Question: Does sleeping after learning something new help you remember it?

Nadine Mirza answered on 15 Nov 2018:

Evidence says yes, for which there could be several reasons!
This could be partly because we may have dreams that sort of reactivate the newly learnt information and integrate it further into long term memory storage, allowing for stronger memory of it. That’s why it’s more likely to improve your memory of something when you enter REM sleep, which is when dreams occur.
During stage 1 and 2 of sleep, which is a bit lighter, the brain also grows through brain plasticity, which basically means the brain’s ability to change, adapt and make new connections based on the information it’s exposed to. If you’ve learnt something new, it is during this stage that the brain would focus on incorporating this into it’s connections.
Of course, more important than sleeping after learning information is making sure you have had enough sleep before attempting to learn the information! https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11154-sleep-well-before-learning-something-new/