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Unconscious Solutions

© Stephen Weistling

In his biography published several years ago, then retired General Colin Powell remarked that one of his guiding principles was, "It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning." In today's world, that statement may seem a simplification, maybe even a bit trite. But there is a critical element of truth to his statement from a physiological point of view, and that belief is reinforced through the realm of problem solving and learning from a circadian perspective.

How many times have you been faced with a difficult decision, and after "sleeping on it," the solution became more clear? In a previous article, we discussed how sleep's restorative power helps us regain our energy, both physically and mentally. But in the areas of problem solving and creativity, it seems that researchers have found that sleep begins the process of analysis and organization of information. And many problems need creative solutions.

In an recent experiment, subjects were instructed to play the old video game "Tetris" for an extended period of time. They were then instructed to go to sleep, and were later awakened a short time later. In the majority of cases, the subjects reported that in their twilight and dream stage sleep, they continued to play the game. I've actually experienced that example, and at the time I believed that patterns of the game were simply etched or imprinted on my mind somehow, but there is evidence that actual learning is enhanced while sleeping.

In another experiment, two groups of subjects were questioned after reading a text. In one group, they were allowed to sleep for a few hours before being questioned. In the other group, they had to stay awake. Once again, those who were allowed to sleep had the highest levels of recall. You may have experienced in high school or college, the "all nighters," cramming for exams. You may also have noticed that even though you studied very hard, you probably didn't do very well on the exam. The study shows that if you got a few hours sleep before the test, you probably would have done better. This may be due to a mentally restored power, or you may have been memorizing, categorizing, and organizing data in your sleep.

What this may mean for shiftworkers is that the irregularity of sleep, and lack of consistent, continuous periods of sleep may contribute to an inhibition of learning, problem solving, and creativity. In other words, the environment for these factors is altered through the person's sleep schedule.

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