Help Your Memory, Take an Afternoon Siesta!

Filed in archive Cases , Studies by Gloria Gamat on January 11, 2008
http://www.straightfromthedoc.com/50...oon_siesta.php

Do you take a nap everyday? I do, though not everyday. Say 2-3 times a week.

Since I am a night owl, I can't sleep before 1 AM. Thus, an afternoon nap is really beneficial to me.

Not only is a daytime nap beneficial to your tiredness, it actually can help speed up the process of long term memory consolidation.

At least a ninety minute daytime nap, according to University of Haifa researchers:

Long term memory is defined as a permanent memory that doesn't disappear or that disappears after many years. This part of our memory is divided into two types - memories of "what" (for example: what happened yesterday or what one remembers from an article one read yesterday) and memories of "how to" (for example: how to read Hebrew, how to drive, play basketball or play the piano).

In this new research, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Haifa in cooperation with the Sleep Laboratory at the Sheba Medical Center and researchers from the Department of Psychology at the University of Montreal, it was revealed that a daytime nap changes the course of consolidation in the brain.

Well, I only know that a daytime nap is recharging. But if there are more benefits (like the one stated above), I can't see any reason why we should prevent ourselves by taking a nap daily?

However, if you are on the 8-5 job, napping may pose a problem. But if you work at home like me, nobody is going to fire me if I am caught napping.

Find more details from University of Haifa.