Biological psychology

Regular napping changes how a short daytime nap improves movement skills

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated

Abstract

Habitual nappers showed improved motor performance after a nap, while non-habitual nappers experienced deterioration.

  • Both habitual and non-habitual nappers reported increased alertness after napping compared to reading.
  • Non-habitual nappers fell asleep faster and had higher sleep efficiency, but showed no other differences in sleep patterns.
  • Habitual nappers exhibited greater brain wave activity in specific sleep stages compared to non-habitual nappers.
  • Motor performance improved for habitual nappers post-nap, while it declined for non-habitual nappers.
  • The presence of sleep spindles and specific brain wave activity predicted motor performance improvement in habitual nappers.

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