5 Skills To Learn in Your Sleep
For many people, sneaking in a few hours of shut-eye is an indulgence best saved for the weekend.
But rather than feeling guilty about lying in, research suggests that sleep may be the perfect time for learning.
From grasping a new language to quitting smoking, studies have shown that a range of skills can be improved from the comfort of your bed.
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LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE
While it might sound implausible, research has shown that it is possible to improve your understanding of a new language while asleep.
A study in 2014, conducted at the universities of Zurich and Fribourg showed that German-speaking students were better at remembering the meaning of newly-learned Dutch words when they heard the words again their sleep.
Björn Rasch, who led the study, said: ‘Our method is easy to use in daily life and can be adopted by anyone.’
In their study, 60 participants were asked to learn pairs of Dutch and German words at 10pm.
Half the volunteers then went to bed, and were played back some of the Dutch words they had learnt, as they slept.
The other half stayed awake to listen to the Dutch words on playback.
In the morning, the participants were tested on what they had learned, and the results showed that the group who had been asleep remembered the German translations better than the group who had been awake.
The researchers believe that their results suggest that sleep helps memory, probably because the sleeping brain spontaneously activates previously learned subject matter.
But that isn’t to say that a certain amount of swotting is needed.
Thomas Schreiner, who co-led the study, said: ‘You can only successfully activate words that you have learned before you go to sleep.
‘Playing back words you don’t know while you’re asleep has no effect.’
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