Effect of sleep on gross motor memory.
Sleep has a beneficial effect on consolidation of newly learned fine motor skills. The aim of the current study was to determine whether sleep has a similar beneficial effect on consolidation of gross motor skills. A total of 70 participants were randomly assigned to either a sleep-wake group or a wake-sleep group and were trained on an arm coordinated reaching task as a gross motor skill. Initial training occurred in the evening for the sleep-wake group and in the morning for the Wake-Sleep group. All participants attended two test sessions 12 and 24 hours following the initial training. Gross motor skill performance improved in both groups following a night of sleep but not after a day of wakefulness. These findings may have implications for learning of new gross motor skills in a range of activities from dance to motor rehabilitation.
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. liora.grunstein@sydney.edu.au
Liora
L
Kempler
Jenny L
JL
Richmond
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001132:Arm; D003614:Dance Therapy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000379:methods; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000379:methods; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult