Sleep protects memories multiple ways
By Alena Hall, Huffington Post
A solid night’s sleep is known to protect your memories from bouts of forgetfulness — and now we know it’s making them more accessible, too.
New research from the University of Exeter and the Basque Centre for Cognition, Brain and Language is taking our understanding of the relationship between sleep and the brain’s memory functions to the next level, exploring the idea that memories could be enhanced andmade more available for use the following day.
“Sleep almost doubles our chances of remembering previously unrecalled material,” researcher Nicolas Dumay said in a statement. “The post-sleep boost in memory accessibility may indicate that some memories are sharpened overnight. This supports the notion that, while asleep, we actively rehearse information flagged as important.”
