Sleep's Enhancing Effect on Memory

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http://neurosciencenews.com/sleep-memory-7953/

Sleep is good for many things, it helps to rejuvenate energy to the body, clean out dead cells in our brain pathways, and also strengthen memory. When we sleep our brain constantly, and subconsciously, flows over all information of the past day and creates more connections. This is why we have often talked about people going to sleep and then waking up suddenly in the middle of the night with ideas of grandeur and are now remembered as experts in their fields. This includes individuals such as Loewi who awoke suddenly in the night and proved that synaptic transmission is carried out by chemical transmitters.

The article describes the most basic way of testing this point, in which two groups are asked to remember information, in this case the placement of words on a screen, and one group gets to sleep between testing and the other does not. A very simple test with concrete results this shows us that during the testing groups ninety minute nap their brains were actively revisiting the newly created memories and strengthening them in doing so. This is the main reason that it is advised to study for an exam in the days before and to then get ample sleep the night before rather than pulling an all night cram session.

Comments

  1. Joey LamNovember 16, 2017 at 12:10 PM

    Sleep is certainly crucial for improving memory and for the brain to get rid of toxins accumulated throughout the day. The brain cleans out the toxins through the ventricles that act as the waste management system for the brain. A study mentioned in Brain Rules support the finding mentioned in this post. NASA pilots improved their performance with a simple twenty-six minute nap. With that being said, naps should be encouraged when aiming for one's maximum productivity. 3 p.m. is the time where the brain wants a nap. College students should be mindful of this when choosing their classes for each semester because it may affect how they perform on exams. Overall, this post probably benefits college students the most because it gives tips on how sleep can benefit one's memory.

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  2. Kristen AndersonNovember 16, 2017 at 4:04 PM

    I agree with your post. Sleeping well is positively correlated with the ability to think well. Not only is the number of hours of sleep important, the quality of sleep is important also. Sleep helps the brain to “enhance tasks that involve visual texture discrimination, motor adaptions, and motor sequence learning.” (Medina, p.50) I have noticed that I am more alert and self-motivated when I receive sufficient amount of sleep.

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  3. Lady SNovember 16, 2017 at 5:16 PM

    I agree with your posting. Sleep is a vital part of life. Without sleep, the body is unable to function in which we as humans are unable to live. And after several days the body breaks down and could cause death. So sleep is very important.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownNovember 16, 2017 at 7:19 PM

    Many college students underestimate the power of sleep. If we continue to miss sleep we would have a hard time remembering things. During sleep the brain needs to take time to clean itself or else there will be continuous plaque build up and things would start to be foggy for us.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousNovember 16, 2017 at 11:38 PM

    Memory, a type of cognitive performance, is an individual’s ability to adequately obtain information that was previously acquired and stored via our mental processes. In order to do so, the brain must rest and regenerate with a process called sleep. The lack of sleep, or sleep deprivation, can lead to many side effects that can be life-altering. That being said, many researchers began to study the amount of sleep one needs in order to reach his/her full potential in cognitive performance. Researchers are also attempting to prove how the lack of sleep has a direct correlation with a decline in cognitive performance. And according to research, working memory is heavily affected by the lack of sleep, as well as recognition and recall of content, accuracy on task-oriented processes, and impulsive decision making.
    Additionally, if i recall correctly, within the Brain Rules book, a term named 'sleep debt' also affected memory.
    Sleep debt is the cumulative effect of not getting enough sleep. Sleep affects things that aid the ability to remember, like attention, focus, and executive function. Also, sleep takes a toll on the body, which in turn, will negatively impact the mind.

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  6. Adam MyersNovember 17, 2017 at 6:58 AM

    I have very poor sleep habits so this is quite relevant to me. I'm constantly pulling all-nighters and I'm sure that my memory and cognitive ability have suffered because of it. However, it is still good to know the information you shared even if you willingly ignore it, but I think I should focus on fixing several other bad habits before I attempt to tackle my sleep issues.

    ReplyDelete

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