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American Morning
Paging Dr. Gupta: Sleep & Creativity
Aired January 22, 2004 - 08:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Medical news now. Ever wonder how an unsolved problem suddenly becomes a lot clearer after you sleep on it? Well a new study suggests that creativity and problem solving are directly linked to a good night's sleep. We are talking eight hours here.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta fresh off eight hours on his own.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.
HEMMER: Good morning. This is a perfect segment for morning anchors, isn't it? You guys never get enough sleep.
GUPTA: Yes, hardly perfect. Creative problem solving, sleeping on it, these are things that have been roaming around in the scientific world for quite some time. Sleeping on it, does that offer you converse (ph) some benefit in terms of being able to solve some problems, in terms of a burst of creative energy, perhaps. And now a German study actually looking at that, trying to add some scientific validity.
What they did, 106 people, they divided into three groups, people who slept eight hours at night, people who did not sleep eight hours at night and people who stayed awake all day long. They were presented with a numeric problem. This was a numeric problem. And what they found were those who slept eight hours at night, a good eight hours, a good night's sleep, were three times more likely than those who stayed awake all night to be able to solve a problem and two times more likely than those people who stayed awake during the day.
So two conclusions from this, first of all, a good night's sleep is a good thing in terms of being able to solve a problem. Sleeping on it, perhaps. Also at the -- in the morning time, as opposed to end of the day, may be a better time to try and tackle problems, as well.
Now, most important, this is the part I think is really cool.
HEMMER: Yes, he's pointing his finger.
GUPTA: Is that -- yes, pointing my finger, is that the brain apparently is not always sleeping when the body is sleeping. There is actually some restructuring going on, the brain is actually working on the problem, perhaps. And when you wake up in the morning, you might have that burst of problem solving skills.
HEMMER: Hey, no offense, this is kind of a no duh at first blush,... GUPTA: Sleeping on it (ph).
HEMMER: ... but no kidding sleep is good for you, but where is the science?
GUPTA: Well the science is interesting, because I think when people think about the brain actually sleeping, the body sleeping, you think the brain is asleep as well. Is it really working on problems? You know what they did with this, they actually presented a problem before someone went to sleep. And when they woke up, they were actually able to solve something that they otherwise weren't able to solve the night before. So that's interesting, the brain is actually working on it.
But even more importantly, what happens to the brain if you don't sleep? What are the effects of sleep deprivation? This has been studied as well. You in fact have 7 to 8 percent less blood flow to the brain during sleep deprivation that may impair your judgment, your storing of memories, it could cause paranoia, depression, your immune function and possibly hormonal changes leading to obesity as well. All of these things are sort of have been known, and as you say, maybe no duh, but now actually lending some scientific credibility to it.
HEMMER: You think the bosses are watching this?
GUPTA: That's right.
HEMMER: We hope. Practical way someone is watching this.
GUPTA: You know there's been -- there's been all of these sort of eureka moments throughout history. Eureka moments when someone wakes up, they've been working on a problem, they finally wake up and it comes to them.
Take a look at the list there, some of them, the sewing machine. Elias Howe actually wakes up, comes up with the sewing machine. The periodic table, Mendelev goes to bed, can't figure it out, wakes up, figures it out. James Watson all of a sudden in the middle of the night sees the snakes wrapping around the poll. What's that, the double helix. You can see the list there all sorts of things.
Practical ways, get a good night's sleep. College students, I hope they are watching, all-nighters probably not the way to go the night before an exam. It might diminish your problem solving, your creative abilities. Get a good night's sleep.
HEMMER: So we are just eight short hours away from genius, right?
GUPTA: Some of us may be a little further than others.
HEMMER: Yes, I would say a lot.
Thank you -- Sanjay.
GUPTA: Good to see you. Take care. HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Sanjay, I'm sure all those college students like OK, no more all-nighters, I can improve my creativity as opposed to just getting that paper done.
Thanks, Sanjay.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 22, 2004 - 08:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Medical news now. Ever wonder how an unsolved problem suddenly becomes a lot clearer after you sleep on it? Well a new study suggests that creativity and problem solving are directly linked to a good night's sleep. We are talking eight hours here.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta fresh off eight hours on his own.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.
HEMMER: Good morning. This is a perfect segment for morning anchors, isn't it? You guys never get enough sleep.
GUPTA: Yes, hardly perfect. Creative problem solving, sleeping on it, these are things that have been roaming around in the scientific world for quite some time. Sleeping on it, does that offer you converse (ph) some benefit in terms of being able to solve some problems, in terms of a burst of creative energy, perhaps. And now a German study actually looking at that, trying to add some scientific validity.
What they did, 106 people, they divided into three groups, people who slept eight hours at night, people who did not sleep eight hours at night and people who stayed awake all day long. They were presented with a numeric problem. This was a numeric problem. And what they found were those who slept eight hours at night, a good eight hours, a good night's sleep, were three times more likely than those who stayed awake all night to be able to solve a problem and two times more likely than those people who stayed awake during the day.
So two conclusions from this, first of all, a good night's sleep is a good thing in terms of being able to solve a problem. Sleeping on it, perhaps. Also at the -- in the morning time, as opposed to end of the day, may be a better time to try and tackle problems, as well.
Now, most important, this is the part I think is really cool.
HEMMER: Yes, he's pointing his finger.
GUPTA: Is that -- yes, pointing my finger, is that the brain apparently is not always sleeping when the body is sleeping. There is actually some restructuring going on, the brain is actually working on the problem, perhaps. And when you wake up in the morning, you might have that burst of problem solving skills.
HEMMER: Hey, no offense, this is kind of a no duh at first blush,... GUPTA: Sleeping on it (ph).
HEMMER: ... but no kidding sleep is good for you, but where is the science?
GUPTA: Well the science is interesting, because I think when people think about the brain actually sleeping, the body sleeping, you think the brain is asleep as well. Is it really working on problems? You know what they did with this, they actually presented a problem before someone went to sleep. And when they woke up, they were actually able to solve something that they otherwise weren't able to solve the night before. So that's interesting, the brain is actually working on it.
But even more importantly, what happens to the brain if you don't sleep? What are the effects of sleep deprivation? This has been studied as well. You in fact have 7 to 8 percent less blood flow to the brain during sleep deprivation that may impair your judgment, your storing of memories, it could cause paranoia, depression, your immune function and possibly hormonal changes leading to obesity as well. All of these things are sort of have been known, and as you say, maybe no duh, but now actually lending some scientific credibility to it.
HEMMER: You think the bosses are watching this?
GUPTA: That's right.
HEMMER: We hope. Practical way someone is watching this.
GUPTA: You know there's been -- there's been all of these sort of eureka moments throughout history. Eureka moments when someone wakes up, they've been working on a problem, they finally wake up and it comes to them.
Take a look at the list there, some of them, the sewing machine. Elias Howe actually wakes up, comes up with the sewing machine. The periodic table, Mendelev goes to bed, can't figure it out, wakes up, figures it out. James Watson all of a sudden in the middle of the night sees the snakes wrapping around the poll. What's that, the double helix. You can see the list there all sorts of things.
Practical ways, get a good night's sleep. College students, I hope they are watching, all-nighters probably not the way to go the night before an exam. It might diminish your problem solving, your creative abilities. Get a good night's sleep.
HEMMER: So we are just eight short hours away from genius, right?
GUPTA: Some of us may be a little further than others.
HEMMER: Yes, I would say a lot.
Thank you -- Sanjay.
GUPTA: Good to see you. Take care. HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Sanjay, I'm sure all those college students like OK, no more all-nighters, I can improve my creativity as opposed to just getting that paper done.
Thanks, Sanjay.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
