Every bad student knows that trying to prepare for an exam by studying on the last day does not give good results. Science says that you have to study taking long pauses.
In the study of memory, there is an important theory called Spacing effect. It was formulated by the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus more than a century ago, and the most curious thing of all is that it also works in animals.
This theory states that taking long pauses when trying to memorize something strengthens long-term memory. That is, it is remembered for a longer time.
This effect has been proven by experiments numerous times in the last century, but now neuroscientists Annet Glas and Pieter Goltstein, they have shown it through the study of neurons in mice.
In your experiment, measured the neuronal activity of mice who went through a maze in search of a piece of chocolate, three times in a row.
The chocolate was always in the same place, so that the mice could memorize it.
In various sessions they did temporary pauses between each test, measuring neuronal activity.
They discovered that taking breaks did not improve memory on the same dayBut yes when they started in the same maze the next day. Namely, improved long-term memory, not the immediate one.
Neural analysis found that the long pauses made the brain notice the chain of neurons that they used to remember the route of the labyrinth. When they returned the next day they used most of that block of neurons, so they remembered the way and found it more easily.
They also discovered that the pauses have to last a certain amount of time: If they were too short or too long, the memory boosting effect was lost.
In the case of mice, the optimal pauses were between 30 and 60 minutes between tests.
So you know, if you have to study, instead of trying to memorize everything at once on the last day, do it by interspersing breaks. What you learn will remain etched in your memory for longer …