‘Power naps’ improve performance

A
60 to 90-minute ‘power nap’ can be as energising as a whole night’s sleep, a
new study suggests.

Scientists
at Harvard University found that volunteers who dozed off for the research
improved their performance in tests by up to as much as those who’d had an
extra eight hours sleep.

However,
improvement only occurred when sleepers had rapid eye movement – a type of
sleep where the eyes flick back and forth behind the lids, which indicates
dreaming.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

Dr
Sara Mednick, head of the study, concluded: "From the perspective of
behavioural improvement, a nap is as good as a night of sleep for
learning."

By Michael Millar