A simple, 20-minute activity appears to increase the odds of having that lightbulb idea.
There may be some value in 'sleeping on it'—or, at least, in taking a deep power nap for 20 minutes—when it comes to problem solving, as it may lead you to a 'eureka' moment.This is the conclusion of a new study by researchers from the Universität Hamburg, in Germany, who published their findings on how sleep impacts the odds of reaching that precious 'aha!' moment in the journal PLOS Biology.
The team tasked 90 people with watching a series of dots move across a screen and entering in corresponding responses on a keyboard. However, the instructions left out a trick that could make the job easier.After four sets of trials, the participants had a 20-minute nap, while hooked up to an electroencephalogram —a device monitoring brain activity—to track their sleep.Following their nap, the team found that over two-thirds of subjects had had a 'eureka' moment and managed to figure out the trick that simplified the task.According to the researchers, those who were able to enter a deeper phase of sleep were more likely to have the 'aha' moment, than those who were simply dozing off. The study found that 85.7 percent of those who achieved the first deeper sleep phase—known as N2 sleep—had this breakthrough moment.The study said: 'Sleep EEG data showed that N2 sleep, but not N1 sleep, increases the likelihood of insight after a nap, suggesting a specific role of deeper sleep.''We found a beneficial effect of N2 sleep on post-nap insight likelihood, suggesting a need for deeper sleep for insight,' the researchers noted.The study did not compare those who rested or napped with those who didn't take a break. However, a previous study by the authors, which used the same task but did not give participants a chance to snooze, found that 49.6 percent experienced 'eureka' moments. So, the researchers believe that having a nap entailing a deeper N2 sleep could help those who need a moment of insight.'I think a lot of us have made the subjective experience of having important realizations after a short nap,' the study's co-author Anika Löwe said in a statement. 'It's really nice to not only have data on that, but also a first direction of what processes are behind this phenomenon.'Löwe added: 'What really struck me when telling people in my environment—particularly creatives—about these findings was how much they resonated with people. Many of them could relate to our results with a personal experience of having a breakthrough after a nap.'Co-author Nicolas Schuck stated: 'It's really intriguing that a short period of sleep can help humans make connections they didn't see before. The next big question is why this happens. We hope that our discovery that it may be linked to the EEG spectral slope is a good first lead.'Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about sleep? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.ReferenceLöwe, A. T., Petzka, M., Tzegka, M. M., & Schuck, N. W. . N2 sleep promotes the occurrence of 'aha' moments in a perceptual insight task. PLOS Biology, 23. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003185
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