Study Shows Sleep May Aid Continuous Learning and Memory Retention

(Newswire.net — December 7, 2022) Orlando, FL — Over the years, the number of studies linking sleep with health benefits continues to increase. Many of them highlighted its effects on brain health and performance. 

A study was carried out and published in the online issue of eLife. 

In this research, which was carried out by researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, it has been found sleep may help in continuous learning throughout their lifetime. 

The investigators used computational models that are capable of stimulating different brain states, including sleep and awake. They sought in examining how sleep consolidates newly encoded memories and inhibits damage to old memories.

“The brain is very busy when we sleep, repeating what we have learned during the day. Sleep helps reorganize memories and presents them in the most efficient way. Our findings suggest that memories are dynamic, not static. In other words, memories, even old memories, are not final. Sleep constantly updates them,” said Maksim Bazhenov, Ph.D.

Bazhenov is the lead author of the study and professor of medicine at UC San Diego. 

“We predict that during the sleep cycle, both old and new memories are spontaneously replayed, which prevents forgetting and increases recall performance.”

It is worth noting that during sleep, memory replay plays a protective role against forgetfulness. This is through allowing similar populations of neurons to store multiple interfering memories. 

“We learn many new things on a daily basis and those memories compete with old memories. To accommodate all memories, we need sleep,” Bazhenov added. 

The scientific community has been investigating on the techniques potentially helpful in improving sleep. There are many ways to get deep and uninterrupted slumber, such as the intake of certain nutrients.

B vitamin intake has long been known to produce benefits for sleep. According to research, nutrients like riboflavin, thiamine, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and folic acid are vital for brain function. 

These nutrients could also work wonders in improving energy levels and cell metabolism. It is important to be warned a deficiency in vitamin B5 may cause one to wake up repeatedly in the evenings. 

Folic acid, on the other hand, is found helpful in fighting insomnia. There are many foods containing high levels of B vitamins, and they are usually the ones strongly recommended by experts. 

What makes B vitamins even more beneficial is that they also produce significant brain health benefits. They may be obtained through the use of formulas like Divine Bounty B Vitamin Complex.

It contains Choline, Pantothenic acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid, Niacin, Riboflavin, Thiamin, and vitamin B6 (https://amazon.com/dp/B07414752B).