Have you ever worked on a movement that was challenging, and, without practicing it much again – or even at all – found yourself better at it a few days or weeks later? That’s what offline gains are; sort of delayed motor skill improvements that happen only during the consolidation phase of our brains, when skills are assimilated.
During this consolidation phase, very often, we have the impression to be stagnant, to not improve at all, but in reality, the area of the brain that processes that particular movement is still active and is assimilating the skill.1Diva Lugassy et al. Consolidation of complex motor skill learning: evidence for a delayed offline process. Sleep, Volume 41, Issue 9, September 2018 Isn't it formidable?
This article sums up a study done by Marlene Bönstrup et al. which actually suggests that for better assimilation of a new motor skill, taking short breaks regularly (only 10 seconds at a time) when practicing a new movement is much more efficient than practicing this movement over and over, without breaks during the practice.2Marlene Bönstrup et al. A Rapid Form of Offline Consolidation in Skill Learning. Current Biology, Volume 29, Issue 8, April 2019 Even more interesting: consolidation of a new motor skill isn’t, contrary to popular belief, sleep-dependent – at least in healthy adults. Whenever your brain isn’t working directly on that specific motor skill, the consolidation happens, whether you sleep or not. Basically, you’re not learning when performing the movement, but after performing it.3Dezso Nemeth et al. Sleep has no critical role in implicit motor sequence learning in young and old adults. Experimental Brain Research, Volume 201, Issue 2, March 2010
I found it remarkable, not only because it underlines the importance of rest in a world where “more is better” is still a motto, but also shows us that the idea of “practice and all is coming” isn’t quite accurate.
Learning a new movement skill isn’t just about repetition, since many other factors can contribute to how well we retain it – rest being one of them. Could it partially explain why some people just seem better at grasping new movements than others? That’s a question for further investigation.
1) Diva Lugassy et al. Consolidation of complex motor skill learning: evidence for a delayed offline process. Sleep, Volume 41, Issue 9, September 2018
2) Marlene Bönstrup et al. A Rapid Form of Offline Consolidation in Skill Learning. Current Biology, Volume 29, Issue 8, April 2019
3) Dezso Nemeth et al. Sleep has no critical role in implicit motor sequence learning in young and old adults. Experimental Brain Research, Volume 201, Issue 2, March 2010