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Washington, Sep 24 (PrensaLatina)Sleeping at least an hour after lunch improves memory performance among preschool-age children, according to a recent study published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Sleep researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who studied more than 40 preschoolers found that classroom naps support learning by enhancing memory.

For this study, the researchers taught children games where they had to use their memory and concentration to remember pictures of animals and simple objects.

According to the research, those children who napped performed significantly better on a visual-spatial task in the afternoon after a nap and the next day than those who did not nap.

Experts also used electrodes to monitor the children during their naps and found short bursts of brain activity linked to memory processing, known as sleep spindles.

The research concluded that after a nap, the children have an increase in brain activity associated with learning and the acquisition of new information.