Daytime naps improve procedural motor memory.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND

AND PURPOSE:
To investigate the impact of a short daytime nap on procedural and declarative memory consolidation.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:
Following a normal night's sleep, 34 young healthy subjects were randomly assigned to a nap or wake condition of about 45min in the early afternoon after learning procedural and declarative memory tasks. Subjects were controlled for alertness and cortisol secretion.

RESULTS:
The afternoon naps were dominated by sleep stage 2 but contained some slow wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep as well. Naps significantly improved procedural, but not declarative, memory. Females showed more improvement than males in the declarative memory tasks irrespective of nap or wake. There was no difference between groups with respect to cortisol secretion or alertness.

CONCLUSIONS:
A short nap is favorable for consolidation of procedural memory. The possibly confounding effect of gender should always be considered in research on sleep and memory.

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Author information

Author/s: Backhaus, Jutta (J); Junghanns, Klaus (K);

Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Luebeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany. jutta.backhaus(-atsign-)psychiatrie.uk-sh.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Sleep medicine (Sleep Med), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Sep; vol 7 (issue 6) : pp 508-12

Dates: Created 2006/09/05; Completed 2007/01/10;

PMID: 16931152, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Circadian Rhythm - physiology
Female
Humans
Hydrocortisone - analysis
Male

Male
Memory - physiology
Middle Aged
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Saliva - chemistry
Sleep - physiology

Associated Chemicals: Hydrocortisone (50-23-7)

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