I am a napper. I am not one of those fearless nappers who can take naps in public. I need some peace and quiet. If I'm exhausted and I'm at home, then I'll take a short nap on the couch. Of course a cuppa joe always helps when I'm away at work or driving. However, I don't find caffeine nearly as refreshing as catching a few zzz's.
A recent study suggests my love of naps is a good idea. In fact, in the small study at the University of California, San Diego, assistant professor of psychiatry and lead author Sara C. Mednick found that an afternoon nap works better to improve physical and mental performance. However, even though the caffeine drinkers didn't perform as well on specified tasks, they felt less sleepy than the nappers. The research was published in the Nov. 3rd issue of Behavioral Brain Research.
Here are a few of the findings according to an article in the NYTimes.com:
- Motor Skills: "Those who had caffeine had worse motor skills than those who napped or had a placebo."
- Perceptual Skills: "In the perceptual task, the nappers did significantly better than either the caffeine or placebo group."
- Verbal Skills: "On the verbal test, nappers were best by a wide margin, and the caffeine consumers did not better than those given a placebo."
