A good night’s sleep does more good for you than you could imagine. Among other things, sleep is essential for your brain. In this article you will find out how sleep affects memory, and why you need it to keep your brain sharp.
The Power of Sleep
At night while the rest of your body sleeps, your brain is still hard at work. It uses this time to process new information you’ve gathered throughout the day. After that, it stores each piece of information and turns it into memory. The next time you remember something, your brain will know exactly where to look for it.
This also frees the brain’s capacity to absorb new information. Here’s a practical example of how sleep affects memory: you probably remember how difficult it was to cram for an exam at the last minute. That’s because your brain needs time to process every new bit of information and store it away safely before a new one takes its place.
New Ideas Come at Night
Science has made note of another way in which sleep keeps your brain active. During the sleep cycle, your brain reaches into the deep pockets of your memory to find solutions for whatever’s bothering you at the moment. It then synthesizes these findings to create brand new ideas.
It’s much like the thought process, only you’re not aware that it’s going on. You know how sometimes you have those “aha” moments when you can finally solve something after trying in vain for days? Well, that’s a direct result of your brain’s sleep activity.
Because of how sleep affects memory, you shouldn’t avoid it in an attempt to fit more work into a single day. When you wake up well-rested, you are ready to take in new pieces of information, and then at night the process starts all over again.
