When you’re working on a knotty problem, it actually does help to sleep on it. A German study found that our brains continue to work on baffling problems while we sleep, allowing us to wake up with new insights.
Researchers at the University of Luebeck gave subjects math problems that involved transforming a string of eight numbers into a new string, according to two mathematical rules. A third rule—a shortcut to solving the problem—was hidden in the puzzle.
After working on the problem for a while, some subjects slept for eight hours before resuming their efforts, while others stayed awake all night. A third group tackled the problem in the morning and then returned to it after an eight-hour break.
The sleepers were almost three times more likely to figure out the shortcut than either of the two groups that hadn’t slept. The results suggest that the brain ‘restructures memories’ during sleep, researcher Jan Born tells Nature, so we wake up with a fresh perspective. The study, he says, underlines the importance of getting a good night’s rest.”
—The Week, Vol 4 Iss 143
