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Naps Benefit Memory Performance

Can napping actually assist your factual memory?
A study done by the Center for Sleep and Cognition and the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, authored by Matthew A. Tucker, PhD., found that a 45-minute nap during the daytime (non-REM sleep) benefits a person’s memory performance.
The study included a training session of declarative memory tasks. Declarative memory is the aspect of human memory that stores fact. The participants were trained on these tasks and then took a 45-minute nap. There was also a group of participants who remained awake in the lab during the study.
Following the three different declarative memory tasks, those who napped benefited in memory performance more than the group that had a period of wakefulness. This was only for those subjects, however, who effectively acquired the tasks during the training session.
Having difficulties remembering facts? Try a 45-minute nap during the daytime.
This article is a summary adaptation of the study published in the February 1 issue of SLEEP.
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