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A 45-minute power nap can boost your memory five-fold, study finds

‘A short nap at the office or in school is enough to significantly improve learning success,’ the lead professor said.

Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith
Monday 23 March 2015 17:15 GMT
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Power napping has a positive effect on your memory
Power napping has a positive effect on your memory

At last, nodding off in the office or at school can be justified for its medical benefits, specifically for its positive effect on the memory.

Scientists at the Saarland University in Germany have found that taking a 45 – 60 minute power nap can boost a persons’ memory five-fold.

The study, published in the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, tested the power of napping on 41 students.

The students were taught 90 words and 120 unrelated word pairs, and then split into two groups. One group was allowed to take a nap, while the other was given a DVD to watch.

Both groups were tested on the words they had been taught, with the napping group performing the best.

Professor Axel Mecklinger, who supervised the study, said: “A short nap at the office or in school is enough to significantly improve learning success.

“Wherever people are in a learning environment, we should think seriously about the positive effects of sleep.

“Even a short sleep lasting 45 to 60 minutes produces a five-fold improvement in information retrieval from memory.”

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