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June 12, 2019

Bard Alum, Cognitive Scientist Sara Mednick Makes the Case for Adding a Midday Nap to Sixth Grade

A new study of nearly 3,000 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders links a midday nap with greater happiness and self-control, fewer behavioral problems, and a higher IQ—a finding that was particularly evident in sixth graders.

Many lab studies across all ages have demonstrated that naps can show the same magnitude of improvement as a full night of sleep on discrete cognitive tasks. Here, we had the chance to ask real-world, adolescent schoolchildren questions across a wide range of behavioral, academic, social, and physiological measures.

-Sara Mednick

 

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