How does memory work? What strategies can I use to take care of myself physically and academically?
Learn more about memory and how you can use to improve long-term retention with these resources.
Sleep and learning
Why do we sleep?
Sleep is a key medicine for willpower and resilience, immune boost, metabolism, nootropic boost, physical health, emotional stability, stress relief, and trauma release.
Students' sleep habits are significantly associated with academic performance and GPA - with nightly sleep duration predicting GPA (Creswell et al., 2023)
During sleep, humans cycle through REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non-REM) phases. Current theories hold that memory consolidation is occurring during both the REM and NREM phases of sleep – making sleep essential for learning and memory encoding (Leminen et al., 2017).
Improving sleep
View sunlight within 30 mins - 1 hr of waking
Wake up at the same time each day and go to bed when you first start feeling sleepy
Dim lights at night
Keep your room cool and dark in the night time
If you must choose between exercise and sleep – choose sleep!
Key elements of a full night’s sleep
Sleep-Duration
Adults 19 years of age and older should get seven or more hours of sleep a night (Nelson, 2021)
Sleep Quality
Quality can be gauged at home by looking at how satisfied you are with your sleep (Nelson, 2021).
Consider: Sleep efficiency, sleep latency, and wake after sleep onset
Sleep efficiency: The ratio of amount of time asleep to amount of time in bed
Sleep latency: The amount of time it takes to fall asleep
Wake after sleep onset: The amount of time it takes to “properly wake up”
Sleep Consistency
It is valuable to maintain a regular sleep schedule.
Aim to sleep and rise at around the same time of day as well as get around the same amount of sleep each night (Chaput et al., 2020)
A full night’s sleep: memory and attention
Memory: Students need to be sleeping well consistently. If sleep duration and quality are poor when information is first learned, sleeping well the night before the exam will not be enough - grades will suffer! (Okano et al., 2019)
It is also important to be well-rested before learning new material (Walker, 2009)
Attention and Concentration: A study following sleep-deprived adults found sleep-deprivation to result in slowing of reaction speeds, lapses of attention, and decreased efficiency (Hudson et al., 2019).
Napping: guidelines and benefits
Strategic nap-taking during the day can also support learning.
The length of your nap will bring unique benefits and drawbacks (Lovato & Lack, 2010).
As nap length increases:
- Benefits will last longer (i.e., you will feel alert for longer overall).
- Initial impairment will be greater (i.e., you will wake up feeling groggier for longer).
Caveat: naps over 90 minutes are generally not recommended; they can interfere with a full night's sleep.
Memory
When studying up to a week before an exam, napping between study sessions results in significantly improved academic performance compared to students that continue cramming between study sessions or take passive breaks such as watching a movie (Cousins et al., 2019).
Long naps (>1 hr) produce improved cognitive performance for up to 3 hours (Lovato & Lack, 2010).
Attention and Concentration
This study found that brief naps of just 5 – 15 minutes result in immediate marked increases in alertness and attention (Lovato & Lack, 2010).
Exercise and learning
Download: Exercise and learning
Exercise stimulates the brain to secrete chemicals called growth factors.
Growth factors are like a fertilizer for learning!
Growth factors support the growth of neurons and the formation of new connections between neurons - this is what underlies the creation of memories!
This neuronal growth helps cognitive functioning as well as has been associated with the growth of brain regions related to memory.
Cognitive functions include memory, attention, and executive functions!
Important brain regions:
- Hippocampus is associated with memory.
- Prefrontal cortex is associated with executive functioning.
- Motor cortex directs movement.
Exercise also strengthens the connectivity between different brain regions such as the hippocampus, motor cortex, and the prefrontal cortex. This makes it easier for these brain regions to communicate with each other!
Benefits of exercise
Memory: Exercise improves both short-term and long-term memory (Loprinzi et al., 2021).
Attention: Attention is heightened for up to two hours after exercise (Basso & Suzuki, 2017).
Executive Function: Decision making skills and ability to self-regulate, plan, and juggle various ideas in working memory improve with exercise (Ferrer-Uris et al., 2022).
Exercise intensity
Low Intensity Exercise
- Light walking, exercise at casual pace
- 4 - 6 times a week
- 15 minutes
Moderate Intensity Exercise
- Speed walking, yoga
- 2 -3 times a week sufficient for inducing neuronal change
- 11 - 21 minutes in duration
High Intensity Exercise
- Weight lifting, running, cycling, interval training
- 2 - 3 times a week
- 10 – 30 minutes
Choosing the right intensity
Memory and Attention: Memory formation and attention abilities benefit most from higher intensity exercise (Ferrer-Uris et al., 2022).
Executive Function: Executive function may benefit more from moderate intensity exercise (Ferrer-Uris et al., 2022).
Low intensity exercise can also be beneficial for mood, cognitive function, and attention. Incorporating any movement in your routine will make a difference.
Caveat: too much exercise can result in excess fatigue and dehydration - diminishing cognition-enhancing effects. It is important to make sure you do not over-exert yourself!
Timing exercise with learning
If you are looking to improve consolidation of information, try working out after a study session! Increased concentration of growth factors will promote long-term information storage as growth factors help cement the neural connections holding information (Ferrer-Uris et al., 2022).
If you are low on energy and looking for a boost, try working out before your study session. This will provide you with a surge of attention to get you through your studying (Ferrer-Uris et al., 2022).
More benefits of exercise
Reduction of anxiety and depression symptoms, enhanced mood and happiness, strengthened immune system, increased focus and motivation, and improved sleep quality
Tips for using flashcards
How to use self-reflection to improve your studying (video)
Study for long-term memory storage (video)