Can Sleep Boost Your Creativity?

In art, literature, or science, it’s an elusive question: how do you create something new? How do you get past a block or solve a seemingly impossible problem? Well, putting it aside and sleeping on it just might help.

Numerous studies show that having a snooze can promote creative problem-solving. But now scientists are starting to uncover why sleep may make you more creative. It is the combination of non-REM (NREM) and REM sleep that allows the brain to detect commonalities between what may appear to be dissimilar concepts and present us with the keys to solving the problems on our minds.

As you begin to nod off, your brain enters into four stages of sleep: the first three are NREM, and the final one is REM sleep. During NREM, or slow wave sleep, your brain replays memories. New information is initially channeled to the hippocampus, a small region located deep within the brain that is shaped like a seahorse. Importantly, the hippocampus organizes and prioritizes the incoming information.