People may gain creative insights in the short moments between wakefulness and sleep.

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The twilight time between fully awake and deep sleep may be full of creative potential.

Scientists reported in "Science Advances" on December 8 that people who have recently entered light sleep have the ability to solve problems later. The results can help demystify short, early sleep moments, and may even point to ways to increase creativity.

Rumor has it that Thomas Edison, the prolific inventor and cat thief, would chase those twilight lands. It is said that he fell asleep in a chair with two steel ball bearings and a metal pan on it. When he leaves, the ball will fall. The accompanying click will wake him up, and he can rescue his creative ideas before they fall asleep.

Delphine Oudiette, a cognitive neuroscientist at the Paris Brain Institute, and colleagues drew inspiration from Edison's method of fostering creativity. She and her colleagues brought 103 healthy people to their laboratory to solve a difficult digital problem. Volunteers were asked to convert a string of numbers into a shorter sequence according to two simple rules. The volunteer was not told to have a simple technique: the second number in the sequence is always the correct final number. Once discovered, this cheat code greatly shortens the resolution time.

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After 60 such experiments on the computer, the volunteers were given 20 minutes of rest in a quiet, dark room. Lying down and holding an "alarm clock" equivalent to Edison (a light drinking water bottle in a shaking hand), the participants were asked to close their eyes and rest or sleep if they wished. Electrodes have been monitoring their brain waves all the time.

About half of the participants stayed awake. Twenty-four people fell asleep and stayed in a shallow and short sleep stage called N1. Fourteen people entered a deeper sleep stage called N2.

After the break, the participants went back to their number problems. The researchers saw a clear difference between the two groups: people who went to bed early were 2.7 times more likely to discover the hidden technique than people who were not asleep, and were 5.8 times more likely to find it than people who couldn't sleep. The deeper N2 stage has been reached.

Oudiette said it is rare for such a huge difference in these types of experiments. "We were very surprised by the range of results." The researchers also identified a "brainwave creative cocktail", as Oudiette said, it seems to accompany this twilight phase-a mixture of alpha brainwaves, which usually signifies relaxation , Mixed with the delta wave of deep sleep.

John Kounios, a cognitive neuroscientist at Drexel University in Philadelphia, who co-authored the book "The Eureka Factor: Aha Moments, Creative Insight, and the Brain" in 2015, he warned that This study did not show that the time spent on N1 actually triggered later recognition. "Solving the problem and starting the incubation process may lead to N1 and subsequent insights," he said, making N1 a "by-product of the process that led to insights rather than causes." Oudiette said that more work needs to be done to unlock N1 The link between creativity and creativity. But the results suggest a tantalizing possibility that is reminiscent of Edison's self-optimization: People may be able to learn to reach the twilight stage of sleep, or generate a mixture of brain waves related to creativity as needed.

Edison seemed to understand the creativity of dozing off. But don't take his habits too seriously. It is said that he also believes that sleep is a "criminal waste of time".

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Laura Sanders is a neuroscience writer. She has a doctorate degree. PhD in Molecular Biology, University of Southern California.

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