full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Sara C. Mednick: How long should your naps be?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


OK, but will a nap make you feel better? Well, that depends on a few things— especially what stgaes of sleep the nap includes.

Take a 30 minute nap, which consists mainly of Stage 2 sleep. Stage 2 sleep is associated with long-term potentiation, a porescs that's thought to sgetnrethn the synapses between nunoers, which is essential for learning. A 20 to 30 minute nap spots short of Stage 3′s deep sleep, making it relatively easy to wake up from.

A 30 to 60 minute nap, meanwhile, has the benefits of sgate 2 sleep and also takes you into the deeper selep of Stage 3. During Stage 3, multiple brain areas work together to transfer imnrafootin from short-term meormy storage to long-term storage, stabilizing and strengthening long-term memory by coupling sleep spindles with slow waves. Stage 3 is the most dlfuicfit stage to wake up from. So while a 30 to 60 minute nap can have cognitive benefits, those benefits often don’t kick in until about 15 minutes after waking up.

Open Cloze


OK, but will a nap make you feel better? Well, that depends on a few things— especially what ______ of sleep the nap includes.

Take a 30 minute nap, which consists mainly of Stage 2 sleep. Stage 2 sleep is associated with long-term potentiation, a _______ that's thought to __________ the synapses between _______, which is essential for learning. A 20 to 30 minute nap _____ short of Stage 3′s deep sleep, making it relatively easy to wake up from.

A 30 to 60 minute nap, meanwhile, has the benefits of _____ 2 sleep and also takes you into the deeper _____ of Stage 3. During Stage 3, multiple brain areas work together to transfer ___________ from short-term ______ storage to long-term storage, stabilizing and strengthening long-term memory by coupling sleep spindles with slow waves. Stage 3 is the most _________ stage to wake up from. So while a 30 to 60 minute nap can have cognitive benefits, those benefits often don’t kick in until about 15 minutes after waking up.

Solution


  1. information
  2. memory
  3. sleep
  4. difficult
  5. neurons
  6. process
  7. strengthen
  8. stage
  9. stops
  10. stages

Original Text


OK, but will a nap make you feel better? Well, that depends on a few things— especially what stages of sleep the nap includes.

Take a 30 minute nap, which consists mainly of Stage 2 sleep. Stage 2 sleep is associated with long-term potentiation, a process that's thought to strengthen the synapses between neurons, which is essential for learning. A 20 to 30 minute nap stops short of Stage 3′s deep sleep, making it relatively easy to wake up from.

A 30 to 60 minute nap, meanwhile, has the benefits of Stage 2 sleep and also takes you into the deeper sleep of Stage 3. During Stage 3, multiple brain areas work together to transfer information from short-term memory storage to long-term storage, stabilizing and strengthening long-term memory by coupling sleep spindles with slow waves. Stage 3 is the most difficult stage to wake up from. So while a 30 to 60 minute nap can have cognitive benefits, those benefits often don’t kick in until about 15 minutes after waking up.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
sleep cycles 2
enter stage 2
sleep stage 2
sleep spindles 2
brain activity 2
minute nap 2
deep sleep 2


Important Words


  1. areas
  2. benefits
  3. brain
  4. cognitive
  5. consists
  6. coupling
  7. deep
  8. deeper
  9. depends
  10. difficult
  11. easy
  12. essential
  13. feel
  14. includes
  15. information
  16. kick
  17. learning
  18. making
  19. memory
  20. minute
  21. minutes
  22. multiple
  23. nap
  24. neurons
  25. potentiation
  26. process
  27. short
  28. sleep
  29. slow
  30. spindles
  31. stabilizing
  32. stage
  33. stages
  34. stops
  35. storage
  36. strengthen
  37. strengthening
  38. synapses
  39. takes
  40. thought
  41. transfer
  42. wake
  43. waking
  44. waves
  45. work