Posted on 08/03/2008 6:06:59 AM PDT by shrinkermd
During slumber, our brain engages in data analysis, from strengthening memories to solving problems
...Until the mid-1950s, scientists generally assumed that the brain was shut down while we snoozed. Although German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus had evidence in 1885 that sleep protects simple memories from decay, for decades researchers attributed the effect to a passive protection against interference. We forget things, they argued, because all the new information coming in pushes out the existing memories. But because there is nothing coming in while we get shut-eye, we simply do not forget as much.
Then, in 1953, the late physiologists Eugene Aserinsky and Nathaniel Kleitman of the University of Chicago discovered the rich variations in brain activity during sleep, and scientists realized they had been missing something important. Aserinsky and Kleitman found that our sleep follows a 90-minute cycle, in and out of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. During REM sleep, our brain waves—the oscillating electromagnetic signals that result from large-scale brain activity—look similar to those produced while we are awake. And in subsequent decades, the late Mircea Steriade of Laval University in Quebec and other neuroscientists discovered that individual collections of neurons were independently firing in between these REM phases, during periods known as slow-wave sleep, when large populations of brain cells fire synchronously in a steady rhythm of one to four beats each second. So it became clear that the sleeping brain was not merely “resting,” either in REM sleep or in slow-wave sleep. Sleep was doing something different. Something active.
... we are becoming sure of one thing: while we sleep, our brain is anything but inactive. It is now clear that sleep can consolidate memories by enhancing and stabilizing them and by finding patterns within studied material even when we do not know that patterns might be there.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciam.com ...
Pretty dumb assumption. Nobody in the 50s had dreams while they were asleep?
so - when I used to sleep during boring classes, my brain was still learning something.
Sleeping is a waste of time.
If I could figure out how to never sleep, I would.
I hate sleeping, there is just to much to do.
Most regular people have known this for years. Science is slow to catch on. I have solved more problems and come up with more ideas in my sleep than any other time. The key is to write it down as soon as you can. Because once you’re awake for a while all that background clutter caused by daily life dims down the thought.
If I had more time to sleep I’d be a genius.
Actually you can learn during sleep.
Not from a book. I've tried that in my dreams and to my frustration there's never anything interesting in them.
Going to the bathroom sometimes has a problem solving reset effect like sleep. I've had a few aha moments when completely stepping away for a few minutes.
Einstein slept a lot but his brain was very busy during that time solving problems. Thomas Edison though didn't sleep much. I wonder how his brain worked.
All my life I have counted on solving problems in my sleep.
"Friedrich Kekule and the Benzene Ring
He was not a brilliant chemist nor was he an exceptional teacher, yet Friedreick Kekule is credited with making one of the more amazing chemical discoveries of the time. How did he do it? Through what he called 'a waking dream.' "
The only problem with it is that most dreams are in "Volatile memory" and not "Written to disk", and upon awakening, I can actually see them fade. A paper and pencil or a small recorder by the bed is important.
OK, that does it. It’s only 9:30 on a Sunday morning and those darn dogs got me up so that they could visit the dog toilet. I’m going back to bed to develop my mind for a few hours.
I take a snooze every afternoon. It’s such a habit that I can keep time by it. At 2 PM, I can feel “sleep” or “fatigue” hitting me. 30 to 40 minutes sleep and I’m fine and ready to work for the next 8 hours. I even dream during these short jags.
Then my son should be a genius.
I, and from conversations, I think most professional mathematicians, have had the experience of working on a mathematical problem, going to bed clueless about how to solve it, and waking up with the solution (a correct proof in this case).
A surprising lot of what we attribute to conscious discursive reason is actually done by the unconscious part of the mind. (Personally I’m an Eccelsian dualist: although the mind arises from brain actitivity, it is not the same thing.)
Reading in you sleep does present a few issues.
Like learning word usage. lol!
“The only problem with it is that most dreams are in “Volatile memory” and not “Written to disk”, and upon awakening, I can actually see them fade. A paper and pencil or a small recorder by the bed is important.”
This is the most important part. I have even learned to wake myself up when I have to in order to keep it fresh.
One of my Philosophy profs once said “Sleep is the refuge of cowards.”
but if you don’t sleep, you can’t dream. and what kind of life is one without dreams?
Yes, brain activity is not the same as “mind.” Actually, the real puzzle is what is consciousness? Again, based on brain activity but not the same as brain activity.
it’s called defragmentation, as we do with our Windows computers :-)
I’m not napping, I’m thinking.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.