When you’ve pulled an all-nighter to finish your paper…
According to Sara C. Mednick, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, and author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life, you can treat sleep deprivation by daytime napping. “You can get incredible benefits from 15 to 20 minutes of napping,” she says. “You reset the system and get a burst of alertness and increased motor performance. That’s what most people really need to stave off sleepiness and get an energy boost.”
The benefits you receive from napping depend on the length of the nap. For example, the 20-minute power nap (a.k.a. the stage 2 nap) is known to improve alertness and motor learning skills like typing or playing an instrument.
A nap longer than 20 minutes will likely help boost memory and enhance creativity. This is known as slow-wave sleep (napping for approximately 30 to 60 minutes) and is good for decision-making skills, such as memorizing vocabulary or recalling directions.
Can’t I just drink coffee for the same results?
Nope, Mednick says, because caffeine can decrease memory performance. So you may feel more energized (or even shaky), but you are also prone to making more mistakes.
Why is napping so good for me?
That all nighter has left you with a build-up of a sleep-inducing chemical called adenosine, likely leaving you feeling groggy and un-alert. The first 20 minutes of a nap will lead to the breakdown of the adenosine that has accumulated in your body. Elsewhere in the body, your adrenal glands are readying a supply of cortisol, a stimulant, to help you feel more alert when you wake up.
Also, your immune system, which has been suppressed by the lack of rest, begins to reset itself back to normal. Upon waking up from your nap, your brain releases a flood of chemicals that shut down its sleep center and jump-start your body. Your rested, awakened brain cells are now more capable and active. And, thanks partly to low adenosine levels, you feel refreshed.
Sources:
Webmd.com
Womenshealthmagazine.com (also photo cred)