Lucid Dreaming: a Hybrid of REM and Waking Cognition
September 18, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under New Dream Studies
Where does lucidity comes from? Image by ocean.flynn
A study accepted in the journal Sleep last month (but not yet published) claims that lucid dreaming should be not be considered a REM dreaming phenomenon but rather a unique state of consciousness (Voss, et al., 2009). Poetically, the assertion that lucid dreaming has elements of waking consciousness and dreaming has been made for years. But this study, conducted at the Neurological Laboratory in Frankfurt, Germany, backs the assertion with physiological data taken with an EEG.
PsiberDreaming Conference Coming up!
September 8, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under New Dream Studies
There’s less than 2 weeks until the premiere Dreaming event on the web. I’m talking about the 2009 PsiberDreaming conference: a two week online conference that features over two dozen presentations from leaders in the fields of dream research and consciousness studies.
Keep in mind, this is not a boring academic conference, but an open forum for everyone who is interested in the strange and amazing possibilities of dreaming.
Managing Cancer Pain with Healing Dreams
July 20, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under New Dream Studies
Often the claim is made that dreams are healing. Usually, dream workers are talking about psychological healing, or the knack for dreams to highlight the areas in our lives that need attention, courage and renewal.
Worst live blogger ever
June 26, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under New Dream Studies
The annual conference for the International Association for the Study of Dreams starts today in Chicago, IL. I’ll be there, to give my lucid nightmares talk as well as chair the cultural and anthropological sessions.
Maybe I’ll do some live bloggin’ during the event. But let’s face it, I always say that at the beginning of conferences and generally fail. I’m the worst live blogger ever. If nothing else, I’ll cover some of my favorite presentations after the event is over.
REM Sleep Improves Creativity: New Research Findings
June 10, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under New Dream Studies
Image: 25/365 by ♪ maybe a mezzo ♪
New Survey for Finding the Meaning of Dreams
March 16, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under New Dream Studies
Here’s another opportunity to participate in dream research.
Carey Morewedge of Carnegie Mellon University and Michael Norton of Harvard are conducting a short survey on dreams and memory. I took it in less than 10 minutes. The results will be reported in the New York Times, thanks to dream-enthusiast and journalist John Tierney.
Click here to take the survey.
Lucid Dreamers Wanted for Study on Hypnopompic Hallucinations
February 26, 2009 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under New Dream Studies
Theoretical Physicist Karl Simanonok, PhD is looking for lucid dreamers to join his study on “auditory binding,” which is the hypothetical moment when consciousness “sticks to” the auditory system while waking up out of sleep.
Specifically, potential co-researchers in this study are asked to consciously experience their hypnopompic imagery when moving out of a dream state, and then report which sounds they experience at the threshold moment.
If you”re interested in participating in original lucid dream research and testing your conscious dreaming mettle, click here for Simanonok’s website.
Dreaming in Black and White
October 20, 2008 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under New Dream Studies
Television - Our Filter to the Dreamworld?
Do we usually dream in black & white” Or is the color in our remembered dreams just hard to remember? This has been a perplexing question for dream scientists for half a century, with most studies not able to report a firm conclusion.
Dreams Influenced by Smell
September 22, 2008 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under New Dream Studies
Here’s a great piece of dream research that just hit the wires:
In a study of 15 healthy German women, smells in the dreamer’s environment effected their dream content. Specifically, the smells (rotten eggs for some, and roses for the luckier subjects) boosted the negative or positive emotions of dreams.
The researchers asked the women to assess the content of their dream on an emotional “coloration” scale that measured the tone of their dream. They were asked to rate the positive or negative coloration of their dream on a scale of 0 to 3. Zero was no coloration and 3 was strong coloration.
Angel Dreams? Submit Them Here
April 13, 2008 by Ryan Hurd
Filed under New Dream Studies
Noted dream researcher Robert Van de Castle is collecting dream reports about angels from the public. Angels and other figures composed of light have been making their appearance in Western dreams for several thousand years, yet their dream mythology has scarcely been explored except from a strictly theistic perspective. Van de Castle hopes to change that with his upcoming scholarly book Angels in the Night.
Whether you are a believer or not, it is undeniable that angels have been influential dream figures for millions of people, guiding actions, imparting wisdom, and even playing roles in military campaigns and revolutions. Angels, be them celestial guides or archetypal components of the mind, are a psychological reality.
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