Kieran Gallagher
Posting #2
Topic: Health
Title: Let Me Sleep On It: Creative Problem Solving Enhanced by REM Sleep
Author: Science Daily Staff
Publication: Science Daily
Date: 9 June 2009
Length: 534 words
Though psychologists believe that all problems can be worked through with the passage of time, REM sleep has been proven to enhance the creativity with which we attempt to solve these problems. The study was done by Sara Mednick, PhD and assistant professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego, the VA San Diego Healthcare System and Denise Cai, graduate student in the UC San Diego Department of Psychology. It was published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). These experts hypothesized that REM sleep would help stimulate different systems in the brain, which allows the decision maker to draw parallels between seemingly unrelated situations. As part of the study, subjects were given a creativity test called a RAT or Remote Association Test. In this test they were given three words and asked to find a word that all three words could be associated with. In one instance, the participants were given the words cookie, heart and sixteen and expected to respond with the word “sweet.” The test subjects were given this test once in the morning and again in the afternoon after either a nap with REM sleep, a nap without REM sleep or a quiet rest period. Both of the groups that did not experience REM sleep showed no improvement, but the group that experienced REM sleep improved by 40%. This suggests that REM sleep does indeed aid in problem solving by uniting different parts of the brain.
In conclusion, REM sleep is not only necessary for our physical and mental wellbeing, but it can be incredibly beneficial in solving complex problems that require more creative solutions. Though experts still do not know exactly what goes on in our brains during REM sleep, they are constantly discovering more about how it enhances our health. As REM sleep occurs more frequently later in sleeping, this study once again stresses the importance of getting many hours of sleep every night. This correlates with many previous studies linking REM sleep and grades or REM sleep and health.
Yes, we all know how much better we preform on a good nights rest, but how are all of us going to get the sleep that we need? I think that is the bigger problem today than spreading the word of how important REM sleep is.
ReplyDeleteA lot of the research done about sleep pretty much highlights how beneficial it is to our minds. The creative problem solving adds to the growing list of reasons why not sleeping prevents your brain from fully functioning.
ReplyDeleteThis once again proves that a good nights rest will do wonders for the mind. It's interesting though that a different form of sleep would enable the brain to make connections in different ways. Humans still have almost no understanding of more then 90 percent of the brain, and maybe stimulating certain parts will lead us to a whole new branch of scientific discoveries.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting and I agree with Asaf. The possibilities are endless when it comes to our brains. If just a little shut eye can do this much for us, imagine all the unknown quadrants of the brain and their potential influence on our lives.
ReplyDelete