The New Scientist explores the ways you can sleep your way to a better brain in Sleep success: How to make ZZZs = memory Ken Paller and his colleagues at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, suggest sounds played as you sleep can reinforce memories.
They asked people to memorise which images and their associated sounds – such as a picture of a cat and a miaow – were associated with a certain area on a computer screen and then to take a nap. They played half the group the sounds in their sleep, and these people were better at remembering the associations than the rest when they woke up.
Paller hopes sounds can be used to improve all kinds of memory and next he’ll be figuring out if we can learn languages while we snooze….. continue reading
A study in the Oct 1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that long-term alcoholism affects sleep even after long periods of abstinence, and the pattern of this effect is similar in both men and women. Results indicate that in long-term alcoholics who had not had a drink for up to 719 days, the percentage of slow wave sleep was significantly lower (6.6 per cent in men, 11.1 per cent in women) than in controls (12.0 per cent in men, 12.1 per cent in women). [continue reading…]
“Where care lodges, sleep will never lie,” says Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet.
Today, millions of Americans can attest to his insight. According to a poll from the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), 27 percent of Americans say personal finances, the economy or unemployment concerns are keeping them awake at night.
“Stress and anxiety can definitely impact sleep,” says Sunil Mathews, M.D., medical director of the Sleep Center at Baylor Medical Center at Irving. “And unfortunately, insomnia can turn into a vicious cycle.” [continue reading…]
The New Scientist explores the ways you can sleep your way to a better brain in Sleep success: How to make ZZZs = memory Ken Paller and his colleagues at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, suggest sounds played as you sleep can reinforce memories.
A study in the Oct 1 issue of the journal 