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With the Holiday parties fast approaching, there’s a good chance you’ll be meeting your spouse’s coworkers and bosses for the first time.  How embarrassing and career limiting for your other half if you forget their names within seconds of meeting them! There are lots of tricks to remember, like repeating their name when you are introduced, “nice to meet you, Ms XYZ!”  Then mention it again during the conversation, “I see you are trying the new refreshments, Ms XYZ.”  People love to hear their own names, but be careful you don’t overdo it.  Here’s another idea that might not be so work intensive.  Get some sleep!

Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) looked at 14 participants, showing them 20 photos of faces with corresponding names. After a 12 hour period, participants were shown the photos again with either a correct or incorrect name. Participants had to say whether the face had the proper corresponding name, as well as rate their confidence. Each participant completed the test twice– once with an interval of sleep in between and once with a period of regular, waking day activities in between. When participants slept for up to eight hours, they correctly matched 12 percent more of the faces and names. Study author, Dr. Jeanne Duffy says, “Sleep is important for learning new information. As people get older, they are more likely to develop sleep disruptions and sleep disorders, which may in turn cause memory issues. By addressing issues with sleep, we may be able to affect people’s ability to learn things at all different ages.” (EurekAlert!) (Image: www.flickr.com)