Rehearsing Before Bed Improves Recall Next Day

Several recent studies suggest that you learn better and can improve at problem solving with the right sleep.  Enhanced learning has been reported for a full night’s sleep and  strategically timed naps. We have covered these in the Next Brain Blog, for example:

Light Sleep Enough to Integrate New Memories

A Sleeping Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Not All Naps Have Brain Boosting Effects

Now new research from University of Notre Dame looks at the effect of sleep on two different types of memories – episodic or memories for events and semantic or memories of facts about the world. They found:

“Since we found that sleeping soon after learning benefited both types of memory, this means that it would be a good thing to rehearse any information you need to remember just prior to going to bed. In some sense, you may be ‘telling’ the sleeping brain what to consolidate.”

This idea should be easy to test.  I am interested to hear from readers that use this technique or any  before-you-sleep method to improve brain function and cognitive performance.