Snooze Power: Midday nap may awaken learning potential

It could be midterm exhaustion, loud roommates, my nocturnal cat, or maybe (dare I admit it) laziness, but I love naps. There is something beautiful about midday sleep that I often can't resist. And (drum roll please) this article from ScienceNews tells me that I might shouldn't resist the call of the couch around 2:00 pm.
The article summarizes a study done by psychologists at Harvard on the possible correlation between napping and performance. The researchers challenged college students to detect changes in images for four sessions during a day. The study showed that the performance of the students who didn't nap decreased over the last two sessions while the students who took a 30-minute nap did not show any decrease in performance. In addition, the students who were allowed a 1-hour nap actually improved their performance in ensuing sessions.
One researcher hypothesizes that the rest may prevent overuse of neuronal pathways and allow the brain to consolidate what it has learned. The article also correlates this hypothesis with the fact that many times musicians will experience a breakthrough in learning a complicated composition after a nap or night's sleep. As a musician, I can say from experience that this is absolutely true for me.
This article has definitely relieved some of the guilt I feel for napping. In fact, it has given me significant reason to nap more often and longer. I love science...

http://sciencenews.org/articles/20020601/fob6.asp