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https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28704-sleep-isnt-needed-to-create-long-term-memories-just-time-out/

New memories are fragile. They need to be consolidated before being committed to long-term storage, a process thought to happen while we sleep. But at least some consolidation may occur while we're awake, says Dewar – all you need is a timeout.

The research could have bigger implications for people with amnesia. When Dewar's team conducted a memory experiment with people who had the condition, they saw more striking results. "Most of them can't lead a normal life because they can't remember what they did 10 minutes ago," she says – but all showed huge improvements on the memory test when given a break.

The volunteers were able to recall between 30 and 80 per cent of a list of words when they rested for 9 minutes [pdf]. Without a break, eight of the 12 were unable to remember anything.

Makes me wonder whether trauma counselling really helps or actually makes people remember the bad stuff better ( https://www.myptsd.com/c/threads/experts-urge-against-trauma-counselling-immediately-after-trauma-pre-ptsd.7576/ ). After all many of us memorize stuff by repeating it over and over again and then resting, which is effectively what a lot of such counselling involves. Perhaps people who experience psychologically traumatic stuff and don't want to remember it should tell themselves that this is not important to remember and immediately do a lot of other completely unrelated and more pleasant and interesting stuff to remember - fill the "buffer" or even overflow it... ;)

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