In case you needed an extra excuse for an afternoon siesta!
Research published in the journal General Psychiatry, suggests a sneaky nanna nap could be the key to better language skills, a higher level of overall awareness and a sharper memory.
The paper, which examined 2,000 older people in China, found a strong association between afternoon napping and “orientation, language function and memory”.
So, time to pencil a daily 3pm snooze into your schedule?
Not just yet.
The researchers note the study focused on older people who were only getting around six-and-a-half hours of sleep a night, short of the seven to nine they need to really feel rested – and this may have skewed results.
Associate Professor Sutapa Mukherjee from the Australasian Sleep Association commented on the results, telling the Sydney Morning Herald: “It makes sense that people who have an afternoon nap performed better on some of their cognitive tests, because this is a sleep-restricted population of people.”
Professor Mukherjee adds that while the experience can’t necessarily be applied to the Australian population, there are definitely benefits of a nap. But only if you’re not getting a good night’s sleep beforehand.
“If you are getting good sleep overnight and then napping during the day, then that’s a marker that something’s not right,” she said.
Makes sense to us!
