Rebecca Spencer
Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences | University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA, UNITED STATES
Rebecca Spencer is one of the nation's leading researchers exploring the relationship between sleep and brain function.
Expertise (7)
Children and Napping
Napping
Sleep and Learning
Learning and Memory
Children and Sleep
Cognition
Sleep Memory and Learning
Biography
A leading expert on the of the relationship between sleep, memory and learning and how these change across the life span, Rebecca Spencer has appeared in media ranging from the New York Time to PBS, the BBC, Netflix and Glamour magazine.
She leads the Somneurolab at UMass Amherst, where her research team uses a variety of techniques to
explore how the brain operates during sleep and how this processing affects daytime cognition.
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Education (2)
Purdue University: Ph.D., Neuroscience
Hope College: B.A., Biology/Kinesiology
Links (2)
Select Recent Media Coverage (12)
Here’s Exactly How To Become A Legit Morning Person
Women's Health online
2025-02-25
Rebecca Spencer, professor of psychological and brain sciences, comments in an article about how to switch from being a night owl to a morning person. Spencer says limiting exposure to light and resisting mental stimulation as it gets late can help with the adjustment.
The Neuroscience of Naps
Sleep Review print
2024-06-06
Rebecca Spencer is on the cover of Sleep Review to highlight her research on children and napping. “Some preschools take 4-year-olds with learning delays out for learning interventions while the rest of the class is napping. But we’re finding that, no, these children need their nap time,” she says.
Can a nap make up for a bad night of sleep?
The Straits Times online
2024-01-18
Rebecca Spencer, professor psychological and brain sciences, says that while a midday nap will probably replenish your energy enough to get you through your day, it will not necessarily negate the health risks that may come with insufficient sleep at night.
Women are more likely to be sleep deprived. Here’s why that’s so bad.
National Geographic online
2023-09-27
Rebecca Spencer comments on research about the impact of sleep deprivation on learning. “Sleep plays a very active role in memory consolidation,” she says. She describes the hippocampus as a desk where papers get piled up throughout the day. “When you sleep, those ‘papers’ are filed away into a long-term filing cabinet to be retrieved as needed.” That “filing cabinet” is the cerebral cortex. “While memory consolidation can happen while awake, this process is stronger or greatest during sleep.”
Can a Nap Make Up for a Bad Night of Sleep?
The New York Times online
2023-03-28
It’s important to understand that while a midday nap will probably replenish your energy enough to get you through your day, said Rebecca Spencer, a sleep science researcher at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, it won’t necessarily negate the health risks that may come with insufficient sleep at night. Here's why.
Later school start times eyed to address youth mental health crisis
ABC News tv
2022-04-03
Rebecca Spencer comments about the possibility of pushing school start times back later in the morning in an effort to improve youth mental health.
How learning happens in the brains of sleeping babies
The Washington Post print
2022-02-05
Rebecca Spencer says children shouldn’t abandon the practice of napping as they get older. “Naps are awesome — they’re doing all of this important stuff for kids at a really critical time. Why stop napping when it’s so important?”
Yes, Naps Are Good for You — If You Do It Right
Discover magazine print
2020-11-12
“We've now found that sleep serves a lot of great functions. It's not surprising. That's why we spend so much time doing it,” says Rebecca Spencer, a sleep researcher at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “The long story short is there’s a lot of evidence that naps confer all of those same benefits.”
How to Fall Asleep Faster, According to Powerful Women
Glamour print
2020-03-11
Use your own natural melatonin. How do you do that? By avoiding light in the last half hour to hour before bedtime. Of course, complete darkness may be hard to achieve, but dim the light on your phone or computer and turn off any extra lights in the room in the final hour before bed. Avoid watching tense movies, reading cliffhangers, checking work emails, or engaging in emotional “chats” before bed too. You’ll fall asleep faster. —Rebecca Spencer, neuroscience professor
Naps don’t work for everyone. Genetic differences are why
The Washington Post print
2020-03-07
“If you are a regular napper, you can get these two forces [HSP and your circadian rhythm] into a good rhythm so they are nicely balanced,” says Rebecca Spencer, professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “The problem is few people nap so regularly.”
NOVA: Mysteries of Sleep
PBS tv
2020-02-26
Rebecca Spencer talks about what exactly is happening in our brains when we sleep.
Netflix Series: Babies
Netflix online
2020-02-21
Rebecca Sepncer is featured in an episode on Sleep in the Netflix series, "Babies," hiighliting her work studying the connection between sleep, learning and memory in young children.
Select Publications (2)
Contributions of memory and brain development to the bioregulation of naps and nap transitions in early childhood
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesRebecca M.C. Spencer and Tracy Riggins
2022-10-24
The transition from multiple sleep bouts each day to a single overnight sleep bout (i.e., nap transition) is a universal process in human development. Naps are important during infancy and early childhood as they enhance learning through memory consolidation. However, a normal part of development is the transition out of naps. Understanding nap transitions is essential in order to maximize early learning and promote positive long-term cognitive outcomes. ...
Pandemic Sleep Advice Straight From Sleep Researchers
MediumKelly Baron, PhD, MPH, Brendan Duffy RPSGT CCSH, Michael Grandner, PhD, MTR, Jared Saletin, PhD, Rebecca Spencer, PhD, and John Hogenesch, PhD
2020-03-25
In the age of coronavirus, sleep is more important — and more elusive — than ever. Sleep researchers are here to help.
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