Study Reveals How A Short Daytime Nap Improves Learning Ability

Sleep is a crucial part of one’s wellbeing – and there is no questioning this fact. Sleep impacts how our body functions overall. We often associate daytime naps with obesity and metabolic disorders. But did you know that a short nap in the day can be beneficial as well? As per a new study, short daytime naps can improve one’s ability to learn. If you are interested in knowing more about this study, then this article is just for you.

To get an expert view on this, we reached out to Dr Shrey Srivastav, Senior Consultant-Internal Medicine, Sharda Hospital, Greater Noida. Read on.

What Is The New Study On Daytime Nap About?

A new study discovered that even a short nap in the afternoon relaxes the tired brain and boosts its learning ability thereafter. The nap time, as mentioned in the study, needed for the brain to recover was 45 minutes. This finding was stated in a paper published in the Journal of Neuroimaging. It was conducted by researchers at the University of Freiburg in Germany. The study noted that the way brain cells connect during a daytime nap changes, which makes it easier to accept and store new information afterwards.

We are aware that the brain recovers during sleep. But the study added that the brain can recover by taking a short nap in the daytime even if our nighttime sleep has been poor. The researchers further added the experiment was conducted with 20 young adults. Brain waves were measured in this experiment. The subjects showed better learning capabilities even if they slept only for 45 minutes.

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Benefits And Risks Of Daytime Naps

On this note, Dr Srivastav shares the pros and cons of daytime naps.

Benefits of daytime naps:

• Daytime napping can have positive effects on human alertness, mood, memory, and learning.
• It alleviates fatigue, reduces stress, and increases productivity.
• Short napping periods are said to have positive effects on cardiovascular health, emotions, and reaction time, especially in sleep-deprived people with a high demand for work or school schedules.

Risks of daytime naps:

• Negative side effects of daytime sleep include: 
• Sleep inertia.
• Disruption of the quality of nighttime sleep.
• Incapability of falling asleep.
• Insomnia.
• Longer and later naps have the negative side effect of reducing physical activity. 

“Daytime naps can disrupt the circadian rhythm. This can be exemplified as daytime grogginess – hampering productivity and causing social schedule conflict, or the energy one enjoys during the day,” shares the expert. 

Tips To Get Good Quality Sleep

As per CDC, quality sleep refers to uninterrupted and refreshing sleep. Getting quality sleep is not just about the hours of sleep you get, it is also about how well you sleep. On this note, let us take a look at certain habits that can improve your sleep quality:

• Go to bed and get up at the same time daily.
• Keep your bedroom environment calm, relaxing, and at a cool temperature.
• Turn off electronic devices at least 30 minutes before bedtime.
• Avoid large meals and alcohol before bedtime.
• Avoid caffeine in the afternoon or evening.
• Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet.

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The Final Word

A new study noted that even a short daytime nap relaxes the tired brain and boosts its learning ability. The nap time needed for the brain to recover was 45 minutes. This finding was published in the Journal of Neuroimaging, and was conducted by researchers at the University of Freiburg in Germany.