While some students may think it's a good idea to pull an all-nighter before an exam, conventional wisdom may be correct: A good night's sleep may actually be more helpful, according to University of Michigan research. U-M scientists Sara Aton and James Delorme found when mice are sleep-deprived, there is an increase in activity in inhibitory neurons in the hippocampus, an area of the brain essential for navigation, as well as for processing and storing new memories. "Because these neurons limit activity in their neighbors, this physiological response makes it impossible to muster normal neuronal activity in the hippocampal structure," said Aton, an associate professor in the U-M Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and a member of the U-M Center for RNA Biomedicine executive committee. "I always tell my students that an overnighter is not helping them prepare for an exam." The researchers' results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and their findings could have implications for human performance and learning strategies. Previous research has shown there is a sensitive window of time—a few hours following learning—during which mice have to sleep in order to fully consolidate a memory. During this period, neuronal activity must remain undisturbed in the hippocampus, and RNA transcription and translation within the neurons must occur normally.

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