Not All Naps Have Brain Boosting Effects

Taking naps has been a hot topic for improving learning, memory and mental alertness for sometime.  We have covered it several times in the Next Brain Blog. However, it does not always work. Turns out there is a knack to getting the brain boosting effects from napping. Psychology Today has an excellent article, Ultimate Napping: A How-To Guide, that provides specific guidelines.  Some examples:

• For younger nappers 10-20 minutes is ideal. Sleeping longer will leave you groggy not mentally alert.
• Pick your time, place and be sure to have sleeping gear – pillow,  blanket and teddy bear.
• Drinking a caffeinated beverage right before you nap is a great way to wake up fully alert .
• Don’t stress if you don’t fully fall asleep. Just resting can rejuvenate.

Most of the suggestion fit my personal experience well. I have used napping for years.  This illustrates that the techniques we use to improve brain function and cognitive performance are often very simple, but applying them effectively can be a bit tricky.

Very interested to hear from readers about specific napping tricks-of-trade that improve cognitive performance.