Practice + Sleep Makes Perfect: How Sleep Enhances Motor Skill Learning
Does Sleep After Practice Improve Motor Skill Performance?
Yes, and the improvement is equivalent to additional hours of practice while awake. This research demonstrates that sleep after motor skill practice leads to significant performance gains that don’t occur with equivalent periods of wakefulness. The brain consolidates and refines motor memories during sleep, particularly during REM sleep, leading to improved speed, accuracy, and fluency of learned skills. Sleep essentially provides “offline” practice that enhances performance without additional conscious effort.