Deep Sleep Can Improve Intelligence & Memory, Study Suggests

A recent study from the University of California, San Diego showed that people who get more sleep are likely to be more intelligent (especially in creativity oriented ways) then those who don’t get as much sleep. This is majorly because dreaming boosts creativity and memory. A series of test were run on people who experienced REM (Rapid Eye Movement) dreaming, in which dreams are more vivid, and seemingly more real. REM dreaming usually starts after over an hour of sleep. They were tested by being given SAT-type questions, where they would receive a series of word, and connect them with one word. This would reflect their aptitude for creatively merging thoughts in new ways. With various control groups in place, two rounds of these tests were administrated. In the second round, the REM sleepers improved their scores around forty percent, while the others showed little to no improvement. The REM sleepers also seemed to have a better memory than the others, which of course, is useful.

This article is applicable to biological concepts because it shows how sleep can have an adverse affect on human beings. Knowing how different things affect the human body is significant, because it creates a better understanding for how our bodies work, and what kind of things they react to.

We should care about this, because as we get older, and gain more independence, as teenagers we have a tendency to rebel against the rules that have been established for us; what is healthy, and what is not. Maybe with this new information, we’ll realize that disturbing our healthy sleeping patterns do more harm than just causing us to feel sluggish and tired. As a result of our own actions, we could damage our ability to think as clearly, remember thing as well, et cetera.

Source: Kaufman, Rachel. “Dreams Make Your Smarter, More Creative, Study Says.” National Geographic. August 13th, 2010.

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