Fig. 6: MEGA scores improve after sleep compared to wakeful rest.

a Experimental design: participants (N = 19 for nap condition; N = 34 for wakeful rest condition) watched naturalistic YouTube videos. The 2-h interval between the 1^st and 2^nd viewing included either a nap opportunity or wakeful rest. b GAD in 1^st (blue) and 2^nd (green) viewing for the nap condition participants reveals a significant decrease in GAD during 2^nd viewing (p < 0.0001) (c) A comparison of MEGA scores (normalized difference in GAD between 1^st and 2^nd viewings) in the wake (brown) and sleep (cyan) conditions reveals greater MEGA after a nap (p = 0.0439, Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test). d Comparison of the recognition rate in the wake (brown) and sleep (cyan) conditions do not show significant differences in the verbal report (BF₁₀ = 0.390 ± 0%). Box plots represent the median (bold horizontal line), the interquartile range (box, 50% of data) and 95%confidence interval (whiskers).