“How Sleep Helps Brain Learn Motor Skills”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130820185657.htm
Scientists have known for some time that sleep (REM sleep, to be specific) helps the brain consolidate what it has learned. However, recent studies have revealed to scientists the possibility that sleep may not only help the brain consolidate what it learned during the course of the day, but also aids the brain in the attaining of motor skills, such as playing the piano and typing.
It appears that brain scans provide the brain with the ability to play the piano beautifully if the player decides to sleep directly after taking a piano lessons. Those that took tests that involved finger tapping abilities directly after sleeping, even if it was only a few hours, showed incredible speed and accuracy. After much testing, this characteristic of sleep has been attributed to fast sigma and delta brainwave oscillations in the Supplementary Motor Area in the middle top portion of the brain.
Despite being a tiny piece of the puzzle that is our brains, this is yet another step towards human understanding of the brain, and of the seemingly endless benefits of sleep.
If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn’t.
rschemistry 