{"id":28243,"date":"2020-04-21T06:00:04","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T06:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/restonic.com\/sin-categorizar\/can-learn-sleep-2514"},"modified":"2020-04-21T06:00:04","modified_gmt":"2020-04-21T06:00:04","slug":"can-learn-sleep-2514","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restonic.com\/es\/blog-es\/can-learn-sleep-2514","title":{"rendered":"Can You Learn While You Sleep? Science Says Yes… Sort of\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the University of Sleep<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s no denying that a good night\u2019s sleep improves our ability to learn. And another good night\u2019s sleep after a day of learning helps our brains categorize and consolidate memories \u2013 embedding the learning from the previous day while discarding the things we can safely forget.<\/p>\n

But can you actually learn while you sleep?<\/p>\n

\"CanThere are only 24 hours in each day and if your day is packed, you might be wondering if there\u2019s such a thing as \u201cSleep Learning\u201d or Hypnopedia. Learning a new skill, a new language \u2013 can you do it while you sleep? In 1914, German psychologist, Rosa Heine, discovered that she retained information better when she studied it just before going to sleep. In the 1930\u2019s a device called the Psycho-phone played motivational messages to sleepers in the hopes they\u2019d absorb the messages and wake up smarter. Early research seemed to support the Psycho-phone but in the 1950\u2019s, the development of the EEG monitor debunked those claims. According to Medical News Today<\/a>, if any learning did happen during sleep, it was during a wakeful period when the sleeper was disturbed.<\/p>\n

Modern research suggests that because our sleep brains are active, some learning is possible. But while our brains never truly sleep, we\u2019re also not capable of complicated learning during sleep. Remembering the words to a song, for example can happen while sleeping because it\u2019s a subconscious memory you\u2019re recalling \u2013 not learning. If you want to learn to speak French, however, you and your brain will need to be fully awake.<\/p>\n

How to solidify memories \u2013 and maybe learn too \u2013 while you sleep<\/h2>\n

Modern research has taught us much about sleep and why it\u2019s important for our physical and mental health \u2013 but more is needed. Better understanding the health benefits of sleep<\/a> opens the door to turbocharge our memory retention abilities and to learn more effectively. One scientist explained it by saying that when you\u2019re awake, you learn new things. But when you\u2019re asleep you refine them, making it easier to retrieve them and apply them correctly when you need them the most. This is important for how we learn but also for how we might help retain healthy brain function as we age.<\/p>\n

Clearly a book under your pillow \u2013 or the modern version of the Psycho-phone is not going to help you learn throughout the night. But there are things you can to do to help your brain absorb \u2013 and retain \u2013 information more efficiently.<\/p>\n