"Not only do we need to remember to sleep, but most certainly we sleep to remember,"
- says Dr. William Fishbein
After a long workday, our bodies need sound sleep at night to reset and stabilize the brain. The brain performs thousands of activities during the day, and a 6-8 hour sleep puts it again into the best working condition for the following day. Not getting this mandatory night brain rest, will make it harder to remember and concentrate on anything.
Research on Sleep & Memory
A study conducted amongst children suggests that when kids take naps between learning lessons and testing them in real life, they are very likely to perform better. It helps the process of brain growth (called neuroplasticity) that controls the brain's capacity to control the behavior of learning and memory. So, sleeping well is very much associated with the brain's memory improvement.
Most of the studies conducted to see connections between sleep and memory improvement discovered more or less the same results…
Sleep is crucial in every type of memory work:
➤ Retrieving information based on facts
➤ Remembering of events episodes
➤ Reflecting on life events & experiences
➤ Sequences of events
➤ Etc.
Why do you think most people study at night?
It’s not procrastination. Okay, well, it might be in some cases.
When we ‘sleep on’ information we tend to increase our chances of retaining long term memory.
Research shows that ‘tired’ brains of subjects have far more difficulty in learning and absorbing any kind of information. Additionally, lack of sleep also contributes to people having negative feelings that are often associated with forgetting important information.
In order to improve your memory, you have to understand how sleep deprivation may be affecting your brain functions. If you go with the natural rhythm of the body and the brain’s waking and sleeping time, you are very likely to improve your memory capacity.
Although, there are times when you want to give your brain over time, keep in mind that this isn’t the best idea. You’ll only end up wasting your time and not remembering anything later on.