The study, conducted by the team of Michael Scullin, psychologist sleep at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, participants nap in controlled laboratory conditions. Researchers made ​​them a memory test and blood pressure were measured before and after nap. Upon awakening, younger adults were able to recall more words, while older did not improve at all.

Healthy elderly subjects showed a decrease in blood pressure after the nap. But those suffering from sleep apnea, breathing leaving few seconds during sleep, their blood pressure went up.

Sleep, especially deep sleep, is always related to memory consolidation and health in college-age adults. But older people have the shallow, fragmented sleep, so it is unclear if they get the benefits of sleep than younger people.

In the study, Dr. Scullin and colleagues analyzed adults 18 to 30 years and 60 to 80 Some participants made ​​90-minute naps others simply rested and fully awake.

Young people who napped did better on the memory test than those who simply rested without sleeping. But older recalled approximately the same number of words whether napped or not.

In the study the participants' blood pressure was also measured, as it is an important measure of health status.

The results showed that blood pressure in healthy older adults declined after the siesta, in a 130/75 140/80, although those suffering from sleep apnea, high blood pressure rose after the nap, 140/80 150/90.

Our traditional nap can give us some benefits in terms of memory that nighttime sleep in young people, although these cognitive benefits of napping in older people do not exist, but if it could reduce blood pressure in some people.

 

«Die Hängematte» por Gustave Courbet - The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.Official link to gallery. Disponible bajo la licencia Public domain vía Wikimedia Commons.