We Do Most Of Our Processing Subconsciously

We’ve all heard the expression “sleep on it” and many of us have used this method when making big decisions. But what exactly happens when we “sleep on it” and why does this method work so well? Science can explain this and the answer is that we do most of our processing subconsciously, either during our sleep or by “stepping away” from a problem and letting our brains mull it over.

In this article you will learn that:

• The brain continues to process complex problems while solving new ones;
• We can classify words in our sleep;
• Our subconscious makes a decision before we become aware of it

Psychologists have known for some time that our subconscious mind is powerful, but have discovered new information that points to just how much influence the subconscious has. Did you know that your brain continues to solve a problem even when you’re busy? Better decisions are actually made when you give your subconscious time to process. A research team at Carnegie Mellon University asked 27 participants to complete decision-making tasks while undergoing an MRI. The researchers would give the participants information about items such as cars while they were connected to the MRI and were asked to memorize a sequence of numbers, which prevented the participants from thinking actively about the items.

When the researchers evaluated the brain scans they found that the areas of the brain that deal with decision-making and learning were still active (the visual and prefrontal cortices) while the participants were receiving information about the items, which is not that surprising. But what did shock the researchers was that these areas were still active while the participants were memorizing the numbers. The reason for this is that when your brain receives new information, it continues to simultaneously process a more complex problem. But the amazing ability of your subconscious doesn’t stop there.

        A new study found that we have the ability to classify words in our sleep. Participants were asked to perform simple word classification tasks before going to sleep and the researchers recorded the EEG (an electroencephalogram, a test to measure the electrical activity of the brain). The participants were then put in a dark room to recline comfortably and continue classifying the words while falling asleep. The testing continued after the participants feel asleep with a new list of words. The EEG showed that the brain was still actively and accurately classifying the words. The subconscious not only has exceptional activity, but new research has found that your subconscious makes a decision before you are aware of it.

        The researchers discovered that there is a ten second delay between when your brain has made a decision and when you become aware of that decision:

“We found that the outcome of a decision can be encoded in brain activity of prefrontal and parietal cortex up to 10 s before it enters awareness. This delay presumably reflects the operation of a network of high-level control areas that begin to prepare an upcoming decision long before it enters awareness.”

In other words, the mental processes in our subconscious initiate our actions rather than us making a conscious and free decision.

By allowing yourself to have time to think about a problem, you also effectively allow your subconscious to process the information and make a decision. But, as we learned our subconscious can process new information from more than one task at a time. Perhaps this is our brain’s way of distracting us while it does all the work, much like a parent occupies a child with TV while dinner is being made.