Study: Napping is good for your brain

According to new research, a midday snooze would be the right thing to do. It can dramatically restore and even boost your brain power afterward.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley took a group of 39 healthy adults and divided them into two groups.

All were given a rigorous learning task at noon designed to test their fact-based memories. Both groups performed at comparable levels on that test. Half of the group then took a 90-minute nap - long enough to go through a full sleep cycle. At 6 p.m. both groups were again given a round of tasks. In this case, the nappers performed significantly better and actually improved in their capacity to learn, according to the study.

Exactly why the nap effect works "is still a mystery," according to Berkeley assistant professor of psychology Matthew Walker, lead investigator of the study.

- The Washington Post