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Sleeping and dreaming after learning a complex task or piece of knowledge helps our brain make sense of the complex issues and consolidate it according to a study conducted by Harvard Medical School researchers.

They claimed that sleeping on a problem are the brain’s way of consolidating information. They found that if a person learns a task and then sleeps on it they can be up to 10 times better at it than if they had stayed awake.

The group of 99 volunteers were asked to sit in front of a computer screen and learn the layout of a three-dimensional maze to locate a landmark – a tree – when they were dropped at a random location within the virtual space five hours later.

Those who were allowed to take a nap and also remembered dreaming of the task found the tree in less time.

Professor Robert Stickgold, of Harvard Medical School, who led the study, said: “”What’s got us really excited, is that after nearly 100 years of debate about the function of dreams, this study tells us that dreams are the brain’s way of processing, integrating and really understanding new information.

“Dreams are a clear indication that the sleeping brain is working on memories at multiple levels, including ways that will directly improve performance.

“In fact, this may be one of the main goals that led to the evolution of sleep. If you remain awake you perform worse on the subsequent task. Your memory actually decays, no matter how much you might think about the maze.”

He said that it was not that the dreams led to better memory, but rather that they are a sign that other, unconscious parts of the brain were working hard to remember how to get through the virtual maze and the dreams are essentially a side effect of that memory process.

Prof Stickgold said that there may still be ways to take advantage of this phenomenon for improving learning and memory.

For instance, it may be better to study hard right before you go to sleep than in the afternoon, or to take a nap after a period of intense afternoon study.

He added: “Some have viewed dreaming as entertainment, but this study suggests it is a by-product of memory processing.”