Highlights – December 2015

A new study suggests that receiving rewards as you learn can help cement new facts and skills in your memory, particularly when combined with a daytime nap. The findings from the University of Geneva, published in the journal eLife, reveal that memories associated with a reward are preferentially reinforced by sleep. Even a short nap, after a period of learning, is beneficial.

Rewards seem to act as a kind of tag, sealing information into the brain during learning. During sleep, that information is favorably consolidated over in.....