14 DAY TRIAL // Brown University investigators recently presented a new research that provides additional insight into the way the brain uses sleep to affix new knowledge and to learn. The study suggests that particular brain waves that take place exclusively during sleep may play a role in memory consolidation.
Neural oscillations occur in the human brain around the clock, but their amplitude varies according to the actions being undertaken. Similarly, sleep produces different brain wave patterns, including fast-sigma and delta frequencies that apparently play an important role in learning.
In a paper detailing the study, published in the latest issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, the team says that it used magnetic, and electronic encephalography, magnetic resonance imaging and polysomnography to measure brain activity in several study participants, PsychCentral reports.
The group believes that the fast-sigma wavelength may be related to the inner workings of the specific brain region being engaged in the learning process. Similarly, the delta wave may improve communications between different parts of the brain that may be involved in learning something.