Study Reveals 8-Hour Sleep Enhances Language Acquisition
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New Delhi, Dec 5 (NationPress) An eight-hour sleep each night not only rejuvenates the body but also aids the brain in storing and learning a new language, according to a recent study. A team of international researchers, headed by the University of South Australia, published their findings in the Journal of Neuroscience, revealing that the coordination of two electrical events in the sleeping brain significantly enhances our ability to remember new vocabulary and intricate grammatical structures.
In an experiment involving 35 native English-speaking adults, scientists monitored the brain activity of participants learning a miniature language called Mini Pinyin, which is based on Mandarin yet follows grammatical rules similar to English.
Mini Pinyin comprises 32 verbs and 25 nouns, including 10 human entities, 10 animals, and five objects. In total, the language offers 576 unique sentences.
Half of the participants studied Mini Pinyin in the morning and returned in the evening for a memory evaluation. The other half learned Mini Pinyin in the evening and slept in the laboratory overnight while their brain activity was recorded.
Researchers assessed their progress the following morning, finding that those who had slept performed significantly better than those who remained awake.
“This coupling likely reflects the transfer of learned information from the hippocampus to the cortex, enhancing long-term memory storage,” stated lead researcher Dr. Zachariah Cross.
The sleep-related improvements were linked to the synchronization of slow oscillations and sleep spindles—brainwave patterns that align during NREM sleep.
“Post-sleep neural activity revealed distinctive patterns of theta oscillations tied to cognitive control and memory consolidation, suggesting a robust connection between sleep-induced brainwave coordination and learning outcomes,” Dr. Cross added.
Researcher Dr. Scott Coussens emphasized that the study highlights the essential role of sleep in mastering complex linguistic rules.
“By illustrating how specific neural processes during sleep bolster memory consolidation, we offer a fresh perspective on how sleep disruptions affect language learning,” Dr. Coussens noted. “Sleep is not merely restful; it is an active, transformative state for the brain.”
The findings may also hold promise for treatments aimed at individuals with language-related impairments, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and aphasia, who tend to experience greater sleep disturbances than other adults.
