Dreams Make You Smarter, More Creative, Studies Suggest
REM sleep boosts memory, creativity, and more, experts announce.
(Also see: "Naps Clear Brain's Inbox, Improve Learning.")
In a recent study, people who took naps featuring REM sleep—in which dreams are most vivid—performed better on creativity-oriented word problems. That is, the REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep helped people combine ideas in new ways, according to psychiatrist Sara Mednick, who led the study.
Part of the experiment's morning round involved a word-analogy test, similar to some SAT problems. For example, given "chips: salty::candy:_____" the answer would have been "sweet."
At midday, after the first round, the subjects were given a 90-minute rest period, during which they were monitored.
Some participants took naps with REM sleep, which typically begins more than an hour after a person falls asleep. Others took an REM-less
