Systematic review and meta-analyses on the effects of afternoon napping on cognition.
Published
August 31, 2022
Journal
Sleep medicine reviews
PICOID
10a824ef
DOI
Citations
12
Keywords
Age effects, Cognition, Memory, Nap, Vigilance
Copyright
Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Patients/Population/Participants
60 samples from 54 studies
Intervention
napping
Comparison
no napping
Outcome
improved cognitive performance
Abstract
P
I
C
O
Naps are increasingly considered a means to boost cognitive performance. We quantified the cognitive effects of napping in 60 samples from 54 studies. 52 samples evaluated memory. We first evaluated effect sizes for all tests together, before separately assessing their effects on memory, vigilance, speed of processing and executive function. We next examined whether nap effects were moderated by study features of age, nap length, nap start time, habituality and prior sleep restriction. Naps showed significant benefits for the total aggregate of cognitive tests (Cohen's d = 0.379, CI