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RandomFactor writes:

Is it possible to make use of the little death? Can you learn while asleep? It turns out that, just maybe there's something possible after all.

Recent research indicates that if you don't sleep well it may contribute to Alzheimer's, and most are aware you won't form memories or learn as well. If you don't sleep at all it can even mean lights out for good (humans are more resilient to lack of sleep than many animals, but it will still get you.)

It has long been one of man's aspirations to make use of that lost 1/3 of our life in some useful fashion. Early flawed studies even seemed to show it was possible (flawed in that what learning occurred was actually due to the stimulus waking the sleeper) and products were produced with this in mind, such as the 1930's era psycho-phone, an Edison style phonograph on a timer that played inspirational messages while you slept.

in recent years, studies have found that the brain may not be a total blob during sleep. These findings suggest that it is possible for the sleeping brain to absorb information and even form new memories. The catch, however, is that the memories are implicit, or unconscious. Put another way, this form of learning is extremely basic, much simpler than what your brain has to accomplish if you want to learn German or quantum mechanics.

For example, simple associations can be made to break habits. The example is given of associating the smell of rotten fish with cigarettes:

Multiple studies have found that a basic form of learning, called conditioning, can happen during sleep. In a 2012 study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, for example, Israeli researchers found that people can learn to associate sounds with odors during sleep. The scientists played a tone to sleeping study participants while unleashing a nasty spoiled-fish smell. Once awake, upon hearing the tone, the people held their breath in anticipation of a bad smell.

Unfortunately, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch:

Stimulating the sleeping brain with new information likely disrupts the functions of sleep, negatively affecting the pruning and strengthening of what we have learned over the previous day.

[...] While losing quality sleep to potentially learn a few words is not a smart trade-off, researchers continue to study sleep learning because the compromise may be worth it in special cases. For example, sleep learning could be useful when people need to change a habit or alter stubborn disturbing memories in cases of phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Research is ongoing in this area, but who knows. We can dream right?

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