When contemplating the learning of new skilled actions and behaviors, particularly those involved in athletic endeavors, practice is often believed to be the only determinate of improvement. Although repeatedly performing a new task often results in learning benefits, leading to the adage "practice makes perfect", a collection of studies over the past decade has begun to change this concept. Instead, these reports suggest that after initial training, the human brain continues to learn in the absence of further practice, and that this delayed improvement develops during sleep. This article reviews these studies of what is now becoming known as sleep-dependent memory processing and focuses on the effects of sleep in the development of procedural skills. (Author/publisher)
Abstract