Why is naps good for you?

Churchill loved to doze. For him, it was more than a habit - it was a ritual that the British Prime Minister considered one of the main components of his political success. He argued that a two-hour afternoon nap, like nothing else, increases performance. And, perhaps, this is what helped him to maintain clarity of mind and firmness of memory even in extreme old age (Churchill died at the age of 90).

After all, sleep is really a guarantee of health. Even short and daytime. In this article, you will learn what happens in our head when we doze, and how an afternoon nap affects our brain.

What happens in your head when you doze

The left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for logic and thinking. It processes verbal information, controls speech. Thanks to the left hemisphere, a person remembers various facts, names, dates, and also analyzes and synthesizes them.

The right hemisphere is more "creative". It is responsible for the processing of so-called non-verbal information, that is, for images and symbols. Thanks to this, a person can dream, fantasize, understand and create metaphors.

Scientific research shows that when a person is napping, the left side is much less active than the right. The right hemisphere, on the other hand, works hard - it cleans up short-term memory and "archives" the information accumulated during the day into long-term memory.

That is why, after a short afternoon nap, a person better remembers various facts and performs logical operations, because his left hemisphere is "rested".

The benefits of an afternoon nap

Sleep experts have found that naps in the afternoon:

increases the sharpness of thinking;
stimulates creativity;
reduces stress;
improves perception, endurance, physical activity;
promotes fat burning;
reduces the risk of heart disease
and improves mood.

But, most importantly, due to the increased activity of the right hemisphere of the brain, memory and learning ability improve. Let's consider these processes in more detail.

Memory

Scientists conducted an experiment. They recruited two groups of volunteers and asked them to memorize information on one set of cards. This was followed by a 40-minute break, after which the participants were again offered memory cards. The only difference between the subjects was that the first group was awake during the break, and the second was dozing.

As a result, it turned out that people after the siesta coped with the task of scientists much better.

Much to the surprise of the researchers, in the group that had a little sleep, 85% of people perfectly recalled information and remembered it again. While in the group that did not sleep, only 60% coped well with the task.

A part of the brain called the "hippocampus" is responsible for the process of transferring information from short-term memory to long-term memory. Its work can be compared to the RAM of a computer. If there is too much information, the memory "overflows" - information may be lost. A short nap transfers information to the neocortex, thereby protecting it from being erased.

Education

In another experiment, participants were asked to solve problems at noon when their brains had absorbed enough information. At about 14 o'clock, half of the volunteers went to pokemar. Then all the subjects again took up the tasks.

As it turned out, the part of the experiment participants who slept did much better on the tasks.

Dr. Matthew Walker attributes this to the fact that during a short afternoon nap, short-term memory is cleared and the brain is ready to absorb new information.

It's like working with mail. When the mailbox is full, you must sort the letters into folders, otherwise you will not be able to receive new messages.

Thus, snoozing is very useful for schoolchildren and students - 30-60 minutes of sleep between classes significantly increases the ability to learn.

How to get the most out of minimal sleep

So, now we know why an afternoon nap is so beneficial and what effect it has on the body. It remains to figure out how to get the most out of it.

There are a few rules to help you take a productive nap.

Determine how long it takes for you to fall asleep. 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes - everyone falls asleep differently. Determine how many minutes it takes you to find yourself in the kingdom of Morpheus. Use the Jawbone UP bracelet or special mobile applications for this. This is necessary to calculate the time of the siesta itself. So, if you fall asleep within 10 minutes, and set aside 40 minutes for a nap, then the alarm should ring in 50 minutes.
Don't sleep too long. It is believed that the ideal duration of a day's sleep is 10-20 minutes. This is enough to recuperate and quickly get back to business. However, this is not enough for many. Then it is better to stop at an interval of 90 minutes. After such a smoke break it is just as easy to wake up, and the "reservoirs" of memory are completely cleared.
Choose the right time. The ideal time for an afternoon nap is from 1 pm to 4 pm. But this is very individual. It all depends on your biorhythm and daily routine. So, if you wake up at 10 o'clock, then you are unlikely to want to take a nap, after only 3 hours.
Practice. The best way to experience the benefits of an afternoon nap is to actually sleep. Set up a comfortable place for this: quiet and with dim lights. And also remember that, according to scientists, you can doze everywhere - in the car, at the table, on the couch, etc.

These are the most general guidelines. Comprehensive information on how to nap properly is presented in our infographic.