Unlocking Creativity: The Power of Naps

<br><div><div>What if a few minutes of sleep could act as a trigger for creativity? This is suggested by a study conducted by researchers from Inserm and Sorbonne University within the Brain Institute and the sleep pathologies department at the Pitié-Salpêtrière AP-HP Hospital. The results are published in Science Advances.</div><div><br></div><div>A legend about inventor Thomas Edison says he took short naps to spark his creativity. During these, he held a metal ball in his hand. The ball fell noisily when he fell asleep and woke him up just in time to note his flashes of creativity. Other famous people were also supporters of the use of short sleep phases to stimulate their creative capacity, such as Albert Einstein or Salvador Dali.</div><div><br></div><div>Inspired by this story, the team of Inserm researcher Delphine Oudiette and her collaborator Célia Lacaux at the Brain Institute and the Pitié-Salpêtrière AP-HP hospital, wanted to explore this very particular phase of the falling asleep. The scientists wanted to determine if this indeed had an effect on creativity.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>To do this, the team offered 103 participants math problems, all solvable almost instantly using the same rule, of course unknown to the participants at the start of the test. The subjects tried to solve the problems a first time. All those who had not found the hidden rule were invited to take a 20-minute nap under the same conditions as Edison, with an object in their hands, before retaking the mathematical tests.</div><div><br></div><div>There would therefore be a phase conducive to creativity when falling asleep. Activating it requires finding the right balance between falling asleep quickly and not falling asleep too deeply. These “creative naps” could be an easy and accessible way to boost our creativity in everyday life.</div><div><br></div><div><div>If you want to try this method at home, you need to find an object that is light (otherwise watch out for cramps), slippery and of a diameter large enough to prevent accidental catching (a teaspoon will not do). Obviously, the object has to make noise as it falls to wake you up before you fall completely asleep. Once you have found your object, all you have to do is take a nap with it!</div><div><br></div><div>When you wake up from your creative nap, you will probably have to wait until your muse prompts you with the solution to your problem. Indeed, contrary to the anecdotes recounting a eureka as soon as they woke up, our participants discovered the hidden trick later, after having been confronted with an average of 94 new problems. The mechanisms by which falling asleep caused a eureka in the context of our experiment therefore remain mysterious. One thing is certain, you will now have a perfect excuse to doze off in meetings!</div></div></div> <br><div><div>What if a few minutes of sleep could act as a trigger for creativity? This is suggested by a study conducted by researchers from Inserm and Sorbonne University within the Brain Institute and the sleep pathologies department at the Pitié-Salpêtrière AP-HP Hospital. The results are published in Science Advances.</div><div><br></div><div>A legend about inventor Thomas Edison says he took short naps to spark his creativity. During these, he held a metal ball in his hand. The ball fell noisily when he fell asleep and woke him up just in time to note his flashes of creativity. Other famous people were also supporters of the use of short sleep phases to stimulate their creative capacity, such as Albert Einstein or Salvador Dali.</div><div><br></div><div>Inspired by this story, the team of Inserm researcher Delphine Oudiette and her collaborator Célia Lacaux at the Brain Institute and the Pitié-Salpêtrière AP-HP hospital, wanted to explore this very particular phase of the falling asleep. The scientists wanted to determine if this indeed had an effect on creativity.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>To do this, the team offered 103 participants math problems, all solvable almost instantly using the same rule, of course unknown to the participants at the start of the test. The subjects tried to solve the problems a first time. All those who had not found the hidden rule were invited to take a 20-minute nap under the same conditions as Edison, with an object in their hands, before retaking the mathematical tests.</div><div><br></div><div>There would therefore be a phase conducive to creativity when falling asleep. Activating it requires finding the right balance between falling asleep quickly and not falling asleep too deeply. These “creative naps” could be an easy and accessible way to boost our creativity in everyday life.</div><div><br></div><div><div>If you want to try this method at home, you need to find an object that is light (otherwise watch out for cramps), slippery and of a diameter large enough to prevent accidental catching (a teaspoon will not do). Obviously, the object has to make noise as it falls to wake you up before you fall completely asleep. Once you have found your object, all you have to do is take a nap with it!</div><div><br></div><div>When you wake up from your creative nap, you will probably have to wait until your muse prompts you with the solution to your problem. Indeed, contrary to the anecdotes recounting a eureka as soon as they woke up, our participants discovered the hidden trick later, after having been confronted with an average of 94 new problems. The mechanisms by which falling asleep caused a eureka in the context of our experiment therefore remain mysterious. One thing is certain, you will now have a perfect excuse to doze off in meetings!</div></div></div>