Sleep Deprivation
Undermines Learning & Memory
Sleep & study go together, because without adequate sleep, attention, concentration, and memory all suffer.
The following information is taken from:
The Australian Broadcasting Commission program ‘Health Dimensions’
Presenter George Negus with Dr Nick Carr, Dr Caroline West, Dr Chris Seton.
While we do not know why we need sleep, we do know that if we don’t get enough our health suffers in many ways. This is so in the case of young people – including students – until their physical brain matures. They are particularly vulnerable in their matriculation and tertiary study years.
It has been demonstrated that they require an average of 9-10 hours sleep every night. As Dr West explains: Sleep is food for the brain. Reducing sleep by as little as half an hour has a harmful effect, and the reverse is also true.
Sleep deprivation can led to hyperactivity, which makes it more difficult to sleep. And, like stress, sleep deprivation is cumulative – the loss builds up, and the result can be catastrophic.
Even small amounts of sleep deprivation have a marked effect on study. The victim can drift off into states of inattention, memory is impaired, and attention span shortened. Lack of sleep causes stress which can lead to memory block, as described on page 15 of the Study Guide. (see Study Guide contents)
As Dr West points out, many of today's students spend so much time on the Internet, playing video games, gossiping on the phone, studying, listening to music, that they lose track of time, and the result is sleep deprivation.
Another research group, as well as confirming the above information, said that the worst time to miss out on sleep is certainly the night before an exam. So if you must stay up late to cram, do it at least two nights before the exam
Another rule, to add to your 'Memory-Skills' program, is to plan your time so that you get an average of 9 to 10 hours of sleep every night.
Updated May 2008
Scroll to the bottom of this page for the index and link to all the other pages in this web.
The research suggests that Learning doesn’t merely take place at the moment of experience, but the brain re-patterns the experience to create new associations and clarity while you sleep. So adequate sleep is an essential part of learning and study, and cramming could be a self-defeating strategy. The study suggests it is the brain that does this – but the thrust of this website is, it is the mind, not the brain, that continues to learn unimpeded by the physical senses during sleep. While we sleep, and the physical consciousness is shut down, the non-physical or subconscious part of the mind is freer to create more and more connections between resonating memories stored in the mind, thus supplementing both the learning process and creativity. It is an intuitive activity of the mind: not all learning is through the senses, much of it is intuitive.
If you are interested in following up this intuitive process turn to page 16 of this website, and the Appendix Two of the Study Guide.
Some may be interested in a lecture I gave to the Royal Australian Chemical Institute at a seminar held at the University of Western Australia in September 2004 - Intuition: Where Physics meets Metaphysics. If so, send me your request, name, and email address, and I’ll email you a copy as an attachment. My email is, studious@optusnet.com.au
If you develop a sleeping problem it may be caused by unresolved stress. Practicing the relaxation method provided in the Study Guide should solve the problem.
How to Learn Faster, and Remember More. Energy, Pattern, and Resonance are the Keys to Memory, and Accelerated Learning. The Accelerated Learning Study Guide. Find out about the author of this program of Accelerated Learning. Order your copy of the Guide to Accelerated Learning. Should you listen to music while you study?
Page Seven: The sleep you get each night is important for your brain development, and memory – see what medical experts have to say.
Page Eight: Making use of the knowledge you memorize is part of the learning and understanding process. See what the Nobel Prize winning Physicist, Professor Richard Feynman, has to say about his experience.
Page Nine: Some students have trouble working with numbers, which are the basis of mathematics. The numbers game, NUMERO, has proved a winner worldwide in helping people think faster with numbers.
Page Ten: Want a photographic memory?. This page explains how you can improve yours.
Page Eleven: A Memory Pill? Food for Thought - dietary supplements that can boost brain power and memory.
Page Twelve: READING - Fluent reading is essential for Accelerated Learning Education - Poor Reading explained with exercises to overcome the Problem.
Page Thirteen: STRESS - Its affect on Memory: How stress helps or hinders memory and examinations.
Page Fourteen: JOB SEARCH - CAREER PLANNING - What to consider when planning a career and its future prospects.
A Look inside the Study Guide:
Pages – 15 to 20 – are six ‘windows’ into the Study Guide, how and why it works.
Page Fifteen: Window One: Memory driven by Energy & Resonance
Page Sixteen: Window Two: Brain, Mind & Memory – a ‘Learning Machine’
: Window Three: Mind Maps & Memory Patterns.
Twenty One: News Archive
Page Twenty Two: Training within Industry – Workplace Training – Vocational Training
Page Twenty Three: Truth & Memory - treat everything you see and hear with a healthy scepticism.
Page Twenty Four: Drugs & Memory - Prescription & recreational drugs.
Page Twenty Five: Violence: A growing problem in schools. Violence is Learned Behaviour. Video games and TV can teach violence.
Page Twenty Six: The Evolution of Scientific Thought:
Page Twenty Seven: An e-book on Understanding & Managing Stress
Links Page: Shared links between websites that have common goals and
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