{
  "id": 3321102,
  "title": "20 Minutes of Exercise Is as Good as a 90-Minute Nap If You’re Sleep Deprived",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/20-minutes-of-exercise-is-as-good-as-a-90-minute-nap-if-youre-sleep",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-25T18:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Nautilus",
    "slug": "nautilus",
    "url": "https://nautil.us/20-minutes-of-exercise-is-as-good-as-a-90-minute-nap-if-youre-sleep-deprived-1284348/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has revealed that a brief period of exercise can have a memory-enhancing effect as effective as a 90-minute nap for those experiencing sleep deprivation. Researchers from McGill University in Canada enlisted 54 healthy adults aged 18 to 35, and supervised them during a 30-hour period of wakefulness. Participants either took a 90-minute nap, exercised on a stationary bike for 20 minutes, or simply sat on the bike without pedaling for 20 minutes as a control group. Later, the participants were shown a series of photos and tested three days later to assess their memory recall. The research team found that both the exercisers and nappers outperformed the control group on the memory test, but through different mechanisms. EEG data analysis suggested that napping recharged the brain, making it more receptive to new learning. In contrast, exercise after sleep loss prompted the brain to use its resources more effectively, leading to improved neural processing. Study author Marc Roig of McGill University stated that the findings demonstrate the brain's ability to maintain cognitive performance despite sleep deprivation, emphasizing the potential benefits of brief exercise for those in demanding professions such as truck drivers, emergency responders, and healthcare workers. Lotlikar concluded that exercise is an accessible, inexpensive, and easy-to-implement solution to preserve cognitive sharpness when sleep is limited.",
  "summary": "Don’t sleep on this new finding The post 20 Minutes of Exercise Is as Good as a 90-Minute Nap If You’re Sleep Deprived appeared first on Nautilus .",
  "key_points": [
    "Brief 20-minute exercise boosts memory like 90-minute nap for sleep-deprived adults",
    "McGill University study involved 54 healthy participants aged 18-35",
    "Exercise improved neural processing, napping recharged brain for new learning"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}