Problem Solving in Your Sleep and Dreams

The Science Behind Why "Sleeping on It" Helps You Find Solutions

Sure, problem solving is a key part of surviving the stresses and challenges of today’s world, but what does it have to do with sleep and dreams? Plenty, according to cutting edge scientific research on problem solving, sleep, and dreams. In several studies, subjects performed better on problem solving activities (like math puzzles) after a night’s sleep. Although the subjects were unconscious, throughout their night of sleep and dreams, their brains were tackling the puzzles and games in some way that better prepared the subjects for success in the waking world. The strongest explanation produced by today’s researchers is that sleep and dreams have an effect on the organization and storage of memories, and that our access to memory information is a key part of problem solving. Read on to learn more about the reasons why sleep and dreams are valuable tools for problem solving, and to discover a practical application that will improve your daily life.


Sleep And Memory

One reason why problem solving may be easier after seven or more hours of sleep and dreams is the effect of sleep on memory. When you’re asleep and dreaming, you may actually be moving information from your short term to your long term memory, thereby delivering the problem solving information that you need to the parts of your brain that will know what to do with it. Some scientists point to the type of brain wave activity during sleep and dreams as evidence that sleep is when we solidify the memories of what we’ve seen and done during the waking day. When these memories are consolidated and organized, we may be able to better access the information they contain that is pertinent to the problem solving task at hand. Current research suggests that memory consolidation is a primary function of sleep, and dreams may be the vehicle that the brain uses to transfer information from short term to long term memory.

You can learn about sleep and brain activity in the Science News article “Sleeper Effects,” online at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20040124/fob5.asp