Exercise Could Help Your Memory if You’re Sleep Deprived

A small study followed healthy adults who were kept awake for 30 hours.

If you’re running on no sleep, a quick workout could give your memory a boost.

A small study followed healthy adults who were kept awake for 30 hours. Some took a 90-minute nap, while others did 20 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous cycling. They then viewed a series of images while researchers recorded their brain activity. Three days later, both groups performed better on a memory test than participants who did neither.

Researchers say the exercise appeared to help the brain process memories more efficiently. But they stress exercise does not replace sleep or restore other skills like judgment and reaction time.