If you have a lot on your mind and find yourself fretting over small problems, you know the age old advice – sleep on it. And according to new research, it’s not just an old wives’ tale.
A new study carried out by Professor Sara Mednick of the University of California concluded that REM sleep (which happens predominantly before waking) assists the brain in working out new information for past experiences. In layman’s it helps us come with solutions to problems.
The participants, 77 young adults, were given groups of three words and asked to find a fourth word that could be associated to them all. Later in the day the subjects napped then were subsequently given the same task as well as a new one. Following the sleep period the second attempt at the task allowed the tests to ‘incubate’ their thoughts and come up with better solutions.
In terms of the new test, those who had entered REM sleep (napping was monitored) improved the word task by almost 40 percent.
Professor Mednick, whose results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), told the UK’s Telegraph, “We found that – for creative problems that you’ve already been working on – the passage of time is enough to find solutions. However for new problems, only REM sleep enhances creativity.”
The study supported the recommendation by Noble Prize winning chemist Friedrich Kekule who said we must “learn to dream”
YOUR SAY: Do you find sleeping helps you solve problems?
Home