Sleep patterns

This may be great for parents, if they can afford it. But there are disagreements about how good it is for the child.

It's 2am and if you are the parent of a baby who does not sleep well you may well be pacing up and down in your baby's room trying to get your little one off to sleep.

Cold, tired and craving the comfort of your bed, you may be rocking or feeding the wailing child, singing, or just sitting by the cot holding a little hand - anything to get him or her to drift off again.

Eighty non-Welsh speaking participants were taught Welsh words before either a period of wake or sleep.

Those who slept showed an increased ability to learn the words, and the effect was greatest in those who placed personal value on the language.

This suggests that memories perceived as important undergo preferential treatment by the brain during sleep.

While it has long been established that sleep helps the consolidation of memories, this is the first study to show that the effect is influenced by how much you care about the memory.