Awake and Learning: Memory storage begins before bedtime

Learning isn’t a task that just happens overnight. While research has suggested that a good night’s sleep aids in memory storage, some memory is processed while a person is still awake, a new study finds.

Previous research in both people and animals has found that the parts of the brain engaged in learning a task reactivate during sleep, perhaps transferring a memory from short-term to long-term storage (SN: 10/11/03, p.