Taking a nap might help with solving problems
Pavel Marys / Alamy
Waking up from a deep nap appears to make people better at creative problem-solving.
In a recent study conducted by Anika Löwe at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, it was found that individuals were more likely to experience a breakthrough moment of insight if they had recently entered the second stage of sleep, characterized by sleep spindles and slowed brain activity, compared to those who slept lightly or stayed awake.
Löwe believes that deep sleep may play a crucial role in consolidating relevant information and filtering out irrelevant details, leading to these moments of clarity upon waking up.
While previous research has shown that naps can enhance creativity and problem-solving abilities, there is ongoing debate about which stage of sleep is most beneficial. Some studies suggest that light non-REM sleep, particularly N1, is ideal, while others indicate that the deeper N2 stage may be more conducive to innovation.
To further investigate this phenomenon, Löwe and her team enlisted 90 participants to engage in a task involving rapidly flashing dot patterns on a screen. After a brief nap monitored by EEG, participants were more likely to discover a hidden shortcut in the task if they had reached deep N2 sleep compared to those who only entered the lighter N1 phase or stayed awake.
Itamar Lerner from the University of Texas at San Antonio emphasizes the importance of task design in determining the impact of sleep on problem-solving abilities. Delphine Oudiette from the Paris Brain Institute suggests that different cognitive processes may be influenced by various sleep stages, highlighting the need for further research in this area.
While the study provides compelling evidence that deeper sleep can enhance problem-solving skills, Björn Rasch from the University of Fribourg cautions that more controlled studies are needed to establish a causal relationship between sleep stages and insight capabilities.
