LL1_HOMEWORK WEEK 5: NOTE MAKING

Full name: Dang Ngoc Bich

ID HUST: 20183192

Using whatever methods you like, make notes on the text “Sleep and memory.”

SLEEP AND MEMORY

In many countries, especially in hot climates, it is the custom to take a short sleep in the afternoon, often
known as a siesta. Now it appears that this habit helps to improve the ability to remember and therefore to
learn. Researchers have known for some time that new memories are stored short-term in an area of the
brain called the hippocampus, but are then transferred to the pre-frontal cortex for long-term storage.
They now believe that this transfer process occurs during a kind of sleep called stage 2 non-REM sleep.
After this has occurred the brain is better able to take in new information, and having a sleep of about 100
minutes after lunch seems to be an effective way to permit this.

Research by a team from the University of California sought to confirm this theory. They wanted to
establish that a short sleep would restore the brain’s ability to learn. A group of about 40 people were
asked to take part in two ‘lessons’: at 12 noon and 6 pm. Half the volunteers were put in a group which
stayed awake all day, while the others were encouraged to sleep for an hour and a half after the first
session. It was found that in the evening lesson the second group were better at remembering what they
had learnt, which indicates that the siesta had helped to refresh their short-term memories.

The most effective siesta seems to consist of three parts: roughly 30 minutes of light sleep to rest the body,
followed by 30 minutes of stage 2 sleep which clears the hippocampus, and finally 30 minutes of REM sleep
which is when dreams are experienced: possibly as a result of the new memories being processed as they
are store in the pre-frontal cortex. This process is believed to be so valuable that some researchers argue
that a siesta can be as beneficial as a full night’s sleep.

New words:

1. Siesta (n) /siˈes.tə/: a rest or sleep taken after lunch, especially in hot countries (ngủ trưa)

 2. Hippocampus (n): is a complex brain structure embedded deep into temporal lobe (thùy thái
dương). It has a major role in learning and memory. => Hồi hải mã
3. Pre-frontal cortex: vỏ não trước trán
4. REM: Rapid eye movement sleep. REM sleep is the lightest stage of sleep, during which a person
may wake easily.

TAKE NOTE

SLEEP AND MEMORY

Siesta’s advantages Siesta can help improve memory => learning

The memory New memories => Hippocampus (short-term) => Pre-frontal cortex (long -term)
processes
Note: Process happens during Stage 2 non-REM sleep

Univ. Calif. Team - 2 groups: A: stayed awake B: had siesta

researched process: - Group B performed better at memory tasks in evening

3 Parts => the most 1st: roughly 30 minutes of light sleep

effective siesta 2nd: 30 minutes of stage 2 sleep
3rd: 30 minutes of REM sleep

Still argue??? a siesta can be as beneficial as a full night’s sleep

Summary
- It is believed that one of the benefits of siesta is to improve the ability to remember and
therefore to learn. A research team from the University of California tried to confirm this theory.
The experiment yielded a positive result. However, a siesta can be as beneficial as a full night’s
sleep is still controversial.