Posted on 08/22/2007 3:57:15 PM PDT by blam
Source: University of Adelaide
Date: August 17, 2007
Brains Learn Better At Night
Science Daily — If you think that the idea of a morning person or an evening person is nonsense, then postgraduate student Martin Sale and his colleagues from the University of Adelaide have news for you.
Martin Sale demonstrates the technique to stimulate nerve activity in the brain. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Adelaide)
They have found that the time of day influences your brain’s ability to learn—and the human brain learns more effectively in the evening.
And by identifying at what point in the day the brain is best able to operate, rehabilitation therapy can be targeted to that time, when recovery is maximised.
“Our research has several future applications,” Mr Sale says. “If the brains of stroke patients can be artificially stimulated to improve learning, they may be able to recover better and faster.”
The researchers used a magnetic coil over the head to stimulate nerve activity in the brain, and linked it to an electrical stimulus of the hand.
Mr Sale, from the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science at the University of Adelaide, discovered that the brain’s capacity to control hand movements is influenced by the time of day.
His study found that larger changes are induced when the experiments are performed in the evening, as compared with mornings.
“Such time-of-day variations in function are not unusual. Organisms are adapted to the continual change in light and dark during a 24 hour period to avoid predators and to reproduce faster,” he says.
“For example, the petals of many flowers only open during the day, while some organisms only reproduce at night. In humans, these rhythms are governed by a variety of hormones that control many bodily functions.”
Martin Sale is one of 16 young scientists presenting their research to the public for the first time thanks to Fresh Science, a national program sponsored by the Federal and Victorian Governments which identifies new and interesting research being done by early-career scientists around the country.
I always learn more when I’m asleep. Ask my teachers.
;^)
While I had a job, mornings I was at my peak, daytime I was productive and when evening came, there was no time available for production after two martinis..........
Obviously the studious student neglected the fulltime employed, kid raising, bill paying, grass cutting members of society when he was doing his research...........
All my life mornings make me nauseous.
Bump for the night owl Freepers!
You went to class?
He looks like the guy Dieter From SNL.
Fits me to a T.
So we ‘nightowls’ have it over the ‘larks’? Lol
Guess it depends on just what we are doing with our brains at night!!
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I’m afraid to comment further here
I don’t blame you at all, better go look at PUNS thread instead, lol.
ping
I am fulltime employed, single mom, homeschooler. I have primarily worked evenings and prefer night work because I am impressively more productive. Just recently I switched to a graveyard shift and am loving it.
Mine does work better at night, especially after a few drinks. At least for tasks such as programming. The relaxation seems to help I think.
Seriously, though, I have written some pretty elegant stuff later in the evening, both programmatically and story-wise.
I think it's the quiet time, lack of ringing phones and so on that seems to do the trick. Even the cats settle in and don't need attention after a certain time of night!
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