Research says that napping can lead to a brain boost during the day, reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
University of California-Riverside psychologist Sara Mednick found way back in 2003 that people do better with a visual learning task after they’ve had a good night’s sleep, and not right after they learn it. Mednick also determined that the same test advantage occurred after a 60-90 minute nap.
“What’s amazing is that in a 90-minute nap, you can get the same [learning] benefits as an eight-hour sleep period,” Mednick told the American Psychological Association. “And actually, the nap is having an additive benefit on top of a good night of sleep.”
A more recent study from University of Michigan doctoral student Jennifer Goldschmied and colleagues showed that people who got a 60-minute nap in the middle of the day helped them cope better with difficult people, an effect scientifically described as a boosted tolerance for frustration.
