Study Finds Naps May Help Preschoolers Learn
Research has shown that naps play an important role in sustaining new learning in infants. A new study from the University of Arizona suggests naptime could have a similar effect on language learning in preschool-age children.
Researchers studied verb learning in 3-year-olds and found that those who napped after learning new verbs had a better understanding of the words when tested 24 hours later.
The findings, which will be published in the journal Child Development, suggest that parents may want to consider maintaining regular naptimes for preschoolers, who are at an age at which naps have a tendency to dwindle, said lead study author and UA alumna Michelle Sandoval, who conducted the research as a doctoral student in the UA Department of Psychology.
Source & further reading:
https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/study-finds-naps-may-help-preschoolers-learn
Image via Google photo search
#neuroscience #naps #learning #brain #sleep #research
I can imagine naps can help humans of any age, not just the very young. I wonder if just having many shorter rests (of an hour or less) can be just as effective as just a long sleep. In prehistoric times, perhaps that would be an advantage for survival and enable greater movement and flexibility.
ReplyDelete