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Remember to Sleep, Sleep to Remember

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Sleep occupies nearly a third of our lives, but many of us give surprisingly little attention to it. This neglect is often the result of major misunderstandings. Sleep isn't lost time or a way to rest when all of our work is done. Instead, it's a critical function during which our body balances and regulates vital systems, affecting respiration and controlling right from circulation, growth, and immune response. 


But, we care more about that test which we have tomorrow morning, right? One should certainly not; it turns out that sleep is also very crucial for the brain, with a fifth of the body's circulatory blood being channeled to it when you are drift off. And, what goes on in our brain while we sleep is an intensely active period of restructuring, which is crucial for memory function. 


According to psychologist Herman Ebbinghaus, we usually forget 40% of new material within the first 20 minutes, known as the forgetting curve. But fortunately, this loss can be prevented by consolidation, the process of moving information from the volatile short-term memory to the enduring long-term memory. This consolidation occurs with the help of the hippocampus. The hippocampus is specifically involved in long-term declarative memory (remembering facts) rather than procedural memory (playing an instrument). 

Press Releases and Research Commentary - Nedergaard Lab - University of Rochester Medical Center

Consolidation: Data is recorded in the neurons as short-term memory and then travels to the hippocampus, strengthening and enhancing the neurons in the cortical area. With the fortune of neuroplasticity, new synaptic buds are formed, allowing new connections between neurons and strengthening the neural networks where the information will be returned as long-term memory. So why is it that we remember a few things and not others?



There are a few ways to influence the extent and effectiveness of memory retention. E.g., memories formed during frightened feelings or stress will be better recorded due to the link of the hippocampus with emotion. But one of the significant factors associated with memory consolidation is SLEEP. 


Monitoring people during different stages of sleep have shown electrical impulses moving between the brain stem, hippocampus, thalamus, and cortex which serve as a relay station of memory formation. 


Different stages of sleep help consolidate different types of memories.  

So, according to the study, going to sleep after three hours of reading the formulas and one hour after practicing the instrument would be ideal.  


We could also say that proper sleep will have you waking up every morning with a new and improvised brain. 

    


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