Daytime Napping and Associative-Memory Retrieval Speed: An Exploratory Behavioral and EEG Study
- 1Department of Psychology, LMU Munich
Abstract
Purpose: To test whether a daytime nap was associated with improved associative-recognition performance relative to monitored wakefulness and to determine where any response-time (RT) difference occurred in the RT distribution. Methods: Fifteen healthy students completed nap and wake sessions in a within-participant design. Each session included word-pair learning, immediate recognition, a 60-min interval, and delayed recognition without additional study. Trial-level log RT was the focal outcome; accuracy and electroencephalography (EEG) were complementary outcomes. Results: The RT Condition-by-Time interaction was significant (b = -0.063, 95% CI [-0.117, -0.009], p = .027). Responses were 6.7% faster after the nap (p = .010) but did not change after wakefulness (p = .704), with the difference concentrated among slower responses. Accuracy showed no condition-specific change (p = .401). Nap EEG showed aperiodic spectral slowing and stronger periodic sigma activity, but no EEG measure explained the RT effect. Conclusions: Daytime napping was associated with faster delayed associative recognition, primarily through attenuation of the slowest responses. The exploratory findings warrant larger confirmatory studies.
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BibTeX
@misc{yang2026daytime,
title = {{Daytime Napping and Associative-Memory Retrieval Speed: An Exploratory Behavioral and EEG Study}},
author = {M. Yang and R. Wang and Y. Guan and H. Zhao and W. Wang and L. Ji and Y. Liu and L. Yan and C. Qu},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.19.760160},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.19.760160v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Daytime Napping and Associative-Memory Retrieval Speed: An Exploratory Behavioral and EEG Study
AU - M. Yang
AU - R. Wang
AU - Y. Guan
AU - H. Zhao
AU - W. Wang
AU - L. Ji
AU - Y. Liu
AU - L. Yan
AU - C. Qu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.19.760160
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.19.760160v1
AB - Purpose: To test whether a daytime nap was associated with improved associative-recognition performance relative to monitored wakefulness and to determine where any response-time (RT) difference occurred in the RT distribution. Methods: Fifteen healthy students completed nap and wake sessions in a within-participant design. Each session included word-pair learning, immediate recognition, a 60-min interval, and delayed recognition without additional study. Trial-level log RT was the focal outcome; accuracy and electroencephalography (EEG) were complementary outcomes. Results: The RT Condition-by-Time interaction was significant (b = -0.063, 95% CI [-0.117, -0.009], p = .027). Responses were 6.7% faster after the nap (p = .010) but did not change after wakefulness (p = .704), with the difference concentrated among slower responses. Accuracy showed no condition-specific change (p = .401). Nap EEG showed aperiodic spectral slowing and stronger periodic sigma activity, but no EEG measure explained the RT effect. Conclusions: Daytime napping was associated with faster delayed associative recognition, primarily through attenuation of the slowest responses. The exploratory findings warrant larger confirmatory studies.
ER -