November 1, 2002—New experiments by a grantee of the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) and his colleagues at Harvard University add to mounting evidence that sleep—even a nap—appears to enhance information processing and learning.
Their research shows that a midday nap reverses information overload brought about by a day of intensive training.
It also reports a 20 percent overnight improvement in learning a motor skill, which is largely traceable to a late stage of sleep that some early risers might be missing. Overall, their studies suggest that the brain uses a night’s sleep to consolidate the memories of habits, actions, and skills learned during the day.
