"Sleep spindles"
New research shows that we need at least six hours of sleep a night to enhance learning capabilities. And it is the second half of the night that is important:
"On average, adults spend one-third of their lives sleeping. Yet, no scientific consensus has been reached on why humans need sleep, Walker said. Previous research led by Walker has shown that a good night's rest helps us regulate our moods and cope with emotional challenges, while sleep deprivation can make otherwise reasonable people emotionally shaky, indicating a strong correlation between sleep loss and psychiatric disorders.
"On average, adults spend one-third of their lives sleeping. Yet, no scientific consensus has been reached on why humans need sleep, Walker said. Previous research led by Walker has shown that a good night's rest helps us regulate our moods and cope with emotional challenges, while sleep deprivation can make otherwise reasonable people emotionally shaky, indicating a strong correlation between sleep loss and psychiatric disorders.
For this latest study, Walker and his team took 44 healthy young adults and subjected them to a rigorous memorizing task intended to tax the hippocampus. All participants performed at similar levels. The group was then divided, with one half taking a 90-minute nap while the other half stayed awake.
That evening, the entire group was subjected to another round of learning. The ability to memorize new information deteriorated for those who had remained awake throughout the day. In contrast, those who had napped not only performed better than the waking group, but actually improved their capability for learning, as if sleep had refreshed their memory capacity, the study found."
Read it all at Science Daily.
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