Mental rotation: effects of gender, training and sleep consolidation.
A wide range of experimental studies have provided evidence that a night of sleep contributes to memory consolidation. Mental rotation (MR) skill is characterized by fundamental aspect of both cognitive and motor abilities which can be improved within practice sessions, but little is known about the...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2013-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3609807?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1819082539647631360 |
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| author | Ursula Debarnot Pascale Piolino Jean-Claude Baron Aymeric Guillot |
| author_facet | Ursula Debarnot Pascale Piolino Jean-Claude Baron Aymeric Guillot |
| author_sort | Ursula Debarnot |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A wide range of experimental studies have provided evidence that a night of sleep contributes to memory consolidation. Mental rotation (MR) skill is characterized by fundamental aspect of both cognitive and motor abilities which can be improved within practice sessions, but little is known about the effect of consolidation after MR practice. In the present study, we investigated the effect of MR training and the following corresponding day- and sleep-related time consolidations in taking into account the well-established gender difference in MR. Forty participants (20 women) practiced a computerized version of the Vandenberg and Kuse MR task. Performance was evaluated before MR training, as well as prior to, and after a night of sleep or a similar daytime interval. Data showed that while men outperformed women during the pre-training test, brief MR practice was sufficient for women to achieve equivalent performance. Only participants subjected to a night of sleep were found to enhance MR performance during the retest, independently of gender. These results provide first evidence that a night of sleep facilitates MR performance compared with spending a similar daytime interval, regardless gender of the participants. Since MR is known to involve motor processes, the present data might contribute to schedule relevant mental practice interventions for fruitful applications in rehabilitation and motor learning processes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T20:18:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-33540414534b4dca8c1caa7688095486 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T20:18:17Z |
| publishDate | 2013-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-33540414534b4dca8c1caa76880954862022-12-21T18:51:32ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032013-01-0183e6029610.1371/journal.pone.0060296Mental rotation: effects of gender, training and sleep consolidation.Ursula DebarnotPascale PiolinoJean-Claude BaronAymeric GuillotA wide range of experimental studies have provided evidence that a night of sleep contributes to memory consolidation. Mental rotation (MR) skill is characterized by fundamental aspect of both cognitive and motor abilities which can be improved within practice sessions, but little is known about the effect of consolidation after MR practice. In the present study, we investigated the effect of MR training and the following corresponding day- and sleep-related time consolidations in taking into account the well-established gender difference in MR. Forty participants (20 women) practiced a computerized version of the Vandenberg and Kuse MR task. Performance was evaluated before MR training, as well as prior to, and after a night of sleep or a similar daytime interval. Data showed that while men outperformed women during the pre-training test, brief MR practice was sufficient for women to achieve equivalent performance. Only participants subjected to a night of sleep were found to enhance MR performance during the retest, independently of gender. These results provide first evidence that a night of sleep facilitates MR performance compared with spending a similar daytime interval, regardless gender of the participants. Since MR is known to involve motor processes, the present data might contribute to schedule relevant mental practice interventions for fruitful applications in rehabilitation and motor learning processes.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3609807?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Ursula Debarnot Pascale Piolino Jean-Claude Baron Aymeric Guillot Mental rotation: effects of gender, training and sleep consolidation. PLoS ONE |
| title | Mental rotation: effects of gender, training and sleep consolidation. |
| title_full | Mental rotation: effects of gender, training and sleep consolidation. |
| title_fullStr | Mental rotation: effects of gender, training and sleep consolidation. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mental rotation: effects of gender, training and sleep consolidation. |
| title_short | Mental rotation: effects of gender, training and sleep consolidation. |
| title_sort | mental rotation effects of gender training and sleep consolidation |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3609807?pdf=render |
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