The time between full wakefulness and being sound asleep may be packed with creative potential. In a new experiment, people who fell into a light sleep were better problem-solvers later.
Thomas Edison inspired the new study. It’s said that the famous inventor used to value the moments between wakefulness and sleep. Supposedly, he used to fall asleep in a chair holding two steel balls. As he nodded off, the balls fell into metal pans. The resulting noise woke him. Then, he could write down his inventive ideas before he fell into a deep sleep and forgot them.
Researchers tested Edison’s method of developing creativity with 103 healthy people. Volunteers came to the lab to solve a difficult number problem. They were asked to change a string of numbers into a shorter sequence (数列) following two simple rules. What the volunteers weren’t told was that there was an easy trick to do this task. The second number in the sequence would always be the correct final number, too. Once discovered, this trick greatly cut the solving time. After doing this task 60 times, the volunteers earned a 20-minute break in a quiet, dark room. Volunteers lay in chairs and held a version of the steel balls that Edison used as “alarm clocks”. The researchers told participants to close their eyes and rest or sleep if they desired. All the while, their brain waves were monitored.
After their rest, participants returned to their number problem. The researchers saw a big difference between the groups. People who had fallen into a shallow, early sleep were 2.7 times as likely to spot the hidden trick as people who had stayed awake. Shallow sleepers were 5.8 times as likely to spot the trick as people who reached the deeper stage.
More work is needed to prove the link between the shallow stage of sleep and creativity. But the results raise an interesting possibility. People may be able to learn to reach that stage of sleep.
【小题1】What was the function of the steel balls and metal pans for Thomas Edison?| A．To help him stay on guard during sleep. |
| B．To stop others from disturbing his sleep. |
| C．To make his brain work even during sleep. |
| D．To prevent him from falling sound asleep. |
| A．Its results are well worth wide promotion. |
| B．It proves researchers’ work is demanding. |
| C．Its findings still need to be further confirmed. |
| D．It will motivate more people to practice light sleep. |
| A．Edison’s Method of Developing Creativity |
| B．Nodding off May Turn Your Creativity on |
| C．A Better Sleep Helps with Problem-Solving |
| D．Links Between Sleep Quality and Creativity |
| A．A science magazine. | B．A travel brochure. |
| C．A museum guide. | D．A diary. |
