A recent study conducted by the Harvard Medical School reveals that napping and dreaming may improve a person’s memory.

In the study, 99 people were asked to navigate through a virtual maze. After completing the maze, half of the group was allowed to nap for 90 minutes. The remaining half of the test group was kept awake and stimulated. Several hours later, both groups were asked to navigate through the maze once again.

The study has revealed that out of the participants that were allowed to sleep performed better in navigating the maze than those who were kept awake. Out of the group that was allowed to nap, those who reached a dream state during their nap had greater success at finding their way through the maze the second time.

The study has been published in the May issue of ‘Current Biology’ magazine.

Robert Stickgold, who helped to conduct and write the study, believes that studying just before sleep may help to improve memory in students. Stickgold has noted that during sleep, the brain is trying to process all of the information received during the wake state and sort out what is important to remember and what information is not.