It's easier to remember things after a good night's sleep

Jul 27, 2015 07:05 GMT  ·  By

A recent report in the science journal Cortex provides fresh insights into how a good night's sleep benefits the brain and especially memory. 

The study, authored by a team of researchers with the University of Exeter and their colleagues at the Basque Centre for Cognition, Brain and Language, argues that, apart from enabling memory formation, sleeping makes it easier to retrieve already stored memories.

Thus, it is said that people are bound to have an easier time remembering bits and pieces of information or even entire events after having had the chance to sleep for a few good hours.

The University of Exeter scientists and fellow researchers think this is because, while we are asleep, the brain goes over stored information, making it easier to access it when waking up.

Documenting how sleeping affects memory

In a series of experiments, the research team had a group of volunteers learn made-up words and then asked them to recall them immediately after having learned them, following a 12-hour period of wakefulness and finally after having slept for a few solid hours.

The study participants were found to be able to remember more of the made-up words after having had the chance to enjoy a good night's rest than after having been awake for an extended period of time.

“Sleep almost doubles our chances of remembering previously unrecalled material,” said University of Exeter scientist Nicolas Dumay. “The post-sleep boost in memory accessibility may indicate that some memories are sharpened overnight,” he added, as cited by Medical Express.

Just one specific brain area might be to thank

Admittedly, further studies into how sleeping correlates with a better working memory are very much needed, especially when it comes to uncovering the brain circuits that are at play.

Still, researcher Nicolas Dumay suspects that the memory boost most people experience after sleeping through the night is due to the hippocampus, a brain region that the scientist believes triggers a replay of the day's events, making it easier to remember them come morning.