Naps Aid Brain Power

Leonardo da Vinci took them, as did Napolean Bonaparte, Johannes Brahms and Wiston Churchill. You could probably use one right now.

Midday naps have long been touted as a good thing, lowering blood pressure and driving down the risk of heart attack.

And if you snooze long enough, researchers have now found, they also permit your memory banks to do their filing, leaving your brain cleared and ready to learn in the latter half of the day.

University of California Barkeley psychology professor Matthew Walker and his colleagues presented the findings recently at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego.