Joesoef
26-08-04, 00:06
While you were sleeping
Laura Nelson
Laura Nelson recently completed an internship with Nature.
Ever woken up with the answer to a problem that had seemed insoluble the night before, or able to perform a task that had previously taxed your skills? We may soon know why, says Laura Nelson.
On 17 February 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev nodded off over a game of solitaire. On waking, he found he had solved the conundrum of how the chemical elements could be grouped in a meaningful way. The periodic table, used by every chemist today, was born.
Legend has it that inspiration came to Mendeleev in a dream, although he probably embellished the story for dramatic effect. But most of us will have experienced similar, if less epoch-making, insights following sleep. And our ability to perform complex tasks, such as playing a musical instrument, can be better the morning after a practice session the night before.
Cognitive scientists group phenomena such as learning to solve logical problems, or improving musical skills, under the heading of 'procedural' learning. This means learning how to do something, rather than simply accumulating a list of facts. For years, researchers have suspected that one important function of sleep is to strengthen this process. But only now are scientists starting to reveal the specific patterns of brain activity involved. "Sleep is to do with cells and building their connections," says Giulio Tononi, a psychiatrist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
http://www.nature.com/news/2004/040823/full/430962a.html
Laura Nelson
Laura Nelson recently completed an internship with Nature.
Ever woken up with the answer to a problem that had seemed insoluble the night before, or able to perform a task that had previously taxed your skills? We may soon know why, says Laura Nelson.
On 17 February 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev nodded off over a game of solitaire. On waking, he found he had solved the conundrum of how the chemical elements could be grouped in a meaningful way. The periodic table, used by every chemist today, was born.
Legend has it that inspiration came to Mendeleev in a dream, although he probably embellished the story for dramatic effect. But most of us will have experienced similar, if less epoch-making, insights following sleep. And our ability to perform complex tasks, such as playing a musical instrument, can be better the morning after a practice session the night before.
Cognitive scientists group phenomena such as learning to solve logical problems, or improving musical skills, under the heading of 'procedural' learning. This means learning how to do something, rather than simply accumulating a list of facts. For years, researchers have suspected that one important function of sleep is to strengthen this process. But only now are scientists starting to reveal the specific patterns of brain activity involved. "Sleep is to do with cells and building their connections," says Giulio Tononi, a psychiatrist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
http://www.nature.com/news/2004/040823/full/430962a.html