By Matthew D. Mingrone, M.D. of eOs Sleep
It has been common scientific knowledge for some time that when people sleep, our brains consolidate the information we subconsciously absorb during the day, and process it into explicit, conscious knowledge.
Both children and adults do this, but an interesting new study out of Germany shows that during sleep, children's brains convert subconsciously absorbed information—known as implicit learning—into active, useful knowledge even more effectively than adult brains do.
Implicit learning is typically considered subconscious learning; the acquisition of knowledge independent of conscious attempts to learn. For example, a child can say a sentence without understanding the rules of English grammar.
Explicit learning, on the other hand, is deliberate, conscious learning; the active and aware acquisition of skills and/or knowledge. Typically, explicit learning is accompanied by “meta-awareness,” a person can explain how they acquired the skill and/or knowledge.
When we sleep, implicit knowledge becomes explicit memory, making it easier for us to recall and use the information we have previously absorbed.
In a new study conducted by Dr. Ines Wilhelm of the University of Tübingen's Institute for Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology in Germany, and colleagues, the researchers studied 35 children between the ages of 8 and 11 years old, as well as 37 adults between 18 and 35.
For the test, the subjects were asked to press a sequence of buttons after they lit up. Half of the subjects did the test before sleep, the other half after sleep. They were then asked to recall the sequence of buttons/lights 10 to 12 hours later. Following a night of sleep or a day awake, the subjects’ memories were tested.
An article explaining the results of the study, entitled, “The sleeping child outplays the adult's capacity to convert implicit into explicit knowledge,” is published in the February 24, 2013 online edition of Nature Neuroscience.
The authors observed that after a night’s sleep, both age groups—8 to 11 and 18 to 35—remembered a larger sequence of buttons/lights than those who did not sleep. It also showed the children were better at it than the adults—almost all of the children could remember the sequence they had pressed perfectly, while adults experienced smaller gains.
Lead author Dr. Ines Wilhelm wrote, “In children, much more efficient explicit knowledge is generated during sleep from a previously learned implicit task. And the children’s extraordinary ability is linked with the large amount of deep sleep they get at night. The formation of explicit knowledge appears to be a very specific ability of childhood sleep, since children typically benefit as much or less than adults from sleep when it comes to other types of memory tasks.”
Children absorb massive amounts of information every day. They also generally sleep longer and deeper, and experience three times more slow-wave sleep and higher electrical activity in the brain during sleep than adults. This may help them “convert” the information they take in every day into knowledge they can recall and use. This is yet another important reason why parents should ensure their children are getting enough uninterrupted sleep every night.
It has been common scientific knowledge for some time that when people sleep, our brains consolidate the information we subconsciously absorb during the day, and process it into explicit, conscious knowledge.
Both children and adults do this, but an interesting new study out of Germany shows that during sleep, children's brains convert subconsciously absorbed information—known as implicit learning—into active, useful knowledge even more effectively than adult brains do.
Implicit learning is typically considered subconscious learning; the acquisition of knowledge independent of conscious attempts to learn. For example, a child can say a sentence without understanding the rules of English grammar.
Explicit learning, on the other hand, is deliberate, conscious learning; the active and aware acquisition of skills and/or knowledge. Typically, explicit learning is accompanied by “meta-awareness,” a person can explain how they acquired the skill and/or knowledge.
When we sleep, implicit knowledge becomes explicit memory, making it easier for us to recall and use the information we have previously absorbed.
In a new study conducted by Dr. Ines Wilhelm of the University of Tübingen's Institute for Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology in Germany, and colleagues, the researchers studied 35 children between the ages of 8 and 11 years old, as well as 37 adults between 18 and 35.
For the test, the subjects were asked to press a sequence of buttons after they lit up. Half of the subjects did the test before sleep, the other half after sleep. They were then asked to recall the sequence of buttons/lights 10 to 12 hours later. Following a night of sleep or a day awake, the subjects’ memories were tested.
An article explaining the results of the study, entitled, “The sleeping child outplays the adult's capacity to convert implicit into explicit knowledge,” is published in the February 24, 2013 online edition of Nature Neuroscience.
The authors observed that after a night’s sleep, both age groups—8 to 11 and 18 to 35—remembered a larger sequence of buttons/lights than those who did not sleep. It also showed the children were better at it than the adults—almost all of the children could remember the sequence they had pressed perfectly, while adults experienced smaller gains.
Lead author Dr. Ines Wilhelm wrote, “In children, much more efficient explicit knowledge is generated during sleep from a previously learned implicit task. And the children’s extraordinary ability is linked with the large amount of deep sleep they get at night. The formation of explicit knowledge appears to be a very specific ability of childhood sleep, since children typically benefit as much or less than adults from sleep when it comes to other types of memory tasks.”
Children absorb massive amounts of information every day. They also generally sleep longer and deeper, and experience three times more slow-wave sleep and higher electrical activity in the brain during sleep than adults. This may help them “convert” the information they take in every day into knowledge they can recall and use. This is yet another important reason why parents should ensure their children are getting enough uninterrupted sleep every night.
