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Resting and reflecting enhances learning ability, new research suggests.

New findings suggest that brain mechanisms triggered during mental rest and reflection boosts later learning, according to researchers from the University of Texas in Austin.

Participants in the latest study were asked to perform two learning tasks in which they were asked to memorize different series of associated photo pairs. Participants rested and were asked to think about anything they chose in between the memory tests.

Brain scans revealed that participants who used their free time to reflect on what they had learned earlier in the day scored higher on tests about what they learned later. Researchers said that this was particularly true when there was some overlap in information between the two tests.

Researchers said that findings suggest that participants who reflected seemed to making connections that helped them absorb information from future tasks.

"We've shown for the first time that how the brain processes information during rest can improve future learning," lead researcher Alison Preston, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, said in a news release. "We think replaying memories during rest makes those earlier memories stronger, not just impacting the original content, but impacting the memories to come."

Researchers said the latest finding goes against the assumption that new information hinders new learning.

"Nothing happens in isolation," added Preston. "When you are learning something new, you bring to mind all of the things you know that are related to that new information. In doing so, you embed the new information into your existing knowledge."

The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.