Forgetful? Sleep on it
Study says sleep boosts ability to remember recent events

CanWest News Service
Published: Monday, July 31, 2006

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Sleep benefits an individual's ability to recall recently learned memories, say researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the University of Pennsylvania.

This finding is particularly important for individuals with mentally demanding lifestyles, such as doctors, medical residents and college students, who often do not get adequate amounts of sleep. The study appears in Current Biology.

Sixty participants (33 women and 27 men) between the ages of 18 and 39, who did not use prescription or illicit drugs and did not have known sleep disorders or abnormal sleep patterns, were chosen for the study. Forty-eight individuals were assigned to one of four groups: sleep before testing, wake before testing, sleep before testing with interference, or wake before testing with interference.

All groups learned 20 paired words, which had no obvious semantic relationships. Twelve hours later, everyone was tested for recall by completing a cued-recall task; however, individuals within the interference groups learned a second list of 20 word pairs before testing. Participants were prevented from rehearsing the new words after learning the list. Read more

Crack me up

Crack Me Up

Humor in relationships is touchy: Laughter can bring you closer, or it can pack a cruel punch. How to avoid the pitfalls and use humor to strengthen your bond. By :Polly Schulman

"The first time I ever slept with Jen, I said afterwards, 'So, do I get the job?' " says Steve Bartoo, 37, an information technology specialist. Rather than throw him out, she laughed. "I never thought I'd be comfortable enough with anybody to be funny about that—where it's part of the magic," he says.

"For years my friend Justin kept telling me, 'You've got to meet Steve, he's hilarious,' " says Jennifer Pinkowski, 33, a writer. "Turns out he was right. Steve is the funniest person I know. That's a big reason why I married him."

Steve and Jen fell in love by cracking each other up—an experience we all seem to be searching for. When people list the qualities they desire in a partner, sense of humor consistently shows up near the top. Whether dating or married, the more a person likes his or her partner's sense of humor, the more satisfied he or she will be with the relationship. As the sultry cartoon character Jessica Rabbit said when asked what she saw in her husband, funny-bunny Roger: "He makes me laugh."

But a sense of humor hardly solves all problems of the heart, cautions Rod Martin, a psychologist at the University of Western Ontario. On the contrary, humor in relationships can cut both ways. Funny people, like babes and hunks, seem more attractive at first. Over time, though, the thrill wears off. Besides, relying on jokes to work through deep relationship dynamics can be dangerous: Humor can pack a nasty punch... read more...

Humor As A Tool