As a person who speaks a foreign language when I saw this article, I felt a feeling of hope because one of the things that people can learn is vocabulary and some foreign words. That caught totally my attention because with this, there are 4 things more that we can improve while we are sleeping all of them related with sounds.
- Foreign words: In a recent experiment, scientists had native German speaker’s start learning Dutch, beginning with some basic vocab. Then they asked them to go to sleep. While they
slept, the researchers played the sound of some of those basic words to one group of them. The other group was exposed to no such sounds. Later on when they were tested on the words, the group who had listened to them overnight was better able to identify and translate them.
- Musical skills: In another study, researchers taught a group of people to play guitar melodies using a technique borrowed from the video game Guitar
Hero. Afterward, all the volunteers got to nap. When they woke up, they all were asked to play the tune again. Unbeknownst to the sleeping participants, one group was played the same melody they’d just learned as they slept. The other group was not. The volunteers who had been played the sound while they napped played the melody far better than those who didn’t hear it as they napped.
- Where you put something: In a 2013 study, researchers had 60 healthy adults use a computer to place a virtual object in a particular location on the screen. When they picked a location and placed the object there, they heard a specific tune. Then, they did two experiments in which they had the participants nap for 1.5 hours. During the first nap, participants dozed as usual,
with no sounds playing. During the second nap, the tune that was played when they were placing the object was played again. Not surprisingly, after either nap, people’s memories faded. But their memories faded less when they had been exposed to the sound that had been played when they had placed the item. Interestingly, their memories were sharper still when they had been told the virtual object was of “high value.”
- How to protect special memories: In a recent study, they found that people who listened to a sound they had linked with a memory — even an unimportant one — were better able to hold on to it. First, they had a group of volunteers place icons on a computer screen in a specific location. The computer was programmed to play a specific sound
when each object was placed. Placing a cat icon played a meowing noise; placing a bell icon prompted a ringing sound. Then, they let participants nap. While one group of them dozed, the scientists played the sounds of some of the icons. The other group heard nothing. People who listened to any of the sounds were better able to recall all of the objects: One sound appeared to help trigger multiple memories.
References: Browind, Erin. 4 Things You Can Literally Learn While You Sleep. Available on: http://www.iflscience.com/brain/4-things-you-can-literally-learn-while-you-sleep/all/
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