Research Hit: Does the Brain Solve Problems Better with Rest?

A new review summarises how rest, incubation, helps problem solving

We’ve all had that experience of having a great idea or flash of insight while having a shower or walking the dog (I don’t have a dog so just walking for me).

In the research this is known as incubation — we all kind of know it, we have the expression “sleep on it” but I still see, so many times, business folk in rooms desperately trying to solve a tricky problem. But, also, the research doesn’t always show an effect and this to varying degrees.

So what is the best thing to get our brain to solve those tricky little and big problems?

It does indeed depend on the type of problem. Does incubation, leaving problems for a while help? This meta-analytic review by Sio and Ormerod answers many of these questions.

They found that:

• Incubation has strong effect on complex problems