Dreams and Learning

By Gibson Berns
Looking at the clock halfway through my notes it reads 1:28. I have a big psychology test
tomorrow and need to do well. As I glance away and continue reading through my notes the next
moment I look at the clock and it reads 2:58. Now I have to take this test on about 5 hours of
sleep! Was all that studying worth it to wake up fuzzy and drowsy? Or should I have started that
studying earlier to give myself some more sleep? Some studies suggest that losing sleep over
studying may not be the best option to get a better grade on that test.
One study conducted by Robert Stickgold of Harvard Medical School involved 99
participants and a maze. The participants had to attempt to navigate a maze on a computer. After
the task was finished, half of the participants were able to nap for two hours while the other half
stayed awake. After fully waking up, all participants re-did the maze. The results were quite
outstanding.
Those who slept and reported dreaming about the maze improved their performance. The
dreamers improved more than six times of any other participant in the study. So, the people who
dreamed about going through the maze did better than those who stayed awake trying to work
out and remember the maze in their mind.
Why is that though? Jeffrey Sutton, also of Harvard, watched the sleeping brains of about
fifteen people. While participants were dreaming, he saw wave after wave of activity, first
starting in the brain stem, and moving its way to the cortex. The cortex stores most memory,
attention, awareness, thought, consciousness, and language.

Sutton did a set of experiments having people identify the position of objects they saw on
a screen that they could only see for a few seconds. At first the researchers thought that just by
showing the subjects these images repetitively that their results would improve dramatically. But,
subjects did better after a good sleep. To dive more into this and investigate further, the
researchers tested the subjects before they went to sleep. They woke some in the middle of a
dream state and others in the non-dream state. The people that awoke in the middle of a dream
remembered very little information compared to the people who were awoke in the non-dream
phase whose numbers were drastically better.
But, what in our brain causes dreaming and consequently learning? It is a chemical in our
brain called acetylcholine. Acetylcholine passes messages between brain cells and promotes
dreaming during sleep. In one experiment,
Professor of psychiatry at the Medical
School Allan Hobson injected cats with
acetylcholine and found that they dreamed
more than the usual amount.
One freshman student at Buena Vista
University told me that, even though he
doesnt like to admit, he procrastinates like no other. He doesnt do homework until after
midnight most nights and studies after that if he has a test. Due to having morning classes early
the next morning, he limits himself to only five or six hours of sleep at the maximum. If he
would just study earlier and not procrastinate so hard, he would remember information more
fluidly and be able to rest his body more. Obviously these studies tell the truth and the truth is
sleep helps rest the body and dreams help the brain learn.

Sleep is a way of resting our bodies, not our minds. Obviously our brain is constantly
working and learning due to our dreams, helping us out even when we arent trying. Instead of
staying up depriving yourself of sleep in the early hours of the morning, study early in the night
and get a good nights sleep. Let your brain do the learning while your body is resting, and
everything should turn out just fine.

References
Cromie, William J. "Research Links Sleep, Dreams, and Learning."Research Links Sleep,
Dreams, and Learning. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
Nixon, Robin. "Naps and Dreams Boost Learning, Study Finds."LiveScience. TechMedia
Network, 22 Apr. 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.