Coffee break may aid memory

January 27, 2010 A new study finds that the brain keeps working on cementing new memories even when people aren't actively thinking about what they learned.

Researchers had volunteers study and memorizes faces that were paired with objects or places, such as the beach. Then they were told to rest while undergoing MRI brain scans.

Results in the journal Neuron show that areas of the brain were highly active during this rest period, especially with parts of the brain associated with higher reasoning.

So go ahead and take that coffee break. Your hard working brain will thank you for it.