Few of us get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep a night, and many who have time to nap don't, for fear of spoiling nighttime sleep. But American researchers say napping doesn't make nodding off at night more difficult—and it may sharpen the mind.
Researchers gave 32 adults thinking and memory tasks over a four-day period. On the third day, they were asked to try to nap between 2 and 4pm. For another four days, they skipped the nap but took the tests. On the day of the nap and the following day, they did better on the tasks, and the daytime snooze had no effect on nighttime sleep quality or quantity.
"You have a biological sleep need for X hours. If you can sleep in the middle of the day, you need it," says Dr Thomas Roth, a sleep-disorders specialist.
Not all of us can take a daily nap. Luckily, squeezing in a siesta on the weekend can also help, say the researchers.
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