Scientists Believe They Have Discovered The Secrets To Successfully Retaining A New Skill

Scientists Discovered Secrets Retaining New Skill

Pixabay

If you have ever struggled to retain the skills needed for a task that you just learned or are trying to learn, a new study published in the medical journal NeuroImage may be able to help.

According to this study, when people are attempting to learn a new task or skill, the long-term retention of those skills is increased when immediately followed up by intense exercise of at least 15 minutes, followed by a solid night of sleep.

“Very little research looks at the relationship between exercise, sleep and memory formation, though there is clearly a connection between the three,” said Dr. Marc Roig, a co-author of the study and assistant professor at McGill University’s School of Physical and Occupational Therapy in Montreal.

Scientists Discovered Secrets to Retaining New Skill

Pixabay

The Wall Street Journal reports that for the study, the participants learned how to use a device, then were split in half into two groups.

Immediately afterward, half the participants rested, while the other half biked intensely for 15 minutes. For those who underwent the short bout of exercise, Dr. Roig says, the researchers observed the brain operating with increased efficiency, which may have helped them retain the skill they just learned. The study was the first to show how exercise affects the brain after motor learning.

Eight hours later, the researchers asked all of the participants to repeat the task they had learned, and again, 24 hours later. At the eight-hour mark there was no difference between the group that had exercised and the group that had rested. But 24 hours later, the skill-retention rate was about 25% better for the group that had exercised, compared with the group that had not exercised.

The scientists involved in the study believe that their findings can be used to help those recovering from a stroke or injury, or be used to assist someone learning a new motor skill.

Past research shows that if someone learns a motor skill during the day, the motor cortex, the region of the brain associated with executing movement, is active at night during certain stages of sleep. Dr. Roig says he wants to do a follow-up study to better understand how this contributes to memory formation.

So there you go. The next time you have to learn a new skill or task do your educating then hit the gym, road, treadmill or bike, get a good night’s sleep and boom, your life will get a whole lot easier.