Daytime naps, rewards help cement memory, boost learning

A new study reveals that a daytime nap can boost the consolidation of learning that is linked to rewards. Using brain imaging, researchers found that sleep appears to increase links between three areas of the brain that are important for cementing memory and processing reward. The team, from the University of Geneva in Switzerland, reports the findings in the journal eLife.
The authors suggest that receiving rewards as we learn can help reinforce new information in memory, and daytime naps boost this effect.
Lead author Kinga Igloi, a postdoctoral researcher from the Department of Neuroscience, says:
"We already knew that sleep helps strengthens memories, but we now also know that it helps us select and retain those that have a rewarding value."
She explains that it makes "adaptive sense" to consolidate memory in a way that prioritizes information that is important for our success and survival.
For the study, the team recruited 31 healthy volunteers and randomly assigned them to either a "sleep" group or a "wake" group. Both groups were invited to look at and remember eight pairs of pictures.
They were also told that for four of the eight pairs of pictures, there would be a higher reward for remembering them. When the learning phase was finished, both groups had a 90-minute break. The sleep group had a daytime nap during the break, while the wake group just rested. After the break, both groups were tested on their memory of the picture pairs and were also invited to score how confident they felt about giving a correct answer.
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Then, after 3 months, there was a surprise test where both groups were again asked to remember the picture pairs and give their confidence score.
On recruiting the volunteers, the researchers had established that they all had the same sensitivity to reward, so they could rule this out as a possible influencer in the results.
The results of the memory tests conducted after the 90-minute break showed that overall, the sleep group performed better. But in the case of the more highly rewarded picture pairs, both groups performed equally as well in the memory tests.
However, there was a striking difference in the surprise test 3 months later - the sleep group showed better memory performance for the more highly rewarded picture pairs than the wake group.
Medical News Today

 

Daytime naps, rewards help cement memory, boost learning

A new study reveals that a daytime nap can boost the consolidation of learning that is linked to rewards. Using brain imaging, researchers found that sleep appears to increase links between three areas of the brain that are important for cementing memory and processing reward. The team, from the University of Geneva in Switzerland, reports the findings in the journal eLife. The authors suggest that receiving rewards as we learn can help reinforce new information in memory, and daytime naps boost this effect. Lead author Kinga Igloi, a postdoctoral researcher from the Department of Neuroscience, says: We already knew that sleep helps strengthens memories, but we now also know that it helps us select and retain those that have a rewarding value. She explains that it makes adaptive sense to consolidate memory in a way that prioritizes information that is important for our success and survival. For the study, the team recruited 31 healthy volunteers and randomly assigned them to either a sleep group or a wake group. Both groups were invited to look at and remember eight pairs of pictures. They were also told that for four of the eight pairs of pictures, there would be a higher reward for remembering them. When the learning phase was finished, both groups had a 90-minute break. The sleep group had a daytime nap during the break, while the wake group just rested. After the break, both groups were tested on their memory of the picture pairs and were also invited to score how confident they felt about giving a correct answer. Medical News Today Then, after 3 months, there was a surprise test where both groups were again asked to remember the picture pairs and give their confidence score. On recruiting the volunteers, the researchers had established that they all had the same sensitivity to reward, so they could rule this out as a possible influencer in the results. The results of the memory tests conducted after the 90-minute break showed that overall, the sleep group performed better. But in the case of the more highly rewarded picture pairs, both groups performed equally as well in the memory tests. However, there was a striking difference in the surprise test 3 months later - the sleep group showed better memory performance for the more highly rewarded picture pairs than the wake group. Medical News Today