Another great piece by Jonah Lehrer
"While a rat was running through one of these labyrinths, Wilson measured clusters of neurons in the hippocampus with multiple electrodes surgically implanted in its brain. As he'd hypothesized, Wilson found that each maze produced its own pattern of neural firing. To figure out how dreams relate to experience, Wilson recorded input from these same electrodes while the rats were sleeping. The results were astonishing. Of the 45 rat dreams recorded by Wilson, 20 contained an exact replica of the maze they had run earlier that day. The REM sleep was recapitulating experience, allowing the animals to consolidate memory and learn new things."
We re-live our days in our heads when we go to sleep. I remember learning this lesson in college about learning. I could really only hold on to something if I studied it over time and slept on it. It's why cramming never really worked for me. It still doesn't.
"While a rat was running through one of these labyrinths, Wilson measured clusters of neurons in the hippocampus with multiple electrodes surgically implanted in its brain. As he'd hypothesized, Wilson found that each maze produced its own pattern of neural firing. To figure out how dreams relate to experience, Wilson recorded input from these same electrodes while the rats were sleeping. The results were astonishing. Of the 45 rat dreams recorded by Wilson, 20 contained an exact replica of the maze they had run earlier that day. The REM sleep was recapitulating experience, allowing the animals to consolidate memory and learn new things."
We re-live our days in our heads when we go to sleep. I remember learning this lesson in college about learning. I could really only hold on to something if I studied it over time and slept on it. It's why cramming never really worked for me. It still doesn't.
Leave a comment