Sleep is good, but naps are better.

The importance of a good night's sleep is well known (even if its purpose isn't). Sleep deprivation is a common torture device and countless studies have shown people who don’t get their zzz’s suffer.

There have always been plenty of theories on why we sleep, but one in recent years has focused on its effects on learning and memory. It's possible that our brain consolidates and solidifies the learning we've done throughout the day while we sleep. Is that why I don't remember much from college? 

But recent studies have focused on naps as well. It appears that midday naps not only help raise alertness, reduce stress and improve cognitive functioning, it may give a boost in memory and learning as well. Studies are showing that those who take a nap after learning something new not only retained the learning better, but did much better at automatically learning (solving new problems). This indicates better sophisticated memory and creativity.

Perhaps the next time we're trying to cram some information or just trying to get our creative juices flowing, all we need is a little shut eye. Excuse me, I think I feel a case of writer's block coming on.