Sleep: Nature’s Study Aid

Get some sleep instead of pulling an all-nighter to buy extra time to cram for a vocabulary exam. A new study found that sleeping after a study session dramatically helps with the recall of new words. This approach can help prospective students improve their performance on the make-or-break tests like the SAT, ACT or GRE.

Two groups of study participants learned a series of new words phonologically similar to familiar words. Both groups were tested after the initial study session. The session occurred in the evening for half of the subjects; the others studied in the morning.

Volunteers who studied in the evening slept before taking a follow-up test in the morning. The people who studied in the morning had to take the second test later in the evening, and were not permitted to sleep.

Results indicate the participants remembered more words when they slept before the follow-up exam. Brain activity data suggests sleep spindles during deep sleep helped the volunteers retain the new words.

In a statement to the media, one of the authors suggested sleep plays an important role in the reorganization of new memories.

Regular may notice studies these findings are in line with several recent studies involving sleep and memory. One noted study involved word association problems commonly found in the SAT. The research concluded that long naps with REM sleep led to higher test scores than short naps or waking rest periods.

Another article published in April reported that naps helped a group of study participants learn the correct path through a complex maze.

The message is clear: sleep on your academic success and shun the caffeine and cram sessions.

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Infant study: Sleeping babies capable of learning

A study released today reveals infants are capable of making real-world associations while they’re deep in dreamland.

Researchers at Columbia University repeatedly played a tone while blowing a puff of air into 26 sleeping infants’ eyelids. Each time the babies would scrunch their faces in response.

Eventually the puffs of air stopped, and the tone continued. A video camera that recorded their facial expressions shows almost a Pavlovian response. Nearly all of the infants scrunched their faces as if they were bracing for another air burst.

Electroencephalogram readings show there were fluctuations in brain wave activity with each tone. The authors of the study believe this is evidence that the infants learned to associate the tone and air puffs.

Babies who were not exposed to the air bursts had no reaction to the tones.

This type of learning is controlled by the cerebellum, the section of the brain that connects sensory input and muscular response.

Because of the limitation of the study scientists still don’t know if adults are able to make the same type of associations in their sleep.

In April, we learned that dreams can help the adult brain learn complex tasks, like navigating a 3-D maze. You can read the entire article here at the Sleepeducation blog.

On a side note, the authors say the techniques they used in the sleeping infant study may lead to the discovery of a test for certain developmental disorders. The non-invasive test would hopefully identify infants who are at risk for developmental disorders don’t show up until later in life.

Image by Badruddeen

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Learning in your sleep, dreaming with a purpose

A new study is shedding light on one of sleeps biggest mysteries: why we dream. While it’s been known for some time that dreaming helps memory function, findings published Thursday in Current Biology indicate we continue to learn as we dream.

Subjects in the study spent an hour navigating navigated a complex 3D maze and then took a 90 minute break.

Half the volunteers napped during that period, while the others stayed awake.

When the break ended participants were asked to solve the same maze as quickly as possible.

Those who stayed awake the entire time had a drop in performance compared to previously. The nappers who did not dream only modestly improved.

The four people who reported dreaming about the maze turned in an impressive performance, completing it in half their previous time. Matched up against the group that didn’t nap, the dreamers’ scores were 10 times better.

Find out the details of their dream in this New York Times article.

CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains the physiological processes of learning while dreaming in the video below.

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Sleep, Performance & Mental Practice

A new study examined how sleep enhances physical performance following mental practice. The results were published Dec. 1 in the journal Sleep.

The French study involved 32 healthy volunteers. They were between the ages of 20 and 35 years.

The volunteers were trained to perform a computerized finger-tapping task. First they memorized a sequence of eight finger movements.

Then they repeatedly tapped the sequence on a computer keyboard during 30-second periods. The goal was to be as fast and accurate as possible.

The authors reported that previous studies have used this task to show delayed gains in performance after a night of sleep. As a result some researchers recommend that physical practice should be followed by sleep to enhance a newly learned motor skill.

For this study some volunteers physically practiced the finger sequence. Others practiced it using motor imagery, a form of mental practice.

These participants only simulated the action in their mind. They perceived the sensations of how it feels to perform the action. But they didn’t practice the actual finger movements.

Performance was tested right after the 8 p.m. training session. It was retested at 8 a.m. after practice and an eight-hour night of sleep.

As a control, one group was tested after motor imagery practice and no sleep. They were trained at 8 a.m. and retested the same day at 8 p.m.

Results show “offline gains” in performance after a night of sleep for both practice groups. Their speed and accuracy improved. In contrast, the “no sleep” group was slower and made more errors during the retest session.

The results indicate that sleep contributes to the consolidation of motor learning acquired through motor imagery. They also support the principle of “functional equivalence” between mental practice and physical practice.

The authors suggest that motor imagery practice could be included during physical therapy and rehabilitation. For the maximum benefit this practice should be performed before a period of sleep.

Last month the Sleep Education Blog reported that sleep can improve skills that have been learned through observation. Learn more about sleep and memory.

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Sleep & Observational Learning

Sleep enhances the performance of motor skills that have been learned through physical practice. Can it also improve skills that have been learned through observation?

A new study involved 64 healthy people. They were shown a video of a hand performing a finger-tapping task, reports the LA Times.

They were only allowed to watch; they couldn’t practice the movements. EMG monitoring verified the absence of hand muscle movements during observation.

Some participants slept right after the observation period; others slept after a delay of more than 12 hours. Then they were asked to perform the finger-tapping task.

Results show that immediate sleep is necessary for the enhancement of a motor skill through prior observation. There was no performance benefit when sleep occurred more than 12 hours after observation.

Sleeping right after observation improved performance speed by 22 percent; it also reduced the error rate by 42 percent.

The authors conclude that people can transfer observational learning into physical movements without practice. But an “early sleep window” is required to consolidate the procedural memory.

They suggest that this learning method could help athletes or children master new motor skills. It also could help people who have to relearn skills after a stroke or injury.

Image by Bernardo Borghetti

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