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In one study, where they tried learning both ways, people felt like blocked practice was better, even though their ultimate performance was measurably better after the random practice!

Though you might improve at a task during practice, you’re less able to carry forth that improvement to the next day.

Studies have shown that consistently getting a full night’s sleep (eight hours) plays a huge role in learning motor and auditory skills

The surprising parts are usually the places that they did not account for in their mental practice.

Forget about the nasty passages for now. Instead, spend two weeks getting in touch with the musical aspect of the piece and practice it through, just for musicality.

The linked essay in the article also gives a timeline on how long in takes for neurons to connect: it takes about a week to happen.

http://mollygebrian.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/what-musicia...

Also: You will be much better off practicing your orchestra music for 15 minutes a day until the concert, rather than “wood-shedding” the day before the concert. Why? Because you’ll have all those nights of sleep for your brain to process the new music.