Students who study non-stop for exams may remember less

Students who take breaks while studying may remember their lessons longer than those who cram non-stop for exams, a new study suggests.

The study found that mice that ‘cram’ or learn without rest intervals remember less.

Researchers examined the physical changes in the brain cells of mice while “training” their eyes to keep track of a moving image.

They analysed the horizontal optokinetic response, or HOKR, in mice to determine what rest interval was best suited to increasing their memory, ‘Los Angeles Times’ reported.

“One hour of spacing produced the highest memory retention at 24 hours, which lasted for one month,” said lead study author Wajeeha Aziz, a molecular physiologist at the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Japan

Mice were fastened to a device that immobilised their heads and then were made to look at a revolving, checkered image that triggered the eye response.

A high speed camera was used to determine when the tracking began and when it stopped.

While the eyes of lab mice are initially unable to track the revolving image at a high speed, they eventually adapt to faster and faster movement. This tracking ability is retained for a period of time before it is forgotten.

Some of the mice were allowed to rest between training sessions, while others were not.

Clear differences were observed between the mice that were given rest time “spacing” and those that received no breaks, or “massed training.”

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