The neurologic theory of Consolidation states that things you learn during the day are etched more permanently down in memory at night while you sleep. In other words, sleep plays a major role in learning and memorizing.

New proof of this process comes from researchers out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who recently published their work in the December 18th issue of Nature Neuroscience.

The research basically shows that the hippocampus, which initially records information while awake, rewinds and replays its stored data at night and passes it along to the neocortex while you’re sleeping . The neocortex is thought to be the long-term home of memories, and is also the place where higher order thinking takes place.

So basically, no sleep, no transfer of knowledge to long-term memory.

And if you’re not getting a full 8-10 hours of sleep per night, you’re probably shortchanging your true learning potential.

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