Here's something so simple that you can do it while you sleep: did you know that sleep may be crucial for forming long-term memory?
In a study published in the June 2011 issue of Science,
University of Washington researchers worked with a special breed of
fruit flies that could be induced to sleep on demand. Following a period
of training, flies who then underwent 4 hours of induced sleep formed
long-term memories of that training. Note that training alone was not enough to trigger memory consolidation—sleep was a necessary component. Flies who trained but did not sleep did not form long-term memories.
The
University of Washington study makes fascinating observations about
sleep's power to cause memory formation. But if you're wondering how
much we can learn from fruits flies, then rest assured that many human
studies also show that sleep improves memory and performance. Proper
sleep is easy to incorporate into your lifestyle: consider getting a
good night's rest after you've studied for a test, experienced a
particularly cherished event, or learned a new name in Familiar Faces. Sleep may help these novel experiences stick with you.
Not only may sleep help your memory, but lack of sleep may also hurt your health. A 2010 study from Biological Psychiatry found that chronic insomnia may lead to loss of brain volume.
Researchers used fMRI scans to examine the brains of 37 human subjects
with and without chronic insomnia. Insomniacs had a smaller volumes of
gray matter in three brain areas—and the more serious the insomnia, the
greater the loss of volume. And a preliminary 2012 study from the
Washington University School of Medicine found that poor sleep may be linked to brain plaques found in people with Alzheimer's.
Various studies
make a good case for getting a good night's sleep whenever you can. But
remember that while sleep may be beneficial, it's only part of the
puzzle. Apart from nighttime memory consolidation, you can also work on
improving your memory abilities by playing games such as Rotation Matrix. Or use both a good night's rest and a dose of Spatial Speed Match to stay alert during the day! Train now to get started.(courtesy of lumosity blog)
