A study finds that although napping and REM sleep can enhance learning in typically-developing children, children with Down syndrome, who exhibit reduced REM sleep, experience learning losses after a nap. Previous research has found that sleep and napping are beneficial for learning, and memory consolidation and stabilization are thought to occur during sleep states, including slow wave sleep and REM. However, the effects of napping on atypically-developing populations are unclear. Goffredina Spanò, Jamie Edgin, and colleagues compared 24 typically-developing children, ages 2 to 4 years, with 25 children with Down syndrome, ages 3 to 7 years, on a language learning task. Each child was shown three words associated with object shapes, and later tested on their recall of the association between the object and the shape. In typically-developing children, recall was enhanced following napping, and performance on the test was correlated with the amount of time spent in REM sleep. Children with Down syndrome, however, displayed increased recall after a 4-hour awake period but impaired recall following napping. The effects of napping on both groups persisted 24 hours later, after a full night's sleep. According to the authors, the results both provide further evidence of the benefits of napping for typically-developing preschoolers and a possible mechanism for poor memory skills in developmental disorders.
Article #18-11488: "REM sleep in naps differentially relates to memory consolidation in typical preschoolers and children with Down syndrome," by Goffredina Spanò, Rebecca Gómez, Bianca Demara, Mary Alt, Stephen Cowen, and Jamie Edgin.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Jamie Edgin, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; tel: 520-360-9021; e-mail: jedgin@email.arizona.edu; Goffredina Spanò, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; e-mail: goffredina.spano@gmail.com
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