DEEP SLEEP DOESN'T HELP MEMORY.Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer NORTH HILLS - Students who go to bed early to be ready for a big test the next day might be missing the mark, according to a study to be released today by a San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. researcher that finds a good night's sleep does not increase memory. The study questions the long-held notion that deep snoozing - known as REM, or rapid eye movement rapid eye movement n. Abbr. REM The rapid periodic jerky movement of the eyes during certain stages of the sleep cycle when dreaming takes place. , sleep - helps memory retention. ``There are many kinds of brain activity that can affect the memory, but there is no conclusive evidence CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE. That which cannot be contradicted by any other evidence,; for example, a record, unless impeached for fraud, is conclusive evidence between the parties. 3 Bouv. Inst. n. 3061-62. to show that REM sleep REM sleep n. A stage in the normal sleep cycle during which dreams occur and the body undergoes various physiological changes, including rapid eye movement, loss of reflexes, and increased pulse rate and brain activity. helps memory consolidation,'' said the study's author, Jerome M. Siegel, researcher at the Center for Sleep Research, Department of Veterans Affairs in North Hills, and the Department of Psychiatry and Brain Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. . ``However, I do not mean to say that sleep is not important in helping you learn things,'' he said. ``The way disturbed sleep disturbs one's learning is by lessening concentration, not one's memory.'' The study evaluates literature and scientific studies over the past 50 years, and is scheduled to be released in today's version of Science Magazine. The findings drew mixed reactions from students at a West Valley mall. ``I wish I had the time to find out if more sleep would help,'' said Jason Borges, 19, of Canoga Park, who said all-night studying is normal for him and a few friends. ``But I work and go to school, so I never get to sleep much.'' Amy Tellez, 20, said she always tries to avoid all-night cram sessions before tests. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if it helps your memory, but if you're sleepy, there's no way you're going to do well,'' she said. REM sleep is a deep sleep during which an individual's eyes dart rapidly under closed eyelids eyelids, n.pl a moveable fold of thin skin over the eye. The orbicularis oculi muscle and the oculomotor nerve control the opening and closing of the eyelid. and the body is almost completely paralyzed par·a·lyze tr.v. par·a·lyzed, par·a·lyz·ing, par·a·lyz·es 1. To affect with paralysis; cause to be paralytic. 2. To make unable to move or act: paralyzed by fear. except for the heart, diaphragm, eye muscles and internal organs. Humans on average get about two hours of REM sleep per eight hours of sleep, usually just after falling asleep, Siegel found. Other mammals with high brain and memory capacity, such as dolphins and giraffes, get little to no REM sleep, he found. Siegel said the widespread notion that REM sleep allows the brain to convert short-term memory short-term memory n. Abbr. STM The phase of the memory process in which stimuli that have been recognized and registered are stored briefly. to long-term memory long-term memory n. Abbr. LTM The phase of the memory process considered the permanent storehouse of retained information. long-term memory - known as ``memory consolidation'' - has been based largely on assumption, and is not true. ``A mix of positive and negative results in human studies has led many sleep-learning researchers to suggest that REM sleep may not be important for certain kinds of memory, such as what has been termed `explicit' or `declarative' memory,'' the study said. ``REM sleep would thus be excluded from having any substantial role in much of what is considered to be unique in human intellectual capacity.'' Siegel further asserts that studied subjects who took drugs that induced REM sleep deprivation did not necessarily have a lessened memory capacity. The findings present a thought-provoking break from previously held beliefs on the affects of REM sleep, said Merril Mitler of the Scripps Research Institute Department of Neuropharmacology neuropharmacology /neu·ro·phar·ma·col·o·gy/ (-fahr?mah-kol´ah-je) the scientific study of the effects of drugs on the nervous system. neu·ro·phar·ma·col·o·gy n. Laboratory for Sleep, Fatigue and Safety in La Jolla. ``It's a critical article that should be well-received,'' he said. ``However, I expect there will be debate.'' Mitler, co-author of the book ``101 Questions About Sleep and Dreams,'' said REM sleep has also been widely believed to benefit the brain in other ways. Benefits range from wish fulfillment to providing necessary stimulation to the entire nervous system during development. But, he said, scientific proof is difficult. ``This is not always such a clear-cut science,'' he said. ``Conclusions are not always black and white.'' Siegel said identifying factors that negatively affect memory capacity was much simpler. For example, it is generally accepted that alcohol use shrinks a certain part of the brain, creating a vitamin B deficiency and reducing memory, a process known as the Kosakoff Syndrome. |
|
||||||||||||

Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion