Short nap Does the afternoon nap really make us fit again?

Have a little nap after lunch - that is what many wish for. But rarely does the professional life a possibility for this. The so-called "Powernapping" has a good reputation, because it should provide new energy and promote concentration. Is that really so? Does the daytime sleep really have as many advantages as commonly accepted? In conversation with the news agency "dpa" clarifies an expert.

A little time-out increases concentration and ensures a good mood
Many people get tired and tired around noon. It is harder to concentrate on the work, the performance decreases, one slows down and mistakes are faster than usual. A short nap often seems very attractive, but many working people do not find the time to do so during their stressful working day. That's a pity, because experts attribute many advantages to naping. Anyone sleeping in between is therefore fit again, can react faster during the rest of the day, work more attentively and with greater concentration, and also have a better mood.

Even in a sitting position, a short nap can be held in the office, providing new energy for the rest of the day. (Image: peterruter / fotolia.com)

For better sleep, avoid nap
For this, however, according to Prof. Ingo Fietze some conditions must be met. For a power nap at noon is only suitable for people who otherwise have a healthy sleep, according to the head of the interdisciplinary sleep medicine center of the Charité University Medicine in Berlin. In addition, the nap only provides new energy, if from the night before sleep is catching up, so someone only slept for about four to six hours. An equally positive effect can be had with shift work and the associated irregular and short sleep times.

Seated position prevents too much sleep
"And it should last at most 40 minutes," emphasizes Prof. Ingo Fietze. Otherwise, you enter the deep sleep phase, which, however, takes 30 to 60 minutes to get your mind going again. In order not to sleep too long, it makes sense to set an alarm or to sleep in the sitting position. Because in this one wakes up within 40 minutes by itself again. If the conditions are right, then a nap will provide you with new energy for three to four hours, says the expert.

Power Nap can improve memory performance
Only recently, researchers from the Saar University in a study demonstrated that a short sleep can also significantly increase the memory performance. As the scientists in the journal "Neurobiology of Learning and Memory" report, they had examined a group of students, who should first learn words and word pairs. While one half of the participants slept afterwards, the other one watched a DVD. It turned out that 50 percent of those who slept for a short time had significantly more word pairs than the control group. "Even a short sleep of 45 to 60 minutes resulted in a fivefold improvement in the retrieval of information from memory," said the neuropsychologist and lead author of the study, Axel Mecklinger, in a statement from the university. (No)