2023-06-21 07:53:09
Early childhood naps and overnight sleep initiate emotional memory processing in preparation for its consolidation.
Al Arabiya.net – Jamal Nazi
Posted on: June 21, 2023: 10:48 AM GST Last updated: June 21, 2023: 12:10 PM GST
A new research study has found that napping is beneficial for memory processing in early childhood. The results of the study, published by Psypost citing the journal Child Development, confirmed that the combination of a nap and an all-night sleep improves the recovery of emotional memories compared to an all-night sleep alone.
Ages 3 to 5 years
The findings highlight the importance of naps in supporting memory and emotional processing in young children. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Massachusetts, sought to investigate the effect of naps on strengthening emotional memory in early childhood. Specifically, the researchers wanted to determine if napping protects emotional memories from interference, is indicative of consolidation, or if napping only prepares memories for consolidation during an overnight sleep.
The study focused on emotional memories in the field of social learning. It turns out that napping in the 3- to 5-year-old preschool age group benefits learning and shows that sleep is really important for processing emotional memory.
Early childhood nap
The lead researcher of the study, Rebecca Spencer, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, explained that the study, entitled: “Early Childhood Nap Begins Emotional Memory Processing in Preparation for Overnight Consolidation,” included 63 participants, between the ages of 33 and 67 months, enrolled in Kindergarten in Western Massachusetts. Eligible children had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and no developmental, learning, sleep, or neurological disturbances were reported.
Drowsiness and mood
The participants were divided into two groups: the intervention group and the non-intervention group. The groups were matched for age, gender, household income, and ethnicity. There were no statistically significant differences in the length of napping or the frequency of napping between the two groups. The children’s self-reported sleepiness and mood were also similar across the napping and waking conditions.
An adapted emotional memory task
The tests used in the study included an emotional memory task adapted from previous research. During the encoding phase, neutral facial images were paired with audio recordings provided through headphones. Audio consists of neutral or intermediate descriptions that refer to faces, with the aim of linking them to neutral, age-appropriate actions.
3 stages you know
The study included three phases of recognition: immediate, delayed and 24-hour recognition. Immediate recognition occurred just following the encoding phase, delayed recognition occurred approximately 30 minutes following the child’s nap or equivalent waking period, and 24-hour recognition occurred the following morning, approximately 24 hours following the encoding phase.
At each recognition stage, children were presented with a simple memory task. They had to choose a familiar face from a pair of faces, which included one face from the coding stage and one new face that was distracted from the same gender.
Immediate benefits
Researcher Spencer and her colleagues discovered that napping (without intervention) provides immediate and post-day benefits to children’s emotional memory performance. In the intervention group, napping showed mixed results depending on the emotional valence of the faces, while in the no-intervention group, consistently napping improved 24-hour memory accuracy. The results indicate that the combination of a nap and a full night’s sleep enhances the recovery of emotional memories compared to a full night’s sleep alone.
Researcher Spencer said that the results of the study show that naps are important in [هذه المرحلة] “It supports memory and emotional processing and these functions cannot be compensated for by sleeping through the night – most babies need naps and sleeping through the night and when it is withheld, their memory and emotional reactivity can be affected.”
Reverse effect of incubation
Spencer advises that a child should not be pressured until they are ready to move into naps, explaining that it is especially important because with the transition to global pre-kindergarten, nurseries do not always allow for a nap opportunity which can be counterproductive to the benefits of nursery. “.
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