[REM sleep and creativity] The results support the hypothesis that [during REM sleep] the brain is subconsciously spreading activation of previously activated nodes. Prior literature suggests that during a dormant period between two active encounters with a problem, the memory trace of a target item, and the progression of this target through other relevant stored information generate spreading activation through a network (16). For example, by priming the solution SWEET before sleep, the SWEET node is activated, and during subsequent REM sleep, the associative nodes (in this case HEART, SIXTEEN, COOKIE) are more likely to be activated and increased above threshold. Therefore, when the three words that were previously unrelated (HEART, SIXTEEN, COOKIE) are seen, there will be an increased probability of the node SWEET being chosen as the solution. We propose that the most optimal dormant period occurs during REM sleep, which provides the most spreading of activation. One possible mechanism for the spreading-activation model involves cholinergic and noradrenergic neuromodulation that occurs specifically during REM sleep. During wake, higher levels of norepinephrine and acetylcholine inhibit recurrent connections in the neocortex. During REM sleep, however, high levels of acetylcholine in the hippocampus suppress feedback from hippocampus to the neocortex, whereas lower levels of acetylcholine and norepinephrine in the neocortex could facilitate the spread of activity within neocortical areas without strong hippocampal influence (37).
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 18:00:26 +0000
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