Comparable memory retention following brief periods of wakeful rest and napping: A pilot study

Wakeful rest and sleep are both known to support memory retention. However, it remains unclear whether the benefits of wakeful rest are comparable to those of an equivalent period of sleep. To address this question, this study examined whether wakeful rest and sleep produce comparable behavioral effects and electrophysiological activity patterns. Ninety participants completed an incidental picture-encoding task and were then assigned to one of three 20-min delay conditions: wakeful rest, gameplay, or napping. After the delay, all participants completed an old/new recognition test that included lure pictures resembling previously encoded items. EEG was recorded during recognition. Behavioral results showed better general item memory after wakeful rest and napping than after gameplay, with no significant difference between the wakeful rest group (RG) and the nap group (NG). Bayesian equivalence testing provided moderate evidence in favor of comparable memory performance between the RG and NG. ERP analyses revealed similar FN400 and LPC patterns in both groups. Moreover, multivariate pattern analysis indicated broadly comparable old versus new decoding performance between the RG and NG, and cross-state decoding suggested that classification-relevant neural activity patterns were partially generalizable across the two groups. Overall, over a short post-encoding interval, general recognition memory retention following wakeful rest was comparable to that observed following a light nap.