Short naps increase the likelihood of flashes of inspiration
Study on the effect of power naps
sleep increases the ability to solve problems creatively. This was shown in a study involving 90 test subjects at the University of Hamburg. Based on the brain activity measured during sleep, it is even possible to predict the probability of an "aha moment" occurring after a nap. This result has now been published in the journal "PLoS Biology".
Researchers call the sleep phase that follows the sleep phase N2 - a sleep phase in which sleepers dream little and which occurs several times during the night. A new study by the University of Excellence Hamburg supports the assumption that this sleep phase helps to solve problems.
For the experiment, the two researchers asked their test subjects to sleep less than usual the night before the measurement and not to consume any caffeine. Almost 70 percent of the test subjects promptly fell asleep during the experiment. They were then asked to solve a task on a screen, the parameters of which were changed inconspicuously after a certain period of time. 86 percent of the respondents who had previously entered the N2 sleep phase suddenly realized this with the help of a flash of inspiration. In the group of those who had only reached the sleep phase, this was only 69 percent and 56 percent of those who had not slept at all.
Experts have long suspected that different sleep phases can influence creativity and increase the brain's ability to gain new insights in a flash. The series of experiments at the University of Hamburg has substantiated this theory and highlighted the role of the N2 sleep phase in particular.
Sleep phases are not precisely delineated states - the N1 sleep phase, the first deeper sleep phase N2 and the deep sleep phase N3 merge into one another. They differ, for example, in the decrease in muscle tension and in the sleepers' brain activity. "We were able to observe that the brain activity we measured during sleep correlated with the probability of a subsequent 'aha' moment," explains Dr. Anika Löwe, one of the two lead authors of the study. "This allowed us to predict the probability of someone having a flash of inspiration after sleep based on our measurement data."
This previously unknown correlation provides researchers with new insights into the function of sleep and the workings of the human brain, which is the basis of all human sensations and perceptions. For anyone craving a brainwave, the research data means: Short naps increase the likelihood that it will come - especially when deeper sleep is achieved
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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