant professor at the University of California at Berkeley, who studied about 40 young adults and tested their memory.  Half the group napped in the afternoon for about 100 minutes — and they performed 10% better on a memory test the whole group took in the late afternoon.

“This is further evidence that sleep plays a critical role in the processing of memories,” Walker said. “It provides more evidence that it’s not just important to sleep after learning, but you need it before learning to prepare the brain for laying down information.”