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If You Snooze, You Cruise: Scientists

Napping, dreaming boost problem-solving skills, say researchers

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 9, 2009 10:07 AM CDT

(Newser) – Napping—particularly if it includes dreaming—may help people think more creatively, the Telegraph reports. Researchers gave young adults creative word-association tasks in the morning, then allowed some to sleep. The extra time and z's appeared to improve their scores on the same tasks; on new tasks, patients who had entered REM sleep beat their morning scores by some 40%.

“We found that for creative problems that you've already been working on, the passage of time is enough to find solutions," said the psychiatrist who led the research. "However, for new problems, only REM sleep enhances creativity.” REM sleep, the researchers think, helps the brain connect unrelated topics.

Napping and dreaming boost your problem-solving abilities, a study suggests.
Napping and dreaming boost your problem-solving abilities, a study suggests.   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
Are_you--Nobody--Too
Jun 9, 2009 8:40 AM CDT
I think it's important that they found "for creative problems that you've already been working on, the passage of time is enough to find solutions." Not enough people allow themselves the time to completely think through problems, especially in our time-is-money-driven world. I think REM sleep makes me so "creative" that most people would easily dismiss my ideas as insane.
IndependentThinker
Jun 9, 2009 3:45 AM CDT
Not Americans.
Robert_Dada
Jun 9, 2009 3:29 AM CDT
Who in the hell has time for regular sleep let alone naps?

Abstract of the study
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

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