How is sleep important for memory?

At least in our house, this set of questions is often asked: Why do I need to go to bed soon? Why can’t I stay up for another hour?

Here is one important reason: One of the best things you can do for your memory (and for your brain more generally) is to get enough sleep.

While we talk about getting a good night’s “rest,” sleep isn’t just a time for your brain to rest.  Sleep is a time for your brain to work in really important ways, and in ways that it cannot work while you are awake!

When you’re awake, your brain is putting in a lot of effort to make sense of the world around you: your brain is making sense of the words you’re hearing or reading, the faces and expressions you’re seeing, and considering the way your muscles need to work so that you don’t fall out of your chair.

When you’re asleep, your brain doesn’t need to do all of those things. Instead, when you’re asleep, your brain has a chance to focus on all the content already contained within its folds. 

While you sleep, the brain is maintaining and adjusting the cell-to-cell connections it built during the day. It’s also rehearsing information you learned during your waking day.  This is why you can wake up better at a skill than you were when you fell asleep—as we mentioned in our last blog post, while you sleep, your brain keeps practicing!

Lots and lots of research has shown that, for students who aren’t getting enough sleep, one of the very best things they can do for their school performance is to sleep a little bit more each night. So do your part to get a good night’s sleep, by going to bed at about the same time every night. And if you find yourself waking up still feeling tired, try to structure your day so that you can get a little more sleep each night.  Your brain will thank you!