EXTRA BRAIN PROCESSING DURING SLEEP ENHANCES LEARNING OF NEW MOTOR SKILLS

WASHINGTON : Practice makes perfect, but sleep helps, too. Learning and executing a new motor skill can be enhanced if you can get additional memory pro-cessing during sleep, according to a recent study led by researchers at Northwestern University.

The study was published in the journal JNeurosci. Researchers com-pared how well participants performed a challenging motor task with and without the extra processing during sleep.

The participants played a computer game using a myoelectric computer interface, which enabled them to move a cursor by activating specific arm muscles. Each command to move the cursor in a particular direction was paired with a unique sound; after practicing, the participants played the game blindfolded and moved the cursor based on the sound cue alone.After completing a test round, the participants took a 90-minute nap.

The researchers played half of the sound cues during the nap, reactivat-ing the motor memories associated with each cue. After the nap, the participants performed the motions cued during sleep better than the uncued ones: it took less time to move the cursor, the cursor traveled a more direct route, and fewer superfluous muscles were activated. These results show we can improve the performance of new motor skills by reactivating memories during sleep.