Saturday, April 24, 2010

Sleeping, dreaming enhance learning

A new study says those who dream about a recently learned task perform it better upon waking, approving long-held notions that sleeping can boost learning.

According to the study published in Cell Biology, napping after learning something new and remembering to dream about it can improve learning.

"We think that the dreams are a marker that the brain is working on the same problem at many levels. The dreams might reflect the brain's attempt to find associations for the memories that could make them more useful in the future," said lead researcher Robert Stickgold.

Dreaming is a sign showing that unconscious parts of the brain are working hard to process information about a recently learned task, the study found.

During this time, critical elements of the recent experience slowly integrate into the memory networks, enhancing one's ability in performing the task.

Scientists believe their findings would pave the way for the development of new strategies in improving learning and memory.

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