Sleep plays a valuable role in helping people learn a variety of tasks for the first time and also remember what they have learned in the past, according to new research.
A study conducted at the University of Chicago found that college students were able to learn new information more effectively and retain that information better after they had a full nights sleep.
Subjects were trained to play a game, then were tested at three different times immediately after learning, at the end of the day and the next morning.
Although their performance fell in the late afternoon, they regained the accuracy they had lost after they had slept.
Howard Nusbaum, professor of psychology at the university and a researcher in the study, suggested that experiences throughout the day could interfere with learning and retention.
He said that sleep consolidated learning by restoring the memory of what was lost during the day.
“These findings suggest that sleep has an important role in learning generalized skills in stabilizing and protecting memory,” Nusbaum explained.
Some people who suffer from insomnia find that herbal supplements help ease their symptoms and receive a good nights sleep.