REM sleep REM sleep (Dream sleep) – About 70 to 90 minutes after falling asleep, you enter REM sleep, where dreaming occurs. Eyes move rapidly. Breathing is shallow. Heart rate and blood pressure increase. Arm and leg muscles are paralyzed. Just as deep sleep renews the body, REM sleep renews the mind. REM sleep plays a key role in learning and memory. During REM sleep, your brain consolidates and processes the information you’ve learned during the day, forms neural connections that strengthen memory, and replenishes its supply of neurotransmitters, including feel-good chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine that boost your mood during the day.View full size

REM sleep

REM sleep (Dream sleep) – About 70 to 90 minutes after falling asleep, you enter REM sleep, where dreaming occurs. Eyes move rapidly. Breathing is shallow. Heart rate and blood pressure increase. Arm and leg muscles are paralyzed.

Just as deep sleep renews the body, REM sleep renews the mind. REM sleep plays a key role in learning and memory. During REM sleep, your brain consolidates and processes the information you’ve learned during the day, forms neural connections that strengthen memory, and replenishes its supply of neurotransmitters, including feel-good chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine that boost your mood during the day.
People accumulate sleep debt surreptitiously. Studies show that such short-term sleep deprivation leads to a foggy brain, worsened vision, impaired driving, and trouble remembering. Long-term effects include obesity, insulin resistance, and heart disease. And most Americans suffer from chronic deprivation. Ref: William C. Dement, founder of the Stanford University Sleep Clinic. View full size

People accumulate sleep debt surreptitiously. Studies show that such short-term sleep deprivation leads to a foggy brain, worsened vision, impaired driving, and trouble remembering. Long-term effects include obesity, insulin resistance, and heart disease. And most Americans suffer from chronic deprivation.

Ref: William C. Dement, founder of the Stanford University Sleep Clinic. 

Children whose mothers nurture them have brains with a larger hippocampus—a region vital for learning and memory. The research by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists at Washington University in St. Louis is the first to show that changes in this critical region of children’s brain anatomy are linked to a mother’s nurturing. Joan L. Luby, professor of child psychiatry says. “Whether a parent was considered a nurturer was not based on that parent’s own self-assessment. Rather, it was based on their behavior and the extent to which they nurtured their child under these challenging conditions.” The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,View full size

Children whose mothers nurture them have brains with a larger hippocampus—a region vital for learning and memory. The research by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists at Washington University in St. Louis is the first to show that changes in this critical region of children’s brain anatomy are linked to a mother’s nurturing.

Joan L. Luby, professor of child psychiatry says. “Whether a parent was considered a nurturer was not based on that parent’s own self-assessment. Rather, it was based on their behavior and the extent to which they nurtured their child under these challenging conditions.”

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,

Can practice, practice, practice alone produce greatness? New research finds working memory capacity may be the deciding factor between being good or being great. Researchers found that people with higher working memory capacity, which is closely related to general intelligence, outperformed those with lower levels—and even in individuals with extensive experience and knowledge of the task at hand. “Working memory capacity can still predict performance in complex domains such as music, chess, science, and maybe even in sports that have a substantial mental component such as golf.” Zach Hambrick, associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University.View full size

Can practice, practice, practice alone produce greatness? New research finds working memory capacity may be the deciding factor between being good or being great.

Researchers found that people with higher working memory capacity, which is closely related to general intelligence, outperformed those with lower levels—and even in individuals with extensive experience and knowledge of the task at hand.

“Working memory capacity can still predict performance in complex domains such as music, chess, science, and maybe even in sports that have a substantial mental component such as golf.” Zach Hambrick, associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University.