London – Reading bedtime stories to young children won’t just help them nod off – it could also make them brainier.
Research found that babies could only remember new games if they had a good sleep shortly after being shown them.
In other words, sleeping like a baby seems to be crucial to memory and learning and could help youngsters retain the educational benefits from books.
The University of Sheffield researchers studied 216 babies aged between six months and a year.
Half of them watched someone repeatedly hold up a puppet, remove a mitten from its hand, shake it so that a bell hidden inside it rang, then replace the mitten. Some babies were sleepy and nodded off afterwards, but others stayed awake.
Four hours later, the babies had to try to repeat the series of actions themselves.
Those that had slept for at least half an hour in the interim remembered some of the game. But those that hadn’t slept or had only had a very short nap did no better than babies that hadn’t been given a demonstration.
Tested again 24 hours later, only those that had slept for at least half an hour shortly after the demonstration did well. This, say the researchers, shows babies need to fall asleep soon after being given new information if they are to retain it.
Another interpretation is that babies learn best when they are sleepy.
Researcher Dr Jane Herbert said: “Until now, people have presumed that the best time for infants to learn is when they are wide-awake... but our results show that activities occurring just before infants have a nap can be particularly valuable.”
She said the results demonstrate ‘just how valuable activities like reading books with young children just before they go down to sleep can be’.
Daily Mail