Sleep, a necessary time for learning

Session moderated by Stanislas Dehaene.
Each 30' paper will be followed by a 10' discussion.

Abstract

Too often considered a waste of time in modern society, sleep is much more than a period of rest. It is vital and fundamental to development, physical and emotional health, learning and interpersonal relationships, at every stage of life. While technological advances are pushing us to delay our bedtime, our sleep requirements have hardly changed over the last hundred years. Regular sleep, sufficient in quantity and quality, is a guarantee of our ability to function properly, and in particular our capacity to memorize and consolidate learning. A child who sleeps well is more likely to learn well. Even if sleep remains primarily a behavior that takes place in the intimacy of the family sphere, the main repercussions are visible in the classroom : falling asleep, conflicts, lack of attention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, absenteeism). Evaluations of sleep education programs, or experiments involving changes to teenagers' reading schedules, have produced significant results on sleep and learning, encouraging the widespread use of such initiatives.

Stéphanie Mazza

Stéphanie Mazza is Professor of Neuropsychology at INSPE in Lyon. She conducts her research at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Institut national du sommeil et de la vigilance. Her work focuses on the link between sleep and performance. She is particularly interested in the impact of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance : memorization, attention, stress management. She is leading a research project evaluating the impact of sleep and sleep disorders on learning in children and adolescents. She has co-constructed with school teachers a sleep education program for primary school children.