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PARKERSBURG - For many adults, the afternoon can signal a slow-down and heavy eyelids with the desire for a place to lay down for a little sleep and recent studies suggest a nap is not a bad idea.

"Naps have been shown to really help some people with focus and brain function," said Dr. Barry Louden, neurologist and board certified sleep medicine physician with the Parkersburg Neurological Associates on Emerson Avenue. "Some people can get great help from a power nap."

A nap is medically defined as a short period of sleep when we are normally awake and lasts an average of 20 or 30 minutes.

"Naps have the ability to increase attention, reactivity and help memory function," Louden said. "The positive affects from naps simply reflect the need we have for them."

A recent study conducted by NASA found that pilots who took a short 26 minute nap performed 34 percent better than pilots who did not take a nap.

"There are some professions where the people should take naps to be at their best to do their job," Louden said.

Those jobs include those who drive a car or truck, fly a plane or helicopter or operate heavy equipment and require the person to be alert at all times.

"In fact, with these professions, a daily nap should be required," Louden said.

Louden said he does not see a situation where all people would be able to take a nap when they need or want it due to the go-go-go schedule of today's society.

"Unfortunately, I just don't see how naps can be integrated into normal work schedules," he said. "One of those places is my office it simply can't tolerate a time when anyone is napping because, like many offices, everyone is always doing something."

Louden said the fact that some societies (in Mexico and Spain) take advantage of human beings' natural sleep/wake cycles and have siesta in the afternoons is not a bad idea.

"Most of us live on the circadian cycle, where you sleep at night and you wake up in the morning, and has a really big dip in energy level right after lunch," he said. "The siestas take advantage of that."

Louden said the reason many of us are tired in the afternoons and feel the need for a nap whether we take one or not is because we are habitually marginalizing and restricting sleep.

"We are making sleep less important than it needs to be," he said. "We need to try and set our sleep patterns to get more hours of sleep."

Louden's tips for a refreshing nap are to keep it at no more than 40 minutes and drink a caffeinated beverage before you lay down.

"If you really want to be at your optimum best after a nap, take some caffeine before you lay down," he said. "Caffeine will take about half an hour to kick in after it is ingested and when you wake up, you will feel more refreshed.

"Studies suggest that caffeine and a nap are better than one or the other alone," Louden said.

While we may be a nation of the walking sleep-deprived, not every person needs a nap every day, which Louden said suggests naps are necessary for specific situations.

"Every single person is different in how they sleep and in the amount of sleep they need," he said. "If someone feels sleepy and is unable to get a nap, it is not necessarily a bad thing."