On this NationalNappingDay, learn more about how naps can boost problem-solving and creativity.
When Thomas Edison hit a wall with his inventions, he would nap in an armchair while holding a steel ball. As he started to fall asleep and his muscles relaxed, the ball would strike the floor, waking him with insights into his problems. Or so the story goes.
In this transitional period, we are not quite awake, but also not deeply asleep. It can be as short as a minute and occurs right when we start to doze off. Our muscles relax, and we have dreamlike visions or thoughts called hypnagogia, generally related to recent experiences. This phase slips by unnoticed most of the time unless it is interrupted by waking. Like Edison, surrealist painter Salvador Dalí believed interrupting sleep’s onset could boost creativity.
Most of those who napped reported various visions: dancing numbers and geometrical shapes, the Roman Colosseum, a hospital room with a horse. After the break, the participants went back to complete the math problems. Contrary to the Edison tale, the eureka moment didn’t come immediately after waking in this study. People took on average 94 trials of the math test after the nap to have an insight. “It is not like you can take a power nap and wake up with a solution right away,” Oudiette says.
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