Science News for Writers

Creative people sleep more, later, and less well "In the case of verbally creative people, we found that  they sleep more hours and go to sleep and get up later." Do you ever dream of becoming the next Picasso? A new study at the University of Haifa comparing art and social science students has found that visually creative students evaluate their sleep as of lower quality. "Visually creative people reported disturbed sleep leading to difficulties in daytime functioning," explains doctorate student Neta Ram-Vlasov, one of the authors of the study. "In the case of verbally creative people, we found that they sleep more hours and go to sleep and get up later. In other words, the two types of creativity were associated with different sleep patterns. This strengthens the hypothesis that the processing and expression of visual creativity involves different psychobiological mechanisms to those found in verbal creativity." One of the leading approaches...

Writers seem to be always on the search for ways to improve their work - regular exercise and writing while standing are but two methods many writers use to sharpen their prose. According to this research, using a blue light also sharpens brain function -  something that any writer can adopt by purchasing bulbs that emit a shorter wave-length blue light similar to natural light. Individuals exposed to blue wavelength  lights experienced faster reaction times Blue light exposure has a lasting effect on brain function A new study found that blue wavelength light exposure led to subsequent increases in brain activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) when participants were engaging in a cognitive task after cessation of light exposure. The results also showed that a short single exposure to blue light for half an hour is sufficient to produce measurable changes in reaction times and more efficient respons...