Yet Another Reason to Hit that Snooze Button

Image: Courtesy of Matthew Wilson, ©2002 Cell Press NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, NOT EVEN A ... RAT that sleeps while the activity of hippocampal neurons, measured before its nap when the animal ran in a maze are behind it. Red depicts maze locations where the neuron was highly active; blue indicates where the neuron was not. Most people require sleep to face tomorrow with a clear head. But clarity of mind may be just one reason why slumber is needed; a growing body of research sugg

| 6 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
6:00
Share

Most people require sleep to face tomorrow with a clear head. But clarity of mind may be just one reason why slumber is needed; a growing body of research suggests that sleep aids learning. It is a view not universally held, but supporting evidence appears to be growing. "We just don't know right now if it will turn out to be true. There is so much data coming out now," says Pierre Maquet, senior research associate, National Fund for Scientific Research, University of Liege, Belgium. "These data are coming from a wide variety of species, techniques, experimental paradigms. There is something behind it." Daniel Margoliash, professor of organismal biology and anatomy, University of Chicago, says, "A substantial percentage of the scientific population ... is still quite skeptical."

Researchers have data supporting the link between sleep and memory from studies with humans, rats, and birds, in which the subjects perform numerous ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Harvey Black

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo
Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Explore a Concise Guide to Optimizing Viral Transduction

A Visual Guide to Lentiviral Gene Delivery

Takara Bio