Scientists have discovered a method to implant ideas into dreams to enhance creativity, a development that could bring the concept of 'dream hacking' as seen in Inception closer to reality.
In the blockbuster Christopher Nolan science fiction film, a thief, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, who pilfers corporate secrets through dream-sharing technology, is tasked with embedding an idea into a CEO's mind.
Now, a group at Northwestern University in the US has demonstrated that it's feasible to subtly 'guide' what individuals dream about - and that these dreams can assist with creative problem-solving.
Before retiring for the night, volunteers grappled with complex puzzles, each accompanied by its own unique soundtrack. Throughout the night in the sleep lab, researchers tracked their brainwaves and, during REM sleep - the stage associated with vivid dreaming - quietly replayed the sounds connected to some of the unsolved puzzles.
This technique, known as targeted memory reactivation (TMR), resulted in 75% of participants reporting that their dreams incorporated images or ideas from the prompted puzzles in the morning.
Significantly, individuals were much more likely to solve the puzzles that appeared in their dreams: Nearly half were solved when linked to dreams, compared with less than a fifth for puzzles that didn't feature in their dreams.
In 12 of the 20 participants, the prompted puzzles appeared more frequently in dreams - and those individuals doubled their morning performance on those reactivated puzzles.
Several volunteers were experienced lucid dreamers who occasionally recognise they're dreaming - a handful even transmitted pre-arranged 'I heard that' signals through sniff patterns whilst asleep. However, the dream prompts proved effective even without lucidity.
One participant, prompted with a 'trees' puzzle, awoke recounting a stroll through a forest. Another, cued with a jungle-themed puzzle, dreamed of fishing in a jungle whilst contemplating the task.
"Many problems in the world today require creative solutions," said senior author Professor Ken Paller. "Sleep engineering could help."
Lead author Karen Konkoly noted that dream content followed the sound cues "even without lucidity", suggesting our sleeping brains can receive gentle instructions.
The research is modest (20 people) and doesn't establish that dreams alone produced superior answers. Curiosity or additional factors might contribute.
Nevertheless, being capable of directing dream content represents a significant advance towards comprehending how sleep facilitates creativity, learning and potentially even emotional wellbeing.
Should future research validate it, "sleeping on it" could transition from old wives' tale to practical tool - from artists to shift workers, students to engineers, anyone grappling with a problem might one day receive a prompt in their sleep rather than another late-night coffee.
The research titled 'Creative problem-solving after experimentally provoking dreams of unsolved puzzles during REM sleep' is featured in the Neuroscience of Consciousness journal.
