Different habits create genius Albert Einstein

Many habits like a nap, a daily walk, eating Italian noodles can play an important role to help the scientist think.

Sleep for 10 hours a day and take a nap

Good sleep for the brain and Einstein follow this advice better than anyone, according to the BBC. He slept at least 10 hours a day, nearly half the average sleep time of Americans today (6.8 hours). The writer John Steinbeck once said: "A common experience is that the problem of the previous night will be solved the next morning after getting enough sleep."

Many of the greatest achievements in human history, including the periodic table, DNA structure and Einstein's special theory of relativity, are thought to be born when researchers are unconscious. Einstein came up with the idea of ​​a special theory of relativity while dreaming of cows being electrocuted.

In 2004, scientists at Lubeck University, Germany, examined the effects of sleep with a simple experiment. First, they instructed volunteers to play a digital game. Most volunteers are familiar with how to play through practice, but the fastest way to play better is to find hidden rules. When students are tested again after 8 hours, those who are sleeping can find the rules of the game twice as fast as those who are awake.

When we fall asleep, the brain enters a cycle of cycles. Every 90-120 minutes, the brain goes through sleepy states, deep sleep and the period associated with the dream is called Rapid Eye Movement (REM) . REM is said to play a leading role in learning and remembering activities. But scientists still have many things that are not well understood. "Non-REM sleep is still a mystery, we spend about 60% of the night for this type of sleep," said Stuart Fogel, neuroscientist at the University of Ottawa.

Einstein slept at least 10 hours a day.(Photo: BBC).

Non-REM sleep is characterized by rapid brain activity called a spindle event by a column-shaped zigzag of brain waves when the EEG is measured. A normal night's sleep will consist of thousands of sleepers of this type, each sleeping column lasts no more than a few seconds."This is really a portal to sleep stages. The more you sleep, the more sleep you will have , " Fogel said.

The sleeping pillars start with a burst of electrical energy that fires quickly from structures deep in the brain. The main culprit is the brain hill, an oval region that acts as the key "switching center" of the brain, transmitting sensory signals in the right direction. When we sleep, it acts as an internal ear plug, blocking external information to maintain sleep. While the sleeping column takes place, the rising energy moves to the surface of the brain, then returns, forming a complete ring.

People with more columns of sleep often have a higher intelligence (fluid intelligence) . Soft intelligence is the ability to solve new problems, use logical thinking in new situations and identify patterns. These are the things Einstein does very well. "These things don't seem to involve other kinds of intelligence like the ability to remember reality and numbers that specialize in reasoning skills , " Fogel said. This may help explain Einstein's disdain for formal education and the advice "never remember anything you can look up".

No matter how much you sleep, the more you sleep, the more sleep you don't have. However, a recent study found that night sleep in women and naps in men can improve reasoning and problem solving skills. Increasing intelligence is often related to the appearance of sleeping columns.

Scientists are not sure why the column is useful, but Fogel thinks it may be related to the areas that are activated."We found it was the regions that produced the sleep column, which were the brain and brain cortex, supporting the ability to solve problems and apply logical thinking in new situations," Fogel said.

Einstein also took a nap often. According to tradition, in order to ensure that he did not sleep well, Einstein rested on the couch, holding a spoon in his hand and placing a metal plate directly below. He let himself take a nap for a second and when the spoon slipped from his hand, the sound of the spoon falling on the metal plate woke him up.

 

Daily walking habits are very important for Einstein. While working at Princeton University, New Jersey, he often traveled 2.5 km there and walked back. He followed other diligent scientists like Darwin, who walked 45 minutes three times a day.

This habit is not only good for health, there is plenty of evidence that walking can enhance memory, creativity and problem solving.

Going for a walk distracts the brain from more mindful tasks, forcing the brain to focus on every step so it doesn't fall. This is the phenomenon of "transient hypothermia in some brain organs" (transient hypofrontality) , especially the frontal lobe associated with more advanced processes such as memory, evaluation and language.

By reducing activity, the brain applies a completely different kind of thinking, leading to perceptions that you can't think of when sitting at your desk.

Smoking pipe

Today, the health risks of smoking are widely known, so this is not a habit to maintain. But Einstein is addicted to heavy pipes. He often walks around the school yard with smoke coming from the pipe. He famously likes smoking and believes that this habit "contributes to bringing calmness and objective evaluation in everything". He even picked up the tip of the drug on the street and stuffed it into his pipe.

Physicist heavy smoking addiction.(Photo: SPL).

According to Einstein's justification, tobacco is not related to lung cancer and other diseases. It was not until 1962, 7 years after his death, that the connection between tobacco and new diseases was widely announced.

Smoking prevents the formation of brain cells, thinning the cortex (the wrinkled outer shell is responsible for consciousness) and causes the brain to lack oxygen.

An analysis of over 20,000 teenagers in the US, tracking the volunteers' habits and health for 15 years, discovering regardless of age, race or education level, smarter kids smoking more and more often than most people. Scientists are not sure why, although this is not true everywhere. In the UK, smokers often have low IQ.

Eat pasta

Einstein joked that the things he liked about Italy were "Spaghetti and mathematician Levi-Civita". Although carbohydrates are not healthy, Einstein made the right choice. The brain consumes 20% of the body's energy even though it accounts for only 2% of its body weight. Einstein may even need less energy because his brain weighs only 1,230 g compared to an average of about 1,400 g. Similar to the rest of the body, the brain prefers simple sugars like glucose, which can be converted into carbohydrates. Neighbors need an almost constant supply and only accept another source of energy when there is really no choice.

Despite the road, the brain does not have a way to store energy, so when blood sugar drops, it quickly uses up energy . "The body can partially release glycogen reserves (storage of glucose and carbohydrate (CHO) in animals and humans by releasing stress hormones like cortisol, but this process has many side effects. " Leigh Gibson, a professor of physiology at Roehampton University, said.

Side effects include a feeling of difficulty concentrating and being vague when you skip meals. One study found that people with a low-carbohydrate diet responded more slowly and reduced spatial memory even in the short term. After a few weeks, the brain will adapt to taking energy from other sources such as protein.

Sugar can increase energy for the brain, but eating too much pasta is not a good idea."Usually, there is evidence that about 25 grams of carbohydrate is useful, but twice as much, corresponding to about 37 noodles, can affect thinking ability , " Gibson said.

Do not go socks

He has a habit of not wearing socks.(Photo: BBC).

No list of Einstein's strange habits did not mention his anger towards socks."When he was young, he found his big toe always left a hole in his socks. So he stopped wearing socks," Einstein wrote in a letter to his cousin and later his wife, Elsa. At the end of his life, when he could not find his sandals, he always wore Elsa's straps.

The outward appearance did not bring any benefit to Einstein. There have not been any studies that directly consider the effect of not wearing socks, but changing everyday clothes instead of more formal clothes, associated with poor results in abstract thinking tests.