Learning And Sleep

"When everyone awoke, the participants who were presented the melody were able to do a better job of reproducing the song than those who weren't."

When people say that something is so easy it can learned in your sleep, they aren't kidding. Researchers at Northwestern University sought out to prove whether we actually can learn in our sleep and, apparently, it's actually possible.

They ran an experiment where the goal was for a group of participants to learn how to play a song. First, they consciously learned the song and then the subjects took a 90-minute nap with part of the group receiving the soft musical cues during their rest, while the other group rested in silence. As the participants were in their soft-wave sleep, the researchers tracked brain activity to ensure that the music did not disturb their sleep.

When everyone awoke, the participants who were presented the melody were able to do a better job of reproducing the song than those who weren't.

While the study’s authors aren’t fully suggesting that we can learn in our sleep, they did conclude that auditory stimulation during our sleep can fortify what we previously learned. In other words, if you prepared for a presentation or studied for an exam during the day, you can give yourself a boost by reinforcing what you learned in your sleep.

That’s great news for workaholics: Now sleeping won’t be a complete waste of time.

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