Naps have a bit of a bad reputation; they're usually associated with small children and the hungover. But a new study suggests that daily naps might actually refresh your brain and boost your ability to learn. In fact, the findings suggest that the more time you spend awake, the less active your mind. (Which may be why babies are such information sponges - they spent most of their time asleep.) Live Science (Naps Clear the Mind, Help You Learn) recently tackled this topic, explaining the findings of the study.

So how can naps make you smarter?

The new study was conducted by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, who divided adults into napping and non-napping groups. Participants were then asked to complete a series of learning exercises at various points of the day, and researchers found that those who stayed awake for the entire day became worse at learning while those who napped increased their ability to learn.

Some scientists say that naps are natural, and that we're better suited to sleeping in shorter, more frequent stretches - think about the food grazing strategy versus three big meals. The researchers at UC Berkeley speculate that sleep is required to clear the brain's short-term memory and make room for new information. "It's as though the e-mail inbox in your hippocampus is full and, until you sleep and clear out those fact e-mails, you're not going to receive any more mail. It's just going to bounce until you sleep and move it into another folder," the study's author was quoted in the article. Also, while many people associate deep or dream sleep with restfulness, this memory-refreshing process actually occurs during lighter sleep - the kind you're more likely to experience during an afternoon nap.

So what do you think? Do you nap and does it improve your ability to function? I've never been a napper (partly because it always ruins my already difficult hair and partly because it makes me groggy), but I do always find that I work smartest and most efficiently first thing in the morning - even before coffee.