Roller shades may help improve memory after a good night's sleep

Getting a good night's sleep may yield more creativity and better long-term memory during daytime waking hours, say researchers in sleep studies.


According to HealthDay.com, one university researcher found that "inferential ability" - making connections between bits of information by inference - is another benefit of sleeping well.


As Jessica Payne, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame, told HealthDay, "You may learn about a concrete relationship between A and B and between B and C, but you don't see there might be an A and C connection. Our evidence suggests that when you sleep, you learn the hierarchy of information and you learn to extract the more sophisticated relationships."


"The sleeping brain is not stupid," she added. "It's smart, and it's making sophisticated decisions about which memories are important."


Sleep experts say that a major step to gaining a sound night's sleep is to create a "sleep conducive" environment - a comfortable, somewhat cool, dark and quiet room. One way to ensure that is to block light with room-darkening window shades. Roller shades that fit a variety of decors come in blackout fabrics that provide the light control needed to create a darker room.