A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that a short workout or a nap may offer comparable memory benefits after severe sleep loss. Participants stayed awake for 30 consecutive hours before being split into exercise, nap, or control groups.
Those who completed a 20-minute aerobic workout scored 21% better on memory tests than the control group, while those who took a 90-minute nap scored 23% better. Researchers found the two interventions worked through different brain mechanisms and said the findings could matter most for workers in health care, transportation, mining, and shift work.
