Does sleep improve memory?
Yes. Sleep helps the brain consolidate new memories: in many experiments, people who slept after learning remembered or performed better than people who stayed awake for the same amount of time. Deep (slow-wave) sleep and REM sleep each play a role.
Memory consolidation
During N3 slow-wave sleep, the brain reactivates recently learned memories and redistributes them from the hippocampus to the cortex for long-term storage. REM sleep appears to help strengthen those memories in the cortex (Diekelmann & Born, 2010).
Sleep versus staying awake
Classic experiments on motor skills and word lists compare people who sleep after learning with people who stay awake for the same time, and the sleep groups generally do better. Diekelmann and Born (2010) review this research, and Walker (2017) describes many of these experiments for a general audience.
Practical implication
Pulling an all-nighter to study is worse than studying and sleeping. The sleep is when the learning sticks.
Sources
- Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep (Scribner, 2017). Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
- Diekelmann & Born, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2010. The memory function of sleep
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