Australian Research Says Short Naps Are Beneficial
KARUNA SHINSHO, ASIA TONIGHT: If you've ever felt like you just really needed a nap in the middle of the day, you're not alone. Australian researchers say naps can be beneficial. Denise Dillon has the details.</s>DENISE DILLON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sneaking in a few Zs in the middle of the day isn't a sign of laziness. Researchers say it is a smart move. Scientists in Australia have spent the past two years studying the effectiveness of naps from 10 minutes to an hour in duration. They studied the electrical brain impulses of volunteers while they slept and discovered that there is nothing like an afternoon nap to recharge, even if it's a short nap.</s>DR. LEON LACK, FLINDERS UNIVERSITY: We found that, indeed, the brief nap of 10 minutes was very recuperative. People felt an immediate improvement of their alertness after the nap, and for the hour of testing after the nap, their alertness was maintained at a good level and certainly higher than before the nap.</s>DILLON: While they expected to see benefits of dozing, researchers say they were surprised about the length of naps.</s>AMBER TIETZEL, RESEARCHER: I guess it's intuitive that you would expect the longer the nap, the better you would feel. So it was very surprising that we found the 10-minute nap to be more beneficial at least in terms of that period immediately following the nap.</s>DILLON: Researchers say most people in the world already take advantage of a midday break.</s>LACK: If you think of India and China and most of Africa, it really accounts for a majority of the world's population has sleep in the middle of the day. And if you look back in history, our culture as well, when we were more of the world culture, had a bit of a rest in the middle of the day.</s>DILLON: So go ahead and grab an extra 40 winks, or even 10. It just may make you feel better. Denise Dillon, CNN.