Daily HealthBeat Tip

Pulling all nighters

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

A new study shows it's not necessarily practice that makes perfect, but practice with a good night's sleep.

In a study supported by the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Matthew Walker of Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center had people learn finger movements similar to playing a piano scale. Walker tested some of them after a good night's sleep and others 12 hours later with no sleep.

He found proper rest can improve memory by 20 to 30 percent and not getting a good night's sleep can be detrimental.

"You need to get a good night of sleep after you've learned something. If you don't get that good night's sleep, if you pull the all nighter . . . both of them cause catastrophic deficits in terms of memory." (nine seconds)

The study in the journal Neuroscience used imaging to see what was happening in the brain. It found that a part of the brain that controls speed and accuracy was more active after people had a good night's sleep.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: September 20, 2005

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