By: Bella Solari Have you ever stayed up for hours cramming the night before a big test? Chances are the answer to that question is yes. Naturally, we assume that the best way to ensure a good grade on an upcoming test is to excessively study the material, especially the night before the test. This often means that we sacrifice precious and valuable hours of sleep in order to study. It seems as though we've all been there— desperately wanting to go to sleep, but ruling it out as option due to the copious amount of studying you need to do. Well, turns out going to bed after a solid study session is an option— and probably the best one.
In a recent study at the University of Lübeck in Germany, researchers confirmed that sleep improves the consolidation of memory for recently encoded information. In the study, 24 volunteers were asked to memorize the locations of 15 pairs of cards with pictures of everyday items and animals. They were allotted studying time, during which an unpleasant odor was presented. This odor was transmitted to act as an associational cue, meaning that it would hopefully trigger the volunteers' memories when presented prior to the test on the material. The volunteers were asked to learn a slightly different set of cards forty minutes later, with the purpose of the second session to act as a disruptor of the original learning. The subjects were given a break in between the two memorization sessions. During this break, half of the volunteer group took a nap while the other half stayed awake. During the last 20 minutes of of the break, both the napping group and the group that remained awake were again exposed to the unpleasant odor. After both memorization sessions occurred, the subjects were presented with a test on the two card sets. The research team reported that the group that slept had an average accuracy rate of 85% on the test, while the group that remained awake had a 60% accuracy rate on the test. The odor cue did help to reactivate memory in wakefulness and sleep, but the combination of the odor cue assisting in memory association and the memorization processes that occur during sleep ultimately made the group that napped more successful in remembering the locations of the cards. Temporary memories, such as the first set of cards, have a chance of being destroyed by new mental activity, such as the second set of cards, when recalled. However, memorization processes that occur during sleep made the original memorized set more resistant to interference and disruption. Thus, making the group that slept more successful in their testing. When the second interfering task occurred (when the second set of cards were presented), most of the original learning from the first set of cards was already encoded in the brain during the nap. In addition, brain imaging was performed by researchers that showed that the group that slept had basically completed a shift in brain activity from the hippocampus, which is the temporary processing area, to storage area in the cortex. This study gives us insight into the effect that sleep has on memory, and illustrates how sleep is a significant way to encode memories. Personally, I often find myself staying up all night prior to a big test to try to memorize all of the material. I usually end up only sleeping a couple of hours. This study has demonstrated how detrimental sleep is to brain functions, and the positive impact it can have on encoding memories. After reading about the benefits of choosing to go to sleep after a study session, as opposed to continuously studying for hours on end, I definitely feel more inclined to study for an hour or two the night before a big test and then get a good night's sleep. Sleep is essential for proper brain function, and plays a large role in encoding memories. Although many students think that continuous studying the night prior is the best way to acquire the knowledge on an upcoming test, the next time you find yourself feeling overwhelmed with testing material, I urge you to think of this study and the benefits of having a solid, terse study session and then putting the pencil down and going to bed. Links: Pictures- https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/10/18/236211811/brains-sweep-themselves-clean-of-toxins-during-sleep http://www.sleepreviewmag.com/2017/01/when-youre-drowsy-is-your-brain-partly-asleep-2/ Article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/memory-medic/201103/how-sleep-helps-memory Citation: How Sleep Helps Memory. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/memory-medic/201103/how-sleep-helps-memory
3 Comments
Hannah Swift
12/11/2018 01:47:11 pm
This study should definatly be more widely spread! If kids knew how much of an impact sleep has on their memory, people would definatly try to make a change. The experiment is really interesting, although I wonder if the same results would occur if the odor wasn't presented - how much does it influence the experiment? Next time, I will make sure to sleep well before a stressful day!
Reply
Lindsey S
12/12/2018 06:38:08 pm
This article was really eye-opening for me because just like you, I usually stay up super late to learn all of the information before tests. I had no idea that sleep had such a huge impact on encoding memories. I will definitely consider just going to bed earlier after a solid studying session!
Reply
Anna W
12/16/2018 10:29:49 am
This article really gives us an understanding on the importance of sleep and how it can't completely overrule studying. I will definitely remember this the next time I feel overwhelmed with studying for a test. This really put things into perspective!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Ms. Carrigan's Psych ClassWe have been reading articles about psychological studies to inform the way we live our lives. Please explore, and we hope you learn a bit about the psychology in your life! Categories
All
Archives
November 2019
|