This article reveals what modern neuroscience has learned about sleep as it applies to learning and memory. I believe this information can be of great benefit not only to students looking to improve their study skills, but to anyone interested in improving their memory and learning potential.

Most of us think of sleep as a time of rest … a time when the brain
settles down, relaxes, and becomes quiet. After a busy day of attending classes, talking with friends, studying, and stressing out, the brain finally gets to shut down and take a break from it all. Sounds logical, right? Well, that’s not quite what happens. Actually, when you’re asleep, your brain is continuing to learn the material you’ve been exposed to during the day.

You Sleep, But Your Brain Works

Dozens of intriguing studies over the past several years show clearly
that your brain is active—very active—during sleep. (Reference 1-7) It’s busy doing something miraculous, something that we can’t even come close to explaining.

Basically, your brain goes on automatic pilot. Without your being aware of it, something inside your head comes alive and starts mulling over all the things you learned that day. It sorts through them, organizes them, considers them, calculates them, decides what’s important and what’s not.

From all the information that your brain soaked up during the day, it derives meaning. It works through unsolved problems and somehow comes up with answers. Its powers, however, extend even farther than that. A spooky awareness speeds through neural circuits. As it does so, it changes the physical structure of brain cells so that specific pieces of knowledge are etched more permanently in memory. In the neurologic literature, these miraculous processes are referred to as consolidation.

What your brain is doing, without any conscious effort on your part, includes:

• reviewing,
• sorting,
• organizing,
• prioritizing,
• problem solving, and
• memorizing.

All this is happening while you sleep! As you can see, effortless sleep-learning is not only possible, it is a reality.

The amazing truth is that learning continues after the actual studying is done. In fact, research indicates the maximum benefit of all your hard hours of studying comes about only after a good night’s sleep.

Furthermore, even though you may have stopped studying, knowledge and skills continue to improve over several nights of sleep. Although sleep on the first night following training offers the most dramatic benefit, subsequent nights of sleep continue to provide smaller, less pronounced gains.(Reference 2)

Consolidation and Physical Skills

Athletes, pianists, surgeons, and video game addicts take note: This process applies to learning not just information but motor skills as well. One recent study showed that sleep after practice enhanced the speed of skilled motor performance by 33.5 percent on average and reduced the error rate by 30 percent, as compared with corresponding intervals of wakefulness.(Reference 7)

To extend this concept just a little bit further: Amazingly, learning does not stop when practicing and studying end. It turns out that performance and learning improvement occur not only during sleep but also during periods of wakefulness. (Reference 2,7) After you finish reading a chapter, your brain goes to work on that information over the next few hours, slowly learning and consolidating it. This subconscious processing of learning information is above and beyond what you did consciously during your actual study session.

An everyday example of this subconscious processing is the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. Try as you might, when asked, to remember the name of a movie, store, or restaurant, you may find that you can’t. But several minutes or even hours later, it may come to you like a flash of lighting out of the blue. Why? Without your conscious knowledge, that spooky awareness we talked about earlier spreads through your neural networks, searching for the answer. When your brain finally finds the item you were seeking, it tosses it back up for your conscious mind to grasp. Imagine what happens when you throw a stone into a pond: The effect of the stone upon the water does not cease at impact. Long after the rock hits the water, waveforms slowly ripple out toward the periphery. So it is with the mind. When you ask something of it, the neural reverberations of the question (the “rock”) persist long after the question is asked.

Key Findings of Consolidation Research

So what, in brief, do we know about how the brain consolidates information?

• Development of procedural/motor skills does not stop when practice ends but continues over hours.
• Development of memory does not stop when studying ends but continues over hours.
• Neural activities during sleep contribute significantly to the formation of different types of memories and skills.
• For a given period of sleep vs. one of wakefulness, consolidation will be greater with sleep.
• The first nightly sleep period after practicing or studying is extremely important for starting consolidation of the skill or memory. Going without this initial first night of sleep will have a very negative effect on the consolidation of that particular skill or memory.

Making the Most of Sleep Learning (consolidation)

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Why is it that the majority of highly talented kids never go on to become eminent adults in their field of giftedness?

Came across an interesting article on the Northwestern University website that discusses some of the personality characteristics of those who do actually go on to become eminent adults; here is a summary:

• Preference for solitude which typically begins in childhood
• Lack of concern with conventionality, especially social conventions
• Extraordinary ability to cope with tension. History of stressful
  childhoods with tense and even traumatizing family situations
• High drive and energy. Workaholics. Many forego marriage, children and other normal joys of life because they fear it will detract from their dedication to their work

Another interesting factor mentioned in the article, which I’ve heard before, is that many eminent individuals lost a parent in childhood or adolescence.

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Can college students pull an ‘All-Nighter’—staying up the entire night to cram for a test—and have their brains function close to normal the next day? The majority, of course, think so …

But several studies clearly show brain function takes a big hit after an all-nighter. Memory systems and frontal lobe function especially suffer. [References 2-6 below]

Take a look at the title of this article published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine [Reference 1 below]:

Moderate Sleep Deprivation Produces Impairments in Cognitive and Motor Performance Equivalent to Legally Prescribed Levels of Alcohol Intoxication

According to the article, after 19+ hours without sleep, performance on cognitive tests reached levels equivalent to those associated with a BAC (blood alcohol concentration) of 0.1 percent. In the majority of states, a BAC of 0.08 percent is grounds for a DUI—an arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol! This means that if you pull an all-nighter, you don’t have enough brain function to legally drive a car.

As mentioned above, memory systems and frontal lobe function markedly suffer after an all-nighter. The functions of memory systems are obvious, but what do the frontal lobes do? They are brain regions important for:

• Verbal fluency (how well you speak, read, write, and understand)
• Creativity (how original, imaginative, and resourceful you are)
• Executive function (planning skills and problem solving skills

Frontal lobe function is therefore particularly important for:

• Exams in math, physics, chemistry, or economics, or in any other test that requires not only recall of information but application of recalled knowledge to new situations and problem solving
• Oral presentations, debates
• Essay tests in literature, history, social sciences, art

Frontal lobe function is less important in these:

• Multiple-choice tests that emphasize rote memorization
• Short answer tests that don’t involve much problem solving; that is, plain recall

However, it is worth repeating that after an all-nighter, all types of memory recall will be impaired regardless of the type of test you take.

ADDENDUM: If you’re a medical student or medical resident still suffering through crazy call schedules, you may want to print out the articles below and take them to the dean of your medical school or head of your residency program and tell them to stop being such hypocrites.

References:

1. Williamson AM, Feyer AM. Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication. Occup Environ Med. Oct 2000;57(10):649-655.
2. Jones K, Harrison Y. Frontal lobe function, sleep loss and fragmented sleep. Sleep Med Rev. Dec 2001;5(6):463-475.
3. Kim DJ, Lee HP, Kim MS, et al. The effect of total sleep deprivation on cognitive functions in normal adult male subjects. Int J Neurosci. Jul 2001;109(1-2):127-137.
4. Halbach MM, Spann CO, Egan G. Effect of sleep deprivation on medical resident and student cognitive function: A prospective study. Am J Obstet Gynecol. May 2003;188(5):1198-1201.
5. Forest G, Godbout R. Effects of sleep deprivation on performance and EEG spectral analysis in young adults. Brain Cogn. Jun-Aug 2000;43(1-3):195-200.
6. Dahl RE. The impact of inadequate sleep on children’s daytime cognitive function. Semin Pediatr Neurol. Mar 1996;3(1):44-50.

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One of the greatest misunderstandings people have about the brain is their belief in “free energy”.

Hundreds of millions of students and workers all over the world consume drinks and pills in the hopes of magically relieving fatigue and boosting their energy levels without suffering any downside. Hence the popularity of Red Bull, Monster, Mountain Dew, Coke, Pepsi, energy pills, caffeine pills, amphetamines, cocaine, and of course coffee.

I’m a firm believer that when it comes to brain circuitry and energy metabolism, Newton’s Third Law still holds: Every action has an equal an opposite reaction.

Based on my years of studying the brain and expertise as a neurologist, I am deeply convinced that, on a fundamental level, the consequences of a chemical energizer are twofold:

• As high up as the drug brings you, you will afterwards sink to an equally commensurate low
• Pushing neural circuits into overdrive stresses the hardware, and leads to cumulative wear-and-tear type brain damage

In life, there are always tradeoffs, and everything has a benefit and a risk. Surely, there are times when it is worthwhile to consume a chemical energizer. The important point is to realize there is a downside to taking it, and therefore only use the minimal amount needed to get the job done.

Taking a large dose initially doesn’t mean the beneficial effect will last longer. It just means your handgun gun just magically became a nuclear bunker buster.

Back in college, I never thought twice about downing an oversize vanilla cappuccino to help get in the studying mood. In actuality, all that was probably needed was a few sips at the start and maybe another couple sips an hour or two later.

Just because Monster Energy shoves 16 ounces of caffeinated sugar into a can doesn’t mean you need to drink all of it.

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Sometimes, a picture really is worth a thousand words…

(Noever, R., J. Cronise, and R. A. Relwani. 1995. Using spider-web patterns to determine toxicity. NASA Tech Briefs 19(4):82. Published in New Scientist magazine, 27 April 1995.)

Nevertheless, over the next week, I have 2 informative commentaries on caffeine I’m getting ready to post

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A study to be published in the February 2007 issue of Personality and Individual Differences suggests night owls are more likely to be creative.

Click here to read the article.

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Reading through the latest issue of Neurology Today, came across some interesting tidbits on how beneficial exercise can be for your brain:

• As mentioned in earlier posts, exercise leads to the creation of new brain cells in the hippocampus (the memory engine of the brain)
• A study from the Annals of Internal Medicine reveals that seniors who exercise three or more times per week were 60 percent less likely than their sedentary counterparts to develop dementia during the course of the six-year study
• Dr. Muriel Koehl and colleagues from the University of Bordeaux now believe that beta-endorphin, which is released during exercise, may play a pivotal role in regulating new brain cell growth. Endorphins are morphine like chemicals in the brain that mediate pleasure.
• A study from Neurology found that vigorous exercise in youth reduced the risk of Parkinson’s disease in men by 60 percent.

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Does listening to Mozart make you smarter? According to a landmark neuroscience research study out of the University of California, Mozart’s sonata for two pianos K448 (which you can listen to below) can indeed increase your spatial-temporal IQ scores by 9 points. While the duration of the effect on your brain is only about 10-15 minutes, the findings are nonetheless fascinating.

• Spatial-temporal intelligence allows you to perform 3-D type manipulations on a mental image. It’s thought to be important for problems that arise in areas such as “mathematics, engineering, architecture, science, art, games (e.g. chess) and everyday life”. (ref: wikipedia)

This original study, published by Rauscher in the journal Nature, has given birth to what is now known as ‘The Mozart Effect‘. While many people have used the research to peddle exaggerated claims and products (like Mozart music tapes for parents to play in their child’s nursery), I think there is clearly something noteworthy going on with this type of music and the brain.

For example, further research shows that K448:

• Significantly increases the speed & ability of rats navigating through mazes
• Strikingly diminishes the number of seizures in patients with epilepsy

What is so special about K448? How might it power up your brain? According to one Mozart authority, K448 is “one of the most profound and most mature of all Mozart’s compositions”.

A more scientific explanation, however, may have been uncovered by the work of Neurology Professor John Hughes. As he comments in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine:

…we have found a long-lasting periodicity in the power of Mozart’s music, seen also with JS Bach and his son JC Bach. Furthermore we have just analyzed the melodic line and find that Mozart repeats his melodic line far more frequently than other well-known composers, but often in an ingenious manner reversing the notes. We feel that periodicity is the key or secret here and characterizes many brain and bodily functions.

In other words, Mozart’s K448 is characterized by a high degree of long-term periodicity. The music cycles, with elements recurring at regular intervals.

While I do think that certain types of music can have interesting and significant effects on brain function, I do not believe merely listening to Mozart can drive long term gains in brain power. (And if you look at the findings of the original ‘Mozart Effect’ research paper, the authors never claimed such).

If you are looking to utilize music as a way to boost brain function long-term, the path you’ll need to pursue is learning how to play an instrument. Here the research shows convincing and significant benefits, and I refer you to this great webpage that summarizes them. [As to the possible mechanism by which music instruction improves brain power, you may enjoy reading one of the first posts I made on the Smartkit website here].

If you’d like to read more about Mozart K448 and its varied effects on the brain, I recommend this excellent summary article by Dr. J S Jenkins, which can be found here.

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What do these famous people have in common?

• Thomas Edison
• Albert Einstein
• Charles Schwab

All had dyslexia.

People with dyslexia have difficulty reading; however, “Dyslexics often have enormous talents in other parts of their brain and shine in many fields“, notes Virginia Berninger, a Professor at the University of Washington.

Clearly, dysfunction in one area of brain function does not mean dysfunction in all areas of brain function.

Instead of thinking of the brain as one processing unit, or a single computer, it is sometimes better to think of the brain as being composed of many different processing parts, each of which is skilled in one particular area.

Therefore, if one specific processing part is not working all that well, that doesn’t mean other processing parts can’t work normally. In fact, there’s reason to believe if one specific area is faulty or damaged, you may have 1 or more other processing parts that are functioning at a supranormal level.

Take for example, the uncanny ability of some blind people to navigate based on echolocation. People Magazine recently had an article about an amazing boy named Ben Underwood. Blind since 3, Ben can not only use echolocation to get around (without a walking stick or navigational dog), but he skateboards, rollerblades, and plays basketball with his friends. If you’d like to read the story, click here.

Related Post: Magic Mushrooms and Spiritual IQ  

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This helpful bit should be of use to college students, busy executives, and anyone else who is dependent on high levels of concentration and brain power.

It turns out there is a growing body of research that shows, amazingly:

• Exposure to green outdoor settings (parks, trees, grassy backyards, etc…) can significantly improve concentration and productivity.

If you follow the link above, you’ll be taken to a nice website that lists over a dozen research studies showing the benefits.

Nancy Wells, a professor at Cornell University, has conducted several studies in this area. She also notes that green spaces can lead to "profound differences in attention capacities".

Do you study (or work) boxed up in a classroom, library, or office with no windows or natural light?

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It turns out that falling in love may be a powerful way to crank up the bodily chemicals that boost brain power and enhance learning ability.

According to a new research study done at the University of Pavia (Italy) and published in Psychoneuroendocrinology, when you fall in love, a special chemical spikes in the brain.

This special chemical is called NGF- Nerve Growth Factor.

NGF has been shown to:

• Create new brain cells and
• Cause other brain cells to grow and connect to each other- a process very important for learning ability.

Interestingly, this chemical spike only lasts about 1 year-after which it falls back down to normal levels.

The scientists believe that the rise and fall of NGF correlates with the ‘rush’ you feel when you fall in love.

So after you fall in love, what happens to your brain when he/she leaves you? Read on…

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A 2006 study out of the Division of Neuroscience and The Brain Research Center at University of British Columbia Hospital nicely summarizes one of the core teachings of brain enhancement:

• Regular doses of exercise can “massively increase” the growth of new brain cells in your brain.

The best part of it all, however, is the specific location of where many of these new brain cells are created: the hippocampus.

Why would you want new brain cells sprouting up here? The hippocampus turns out to be the memory engine of your brain.

People often ask whether anaerobic exercises can achieve these effects, and I tell them most of the evidence suggests aerobic is the key.

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For years it was thought (and taught!) that the brain can not create and make new brain cells.

This is false. Numerous studies have now conclusively proven otherwise.

What is really interesting, however, is that new studies show that the hippocampus- the memory engine of your mind- can actually grow new brain cells. This bodes well for future treatment possibilities of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. This will probably also factor into future brain enhancement techniques in healthy adults.

In a couple days, I’ll post 2 proven techniques that you can start using to generate and grow new brain cells in your own hippocampus.

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