A sound sleep

Having a sound sleep after cramming for exams consolidates that learning, says study.

Having a sound sleep after cramming for exams consolidates that learning, a new research has revealed.

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Neurologist Philippe Peigneux and his colleagues analyzed brain activity in sleeping volunteers and found that that spatial memories are consolidated during deep sleep.

"A growing body of experimental evidence shows the influence of sleep on the consolidation of recent memory traces. The underlying hypothesis posits that the information that is acquired during wakefulness is actively altered, restructured, and strengthened during sleep." the researchers write in a report published in today's edition Neuron.

Also, the researchers say that they have shown for the first time that the activity level in the brain's learning center, the hippocampus, correlates with the improvement in memory performance when the subjects are tested the next day.

"Our results provide critical evidence that spatial memory traces are processed.Moreover, the hippocampalactivity during sleep is shown to correlate with the improvement in memory performance on the next day. To the extent of our knowledge, this effect has not yet been reported in the animal hippocampus." they add.