Why do some people generate useful ideas while asleep? Does the subconscious mind have a trick up its sleeve?
Rowan Hooper
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Sleep and dreaming help the brain process and consolidate emotions and memories, and can boost creative thinking. In rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in particular, the brain is able to make unusual associations between different memories. Dreaming helps measure the brain鈥檚 emotional response to different scenarios, which is why a course of action often becomes clearer after a good sleep.
Catnaps can help with creative thinking. This is because after a brief, light sleep, it is common to remember the transitional stage between waking and sleep. This transition, called the hypnagogic state, can be extraordinarily rich in imagery. Like many other people, I have actively tried to nurture the hypnagogic state and sometimes am able to observe the 鈥渞iver of ideas鈥� that flows through the mind. More often, sadly, I carry on through into sleep and forget it all.
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