A new study  by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, published on USENET newsgroups has revealed that snatching some daytime shut-eye can improve cognitive abilities. Newsgroup subscribers are reporting that the study suggests taking a brief siesta not only refreshes the mind, but can also make you smarter.  The new findings support previous data from the same research team that pulling an all-nighter – a common practice at college  during midterms and finals –- decreases the ability to cram in new facts by nearly 40 percent, due to a shutdown of brain regions during sleep deprivation.

“Sleep not only rights the wrong of prolonged wakefulness but, at a neurocognitive level, it moves you beyond where you were before you took a nap,” said lead investigator Matthew Walker.

Walker and his team gave 39 students a tricky learning task at noon, and then packed half of them off for forty winks. Later that day, they were all given a new set of tests. The findings come as other reports cited a study which linked insomnia and sleep deprivation to the shrinking of grey matter in the brain. The participants were given another round of tasks at 6 p.m. The researchers said that the no-nap group became worse at learning as the day progressed. The nap takers, however, actually improved their learning capacity, the researchers said.

However, not everyone in the newsgroup community shares that belief, with some experts claiming there’s no clear evidence to suggest daytime naps provide a person with more obvious brain benefit than when they simply get a good dose of sleep once every 24 hours.  The research found that chronic insomnia   compromised brain capacity and had consequences for decision-making.

Walker has presented the preliminary findings on Sunday, Feb. 21, at the annual meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in San Diego, Calif.