How sleep improves your performance of the next day

Faced with a complex task that we struggle to solve, who has never decided to “sleep on it” to see more clearly the next day, after a good night’s sleep? Because often, upon waking, everything seems clearer and the execution more fluid. According to a new study published in the journal JNeuroscithis phenomenon is explained by the rhythmic activity of the brain during sleep, which “Transforms information related to a more solid and lasting memory”.

An experience on engine learning

The Dara Manoach team, at the Harvard Medical School, wanted to understand where, in the brain, these rhythms influence learning. Twenty-five participants learned a keyboard strike sequence while their brain activity was recorded. After training, the recordings continued during a nap. The cortical zones requested during learning showed, during sleep, increased rhythmic activity. The more these rhythms were marked, the greater the improvement in performance after the nap was, according to a press release.

The study reveals that neural correlates differ between initial learning and performance after sleep. The active training of rhythms in the regions linked to the execution of the movement, while post-stem progress is associated with rhythmic activity in the planning areas of the movement. As Dara Manoach points out, “Brain rhythms occur everywhere in the brain during sleep. But those in these regions are increasing after learning, probably to stabilize and strengthen memory.”

A task memory

Researchers argue that rhythms in motor execution areas could represent the memory of the task, while those in planning areas would optimize future performance. These results shed precious light on how our brain consolidates motor learnings. And confirm, once again, that a good nap can be a real asset to progress.