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Study How people can learn a lot more in their sleep
Learning vocabulary while sleeping sounds like a temptation and is indeed possible, according to a study by scientists from the Universities of Freiburg and Zurich. However, the brain must be able to work in peace and must not be confused by excessive input, the researchers report in the journal "Nature Communication".
About a year ago, researchers from the universities of Freiburg and Zurich were able to demonstrate that auditioning of previously learned foreign-language words during sleep leads to an increased learning effect. In the current study funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the research team headed by biopsychologist Björn Rasch from the University of Freiburg now examined the effect in a sleep laboratory and investigated whether it could be expanded by playing additional information.
The correct method can enable improved vocabulary learning while asleep. (Image: chandlervid85 / fotolia.com) Improved reminder of learned words
While it is not possible to learn something new while asleep, "it is quite effective to have the previously learned foreign-language words replay while you sleep," reports the SNSF. Soft auditioning of previously learned Dutch vocabulary significantly improved the memory of the words. The researchers at the Universities of Zurich and Freiburg were able to prove this a year ago. The new study has now made it clear that the brain must be able to work in peace to achieve the learning effect, according to the SNSF.
Experiments in the sleep laboratory
The scientists had 27 German-speaking subjects learn Dutch words and then sleep in the lab for three hours. Not only did they play the learned vocabulary in front of them, they also tried to give the subjects even more information. For example, the researchers tried to reinforce the effect "by also supplying the German translations in addition to the Dutch words," says the SNSF: In addition, they tested whether forgiveness can be promoted with a wrong translation.
Additional information disturbs the memory processes
Surprisingly, the experiments showed neither an improved memory nor an increased forgetting, explains Björn Rasch in the press release of the SNSF. Although the original effect of about ten percent more remembered words in the sole play of Dutch words in the sleep confirmed. But "playing a second word right after the first seems to disrupt the relevant memory processes that were previously activated," reports Rasch. Apparently, not all the information that the brain receives is important for the learning effect, "but merely a boost to enhance memory," says the SNSF.
Altered activation patterns of brain waves
In the sleep laboratory, the scientists were also able to measure the brain waves of the subjects during the experiments. It has been shown that the varying learning effects led to correspondingly different patterns of activation in the brain. The characteristic waves of sleep and memory (sleep spindles and theta frequency range) were amplified during playback of individual Dutch words. However, these activity patterns completely disappeared as soon as another word followed, reports the SNSF. In follow-up studies, the researchers were also able to show that the period between the word pairs has a significant influence on the effect. If the German translation only after two seconds instead of after 0.2 seconds followed, the disturbing effect disappeared and the gain remained in place, report Rasch and colleagues.
Learn foreign languages more easily in the future?
These results are further evidence that "sleep promotes memory formation," says Rasch. In doing so, the brain spontaneously activates previously learned contents. "By playing, we can improve this effect," emphasizes the Studienleiter.Nun the experiments must necessarily be transferred from the controlled sleep laboratory into everyday life, to see "whether the effect can be achieved under realistic conditions." Should the For example, this could be used to develop an app that makes it easier to learn foreign languages and improve the scores on vocabulary exams. (Fp)