Having a nap 'strengthens emotional memories'

Sleep plays a key role in determining which memories we hang onto and which ones we forget, a new study has found.

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre shows during a snooze the brain will selectively preserve and enhance memories that have the most emotional resonance.

At the same time, the brain will start to diminish the more mundane details of our memories.

The study's author Jessica Payne said: "In order to preserve what it deems most important, the brain makes a trade-off, strengthening the memory's emotional core and obscuring its neutral background."

During the study, participants were shown scenes that depicted a car parked on a street and then a badly crashed car parked on a street.

After a period of sleep, participants were able to describe the scene with the crashed car in most detail as this aroused more emotions.

Without sleep participants struggled to describe either scene.

Earlier this week, scientists in Japan found that the aroma of coffee could help revive sleep-deprived rats.

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