Memory and creativity.Sleeping helps to consolidate memory, but also to reorganize information and extract the most relevant data, according to a recent study from the University of Notre Dame (USA). According to the authors, in this way sleep favors us to producenew and more creative ideas.
More attractive.Sleeping well is an effective beauty treatment, according to a study published in the journalBritish Medical Journal. Its authors, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm (Sweden), showed that people who have had a good night’s sleep aremore attractive and healthierthan people who have been sleep deprived.
A Guitar Hero star.A study conducted at the University of Ontario (Canada) last year showed that, after a good night’s sleep, a person improves their ability to learn complex motor tasks such as those required to play the popular video gameGuitar Hero III. Specifically, the number of notes learned increases up to 7% if we rest.
No more no less.Sleeping less than 6-8 hours can be fatal to your health, according to a recent study published in the journalSleep, who has estimated thatreducing night’s rest increases the risk of premature death by 12%. Sleeping nine or more hours a day is not detrimental to health, but it is often an indicator of serious illness, the authors suggest. For their part, scientists from the University of California, San Diego (USA), have shown thatthe secret to a long life for women is to sleep 6.5 hours.
Against obesity.Nighttime rest affects weight and body mass index (BMI), as Nathaniel Watson of the Sleep Institute at the University of Washington (USA) demonstrated in studies with twins. Specifically, sleeping more than necessary can increase the BMI by 0.2, while lack of sleep increases it to 1.4, favoring obesity and overweight.
Nap for the heart.Taking a 45-minute nap during the day can have benefits for the cardiovascular system, American researchers showed in a study published in the journalInternational Journal of Behavioral Medicine. Specifically, the experiments showed that blood pressure stays lower if we nap versus if we don’t, especially when subjects are subjected to psychological stress. And that thehypertension problems are reduced.
