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Naps on Cognition

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The Benefits of Naps on Cognition
Sarah Quitzau
July 20th, 2016
Douglas College

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The Benefits of Naps on Cognition During sleep, the brain sequences through a pattern lasting about 90 to 120 minutes. These stages are separated into two big categories, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM). During NREM sleep one enters into a slow-wave sleep, which is the deepest kind. Slow-wave sleep helps remember facts, places, and faces, while REM sleep is associated with dreaming (Ficca, Axelsson, Mollicone & Muto, 2010, p.249). The amount of time humans spend in REM sleep depends on age. Newborn babies sleep about 16 hours per day and spend about 50% of that time in REM sleep. Older people (50+ years of age) sleep an average of six hours per day and spend 13-15% of that time in REM sleep. Moreover, the suggested amount of sleep for a healthy adult is eight to nine hours, yet many adults do not receive this much sleep each night (Hershner & Chervin, 2014. p.73). While some people rely on caffeine or motivation to make it through the day, some rely on daytime sleeping, also known as naps. Through empirical research, it is suggested that naps positively impact our cognition, especially our alertness, memory consolidation, and stress levels. The results from a 2007 study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences conducted by Waterhouse, Atkinson, Edwards & Reilly found that a post-lunch power nap improves alertness and aspects of mental and physical performance. Ten healthy male adults either napped or sat quietly from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. after a night of shortened sleep, and then 30 minutes after the afternoon nap they were tested for various changes in performance. The results showed that the group of men who napped experienced significantly better improvements in alertness, short-term memory, intra-aural temperature, heart rate

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