Children benefit differently from night- and day-time sleep in motor learning

摘要

Highlights ? Sleep assisted the learners as young as 6 years of age in acquiring explicit procedural motor skills. ? In skill learning, the 6-year-olds improved finger tapping speed to a greater extent older ones. ? Sleep resulted in faster motor speed whereas movement accuracy remained unaffected. ? The circadian factors might not affect on-line and off-line motor learning in children. ? There was no noticed interference between the skill tests for children. Abstract Motor skill acquisition occurs while practicing ( on-line ) and when asleep or awake ( off-line ). However, developmental questions still remain about whether children of various ages benefit similarly or differentially from night- and day-time sleeping. The likely circadian effects (time-of-day) and the possible between-test-interference (order effects) associated with children's off-line motor learning are currently unknown. Therefore, this study examines the contributions of over-night sleeping and mid-day napping to procedural skill learning. One hundred and eight children were instructed to practice a finger sequence task using computer keyboards. After an equivalent 11-h interval in one of the three states (sleep, nap, wakefulness), children performed the same sequence in retention tests and a novel sequence in transfer tests. Changes in the movement time and sequence accuracy were evaluated between ages (6–7, 8–9, 10–11 years) during practice, and from skill training to retrievals across three states. Results suggest that night-time sleeping and day-time napping improved the tapping speed, especially for the 6-year-olds. The circadian factor did not affect off-line motor learning in children. The interference between the two counter-balanced retrieval tests was not found for the off-line motor learning. This research offers possible evidence about the age-related motor learning characteristics in children and a potential means for enhancing developmental motor skills. The dynamics between age, experience, memory formation, and the theoretical implications of motor skill acquisition are discussed. ]]>