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Creativity and Sleep

Studies on creativity in sleep often result in being able to solve conflicts/questions better in your sleep, while others results often result in bad sleep patterns & possibly even insomnia. When thinking about it, how is it possible to come up with a solution to a conflict in your sleep? It sounds a little bit odd, but it is not. Creativity runs through our minds daily, both when we realize it & when we don't. Most times we are aware of the creativity, throughout the day, working on projects & etc. Sometimes we are not always aware of our creative thoughts, though- and that is where creativity in sleep comes in. There are many studies and research that point to different physiological states with sleep increasing creativity and it is very important to know them.

REM Sleep & Effects on Creativity

Due to the fact that REM sleep stage is a much deeper sleep with more thoughts then NON-REM, dreams are exaggerated more during REM sleep stage. These dreams can be vivid, emotional, question-seeking, helpful. The brain is much more creative in the REM stage of sleep because you are not fully aware of all the thoughts going on, but your brain is aware of your thoughts and actively trying to seek answers. One of the key characteristic traits of REM sleep is the presence of dreams. When dreams unfold in them REM sleep stage, your mind actively begins trying to come up with answers and solutions to questions or situations you have going on in your sleep. This then allows that creativity to finally flow. Your sleep is deep, your mind is open, your creativity is now flowing because your body is asleep but your thoughts and mind are running wild. While the REM Sleep stage plays a big part in dreaming & creativity, it is important you get the right amount of sleep so that your body can go through each sleep cycle- ultimately ending at the REM Sleep stage where creativity & dreaming is enhanced.

Different Physiological States Associated With Sleep

Sleep has been known to enhance creativity. There are different psychological states associated with sleeping, REM, NREM, CAP, & EEG waves.

Stage 1 Non-REM sleep- marks the transition from wakefulness to sleep. Lasts about 10 minutes, slows your heartbeat, breathing, and eye movements as well as relaxation of your muscles.

Stage 2 Non-REM sleep- period of light sleep before falling into a deeper sleep, lasting roughly 20 minutes. It includes further slowing of both heartbeat and breathing and the brain starts to produce bursts of rapid & rhythmic brain wave activity known as sleep spindles

Stages 3 & 4 (N3) Non Rem sleep- Classified as the deepest period of sleep, lasting 20-40 minutes. Heartbeat and breathing slow down to their lowest levels, while muscles are extremely relaxed (harder to awaken)

SLEEP EEG REM

Stage 5 REM sleep- Occurs 90 minutes after sleep onset and is a much deeper sleep then any of the non-REM sleep stages. REM sleep is classified as rapid eye movements and complete paralysis of the body, and increase of dreaming.

REM sleep has been studied for creativity in sleep, and looking into the facts, it makes sense as to why creativity would increase during the REM stage. REM sleep is a much deeper sleep then Non-Rem sleep stages, allowing the human mind to become more creative and alert. Non-REM sleep stages are also classified as slowing brain waves down. When your brain waves are not moving or thinking properly, it isn't going to allow creativity to expose itself. Your brain is not fully aware of what's going on and what you are thinking about, therefor you are not going to have any creative thoughts or sense of it.

Brainwaves are fast and low amplitude during the stages of REM sleep, much like when you first wake up. The brainwaves from REM sleep stages allow bigger instances of dreams, ideas & emotions.

Sleep Facilitates Insight

Growing up, we've all heard the saying "sleep it off" or "sleep on it". These sayings we're also suggested by researchers, in belief that a good nights rest would boost innovative thinking. Participants in a study were asked to translate a string of digits using two simple rules that allowed the string to be reduced to a single digit (number reduction task). Out of three groups of participants (those who slept, those who stayed awake during the day, and those who stayed awake during the night), participants who got eight hours of sleep were two times as likely during retesting to gain insight into a hidden rule built into the task. In a 1993 study at Harvard Medical School, psychologist Deidre Barrett, PhD, asked her students to come up with a problem they were trying to solve before going to sleep. It was found that her students were able to come up with rational solutions to their problems in their dreams. In this study published in Dreaming (Vol. 3, No. 2), 50% of the students that participated reported having dreams that addressed their chosen problems, while 25% came up with solutions in their dreams.

How Lack of Sleep Can Impact Creativity

Some participants in a study went 32 hours without sleep while the control participants slept normally. When tested on flexibility and originality on figural and verbal tests, the sleep-deprived participants had severe and persistent impairments in their performance. A study tested 30 undergraduate students from seven different academic institution's, half majoring in art and half majoring in social sciences. Among all the participants, the higher the level of visual creativity, the lower the quality of their sleep was. The researchers also found that the higher the participants' level of verbal creativity, the more hours they slept..

If you are not getting the correct amount of sleep, this can be a big reason why you might notice your creativity might be more dull & thoughts might not be as sharp. Although it's a known fact that you should at least get 8 hours of sleep or more per night, it is actually extremely important. When not getting the correct amount of sleep each night, you are throwing off everything in your body. When you don't allow your body to get the correct amount of sleep it needs, you become lazy, drowsy, less responsive, less active& things feel more slowed down. Creativity & thoughts are not very high, and this is often because the body wasn't able to go through each sleep stage fully.

Not getting the correct amount of sleep does more harm then good for the body & the mind. Lack of sleep can result in poor memory loss, erratic behavior, lack of focus, etc. When getting the right amount of sleep, your body and mind are refreshed, your memory isn't hazy, you can handle more than one task & you are not groggy and out of it. Getting the right amount of sleep and allowing enough time for each sleep stage is a huge part of creativity in sleeping. Without getting the correct amount of sleep, your mind and body will never be able to open the world of creativity in your mind while asleep.

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HOW LACK OF SLEEP CAN IMPACT CREATIVITY