Lucid dreaming research is growing up. At least, that is Allan Hobson’s take on the recent burst of scientific studies published on conscious dreaming. Once a myth of Carlos Castaneda, and then a topic guaranteed to instantly transport researchers to the margins of academia, lucid dreaming has become a hot topic for neuroscience and cognitive psychology because it promises to isolate one of the hardest-to-pin-down objects of all time: consciousness itself.

In the 2009 article “The neurobiology of consciousness: lucid dreaming wakes up,” Hobson reviews the last twenty years of lucid dreaming research as moving from tenuous self-reports to empirical observation via brain activity. The result is not only viable research, but fresh inspiration for a new science of consciousness. This post reviews Hobson’s take on this exciting trend.

Paradox of lucidity

Let’s look back. Stephen LaBerge’s early work at Stanford (1981) empirically demonstrated that it is possible to be self-aware in the REM sleep state (and let’s not forget Keith Hearne, who was the first to signal lucid dreaming in a sleep lab in 1978, or Robert Oglivie and company, who also demonstrated lucid dreaming in REM that same year).

Many doubted this finding because the conceptual problem is so hard to wrap your head around…. how can one be asleep and aware simultaneously? Slowly, the scientific community, emboldened by the growing interest in a new science of consciousness, accepted that being awake and aware are two different concepts.

40Hz empowerment and consciousness

Now, a new generation of brain technology supports LaBerge’s original claim that lucid dreaming is not a new-age fantasy or a “micro-awakening” from sleep. EEG sampling is more sensitive than ever. In 2009, Ursula Voss and company from the University of Frankfurt found a unique brain signature: a 40Hz spike in brain activity in the frontal lobe during lucid dreams. Read my riff about this study here.

What makes this 40Hz finding so intriguing, argues Hobson, is it has previously been correlated with waking consciousness—as well as meditation and hypnosis, I should add. Waking consciousness is not just one state, either, remember, but continuously shifts around between linguistic thinking, emotional day dreaming, focused attention and problem-solving, and creative flow states that are quite dreamy in their own right. This connection of lucid dreaming to meditation has been noticed before (most notably by Harry Hunt and later Allan W. Wallace), who have further drawn parallels between lucid dreaming and the states of consciousness sought after in Eastern mystical traditions.

In between worlds

"Dazzling LEDs and lightbulbs" by Russell Bernice

We’re zeroing in on something that philosophers and scientists have been looking for since Descartes saw his first pineal gland: the seat of the conscious mind. Recent brain imagery experiments on lucid dreaming performed by German researcher Michael Czisch found more evidence for unique activation patterns during lucid dreaming that exceeds “normal” dreams, not only in the frontal lobe but also parietal and temporal structures. Voss’s team noticed this too.

What does this mean? There’s some strong synchronous firings going on during lucid dreaming that researchers don’t quite understand yet, but we can say for sure that lucid dreaming is a globally activated state that parallels other classically defined states of waking consciousness in terms of its complexity and coherence. It appears that lucid dreaming is a bridge between the imagination of the dream state and the insight of our most prized conscious states. We are literally in between two worlds. In fact, Hobson is now leading the charge that lucid dreaming deserves to be called its own state of consciousness, separate from ordinary REM dreams.

For Hobson, the implications are not only philosophical but also address psychiatry’s founding aim to heal and ease the suffering of mental illness. For example, because lucid dreaming is a learnable skill, the ability to self-monitor 40hz power could open the doors to learning how self-awareness can mediate behavior, identity and those other classic markers not only for sanity but for creativity and high-functioning genius.

This is the first essay of several more than will explore the new neuroscience of lucid dreaming.

Intro image: Light sphere by piji

References

Hearne, K. (1978). Lucid dreams: electrophysiological and psychological study. Doctoral dissertation: Liverpool University.

Hobson, A. (2009). The Neurobiology of Consciousness – Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up. International Journal of Dream Research, 2(2), 41-44. Retrieved from http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ojs/index.php/IJoDR/article/viewFile/403/pdf_1

LaBerge, S., Nagel, L., Dement, W., Zarcone, V., (1981). Lucid dreaming verified by volitional communication during REM sleep. Psychophysiology, 20: 454-455.

Olgivie, R, Hunt, H., Tyson, P., Lucescu, M., Jeankins, D. (1978). Searching for lucid dreams. Sleep Research, 7: 165.

Voss, U., Holzmann, R., Tuin, I., & Hobson, J. A. (2009). Lucid Dreaming: A State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming. Sleep (Rochester), 32(9), 1191-1200. Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC. Retrieved from http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2737577&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract

Hypnagogia is the imagery, sounds and strange bodily feelings that are felt at “sleep onset.” This is a simplification though, as researchers have noted hypnagogic imagery in the lab at periods of quiet wakefulness as well as stage 1 sleep. Others have correlated hypnagogia with pre-sleep alpha waves and also REM intrusion into sleep onset. The truth is that the wake-sleep transition is still not understood. And neither are its trippy visuals.

Few people remember hypnagogic imagery. This stage is so slippery, it may only last a few seconds. But its imagery is well-recorded by dream enthusiasts from centuries past: whispy lights, multi-dimentional geometric objects, or a sudden image like a stranger’s face or a teddy bear. Occassional fully-articulated dream scenes do manifest, but they are disconnected, usually a single image or moment, rather than a long narrative plot as we see in REM-style dreaming.

Strange noises, voices and rushing sounds are typical, as well as weird mechanistic sounds like beeps and boops. Others hear their name called, as if from the next room. Sometimes it’s pleading, other times, accusing. By the way, this stuff can happen coming out of sleep too, in which case it’s called hypnopompic imagery. (Imagery, in this sense, includes sounds and bodily feelings.)

Some hear music — I personally have had lucid hypnagogic orchestras from time to time, with the ability to listen passively or focus on a particular instrument to induce a solo. These concerts have  included classical music, jazz, and even down-tempo darkwave electronica, each time filling me with awe and joy upon awakening.

Entoptica - by Ryan Hurd, 2005, acrylic: inspired by my hypnagogic imagery

Lastly, the bodily sensations felt during hypnagogia are just bizarr-o. Feelings include floating, falling, and being separated from your body. Many OBEs occur from sleep onset. Then there’s the hypnic jerk, that sudden awakening right after a full-dream immersion such as walking down the stairs and tripping or driving in a car and hitting the bumper of the car in front of you. Bam!

Some people are haunted by the hypnagogic imagery. Rather than lasting only  few moments, it goes on and on for long stretches of time. They may open their eyes and still see the dream imagery overlaid –and sometimes — interacting with the physical environment. The most common nightmarish visions are creepy-crawly insects, like roaches crawling upon the walls and on the ceiling, dropping on to the bed. Sometime hypnagogic sufferers sense the “invisible presence” felt in sleep paralysis visions, but overall the mythological and humanoid entities are more rare for non-paralyzed hypnagogia.

Creativity and Discovery

Many inventors, artists and scientists have reported eureka! moments that came during a quick snooze. In fact, Thomas Edison and Salvador Dali both had methods in which they incubated hypnagogic dreams on purpose, according to Deidre Barrett in the Committee of Sleep.

Most famously, chemist August Kekulé came to understand the structure of the benzene molecule after falling asleep in front of the fire, and seeing a classic ouroboros: a series of molecules made out of snakes, with one swallowing another’s tail.

The Hypnagogic Brain

The neurological relationship to hypnagogic imagery has been pondered over for decades. One of Freud’s contemporaries, Henry Silberer, a brilliant dream researcher in his own right, thought that hypnagogic imagery is the clearest example of autosymbolism, in which whatever we’re thinking right now is converted into a visual metaphor. Psychologist Harry Hunt noted that the imagery is less like REM dreaming imagery and more closely resembling the stuff seen during meditation, sensory deprivation (the Ganzfeld Effect) and especially the psychedelic ecstasy from LSD or psilocybe. Medical researcher Rick Straussman suggested in DMT: The Spirit Molecule that the pineal gland gives up a precious jewel of endogenous DMT when we enter into a hypnagogic trance that is characterized by predominant THETA brainwaves.

The thalamus, which is ordinarily not this red.

Another promising finding comes from a 2010 study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Researchers suggest that hypnagogic imagery is not tied to brain activity in the frontal cortex but to the deactivation of different parts of the brain at sleep onset.  Neuroscientists have long known that different parts of the brain “go to sleep” at different times, but until recently it was not known that  thalamus goes off-line before the cortex, often with several minutes in between.

Because of the thalamus’s role in processing visual imagery as well as spatial information, this could explain why we feel awake still when suddenly some bizarre imagery drifts across the visual field. Perhaps without mediation by the thalamus, we are made consciously aware of not only autosymbolic visual imagery, but also bodily and spatial feelings as well.

Finding the Balance

Some readers of this blog have shared how 5-HTP and melatonin can be used to prevent runaway hypnagogia. This is a more gentle approach than the pharmaceutical answer, which includes dream-killing antidepressants. Still, this is an option for those plagued by unwanted hypnagogic hallucinations.

On the other hand, hypnagogia can be willfully promoted as a meditative state. I know one meditator who regularly has 20+ minutes of hypnagogia, which she uses for artistic inspiration and spiritual practice. Like lucid dreaming and remembering dreams in general, this takes willpower and patience. Sleeping on your back promotes HH, but be careful, as this can promote sleep paralysis as well.

Try taking naps in the afternoon as well, and avoid alcohol or caffeine for a few days to strengthen your sleep architecture.Once mastered, sleep paralysis can lead the way to more hypnagogic adventures.

Reference

Thalamic deactivation at sleep onset precedes that of the cerebral cortex in humans Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 February 23; 107(8): 3829–3833.

The Committee of Sleep by Deidre Barrett, PhD.

DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman, MD.

CC First Image: Psychedelic Cactus” by vgm8383

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.

Despite the small sample size, Voss and company’s findings are intriguing.  Specifically, lucid dreams are shown to differ from ordinary (REM) dreams by an increased brain frequency in the 40Hz (or GAMMA) range in the frontal and frontolateral areas of the brain. These areas are considered by many scientists to be the seat of linguistic thought, as well as other higher mental functions associated with self-awareness.

This “hybrid state” of waking and dreaming fits in well with study co-author Allan Hobson’s AIM model for sleep cognition. The AIM model essentially maps and predicts possible kinds of consciousness in sleep based on three different spectra:

• whether the imagery created is external or internally sourced,
• the activation levels of the brain, and
• the modulation of the state by brain chemicals.

Lucid dreaming, the authors say, can therefore be mapped separately from ordinary dreams due, in this case, to the unique activation on the GAMMA level. The authors say the next step is to test lucid dreaming in the lab with brain imagery devices, such as a fMRI.

The Quest for Uniting the Mind and the Brain

The seat of the soul, according to Descartes.

Finding the unique physiological markers of consciousness has long been the holy grail of science.  We’ve had a few interesting theories along the way. For instance, Rene Descartes put his money on the pineal gland, while today other scientists say consciousness is a product of microtubules in the brain’s neurons.

Lucid dreaming research is really an off-shoot of this scientific tradition, especially as it looks for physical markers that coincide with subjective qualities such as self-awareness or free will.  (For an introduction to lucid dreaming, here’s my beginner’s guide.)

In the 1980s, many psychologists predicted that ALPHA level frequencies ((8-12 Hz) would clearly demark lucid dreams from ordinary dreams – but further studies showed that ALPHA levels remain more or less depressed through most of sleep, including even the most lucid of dreams. (Olgivie, Vieri, Small, 1991)

More recently, Holzinger, LaBerge and Levitan published a study (2006) emphasizing how the BETA-1 (13-19 Hz) frequency band is associated with lucid dreams, more so than ordinary dreams. They further isolated this small, but statistically significant, hiccup of activity to the parietal lobe, an area of the brain associated with spatial sense and navigation.

In any case, wherever consciousness may or may not “live”, the high levels of GAMMA range of activation shown in this study need more tests with larger pools of subjects before we can say with any certainty that lucidity has a reproducible physical signature.

Brain Entrainment, Intentionality and Lucid Dreaming

Interestingly, the 40 Hz bandwidth of brain activity has a popular following in brain entrainment, a form of neuro-hynotherapy whose adherents say induces brain synchronization by listening to music with frequencies that the brain matches in response.   Anecdotally, many lucid dreamers claim to have learned lucid dreaming with the help of these brain entrainment tools, such as binaural beats and light stimuli inside of sleep masks.

Now just because GAMMA may be correlated with consciousness does not necessarily mean that listening to GAMMA-inducing binaural beats will automatically increase your lucid dreams.  Actually, there’s no peer-reviewed study on lucid dreaming and brain entrainment.  However, there’s plenty of evidence that brain entrainment can increase concentration, memory, and induce relaxation: all states of mind that can indirectly lead to lucid dreams.

Most lucid dreaming brain entrainment tools available today focus on the DELTA and THETA waves, essentially paving the way for a relaxing yet alert descent into sleep onset and REM sleep.  Timing is important, too; I’ll discuss more about lucid dreaming incubation techniques using binaural beats soon.

There are some correlations for the GAMMA band and consciousness, so we may see some new products on the market soon.  The literature is tempting, as the 40hz band has been shown to be associated with high levels of meditation (Lutz, et al 2004)  as well as the ability to be hypnotized (De Pascalis, 1993). Reduced GAMMA synchronization, on the other hand, has recently been associated with autism (Rojas, 2008).

Keep in mind — I know I sound like a broken record about this point — no lucid dreaming pill, meditation CD, or expensive biofeedback software will make you lucid.  Lucidity comes by grace of intentionality, which in turn brings a cognitive habit of self-awareness.  Or vice versa, by grace of spontaneous awareness, calling for a habit of intentionality.

However, binaural beats for lucid dreaming can help with laying the cognitive foundation for a strong intention and for becoming more comfortable with self-awareness in other states of consciousness, which is by far the biggest hurdle in learning how to lucid dream.  The most successful binaural beats for lucid dreaming take this approach.   Entrainment (which can happen through the habit of many kinds of rituals and exercises) concretizes our intentions, — the idea is made external — while boosting the brain states that lucidity thrives within.

But still, we have to do the hard work of waking up ourselves.

Lucid Dreaming: A Separate State of Consciousness?

Where's your focus when lucid dreaming? Image by James Jordon

Beyond the possible application of future GAMMA brainwave entrainment, this study really makes a bold claim that lucid dreaming is not a dream, but a separate state of consciousness.

To be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about this designation.

From a phenomenological perspective, self-awareness in dreams comes and goes.  Lucidity is not an On-Off switch, but a spectrum. In fact, there’s several kinds of spectra, from volition (dream control) to self-awareness (“I’m dreaming”) to emotional meta-cognition markers (“I am angry: I wonder why.”)  Voss’s and Hobson’s definition of lucid dreaming is too general to get a sense for what particular aspect of self-awareness is amplified during lucid dreams.

However, some lucid dreams really do feel like an unique state of consciousness with the best aspects of dreaming and waking cognition.  For this reason, anthropologist and neurophilosopher Micheal Winkelman (2000) has called lucid dreaming a “shamanic state of consciousness,” because it “integrates the potentials of dreaming and waking consciousness” (p. 135).  And consciousness scholar Harry Hunt (1988) has said that lucid dreaming is really a peak experience the way Abraham Maslow used the word, as a state defined by clarity, exhilaration, and openness.  So there is some support from the transpersonal psychologists (who study altered states for a living) on this idea of lucid dreaming as a distinct state in its own right.

In sum, because cultural styles of what “lucidity” means affect which brain areas activate during a so-called lucid dream,  the GAMMA signature should be taken with a grain of salt.   That said, if the 40 Hz signature can be repeated clinically, then lucid dreaming could help neuroscientists find other markers of conscious thought in sleep, leading towards a renaissance of directed and unconstrained brain mapping.  This, over time, has the potential to revise our understanding about the interaction between mind and matter.

Cited:

De Pascalis, V. (1993). EEG spectral analysis during hypnotic induction, hypnotic dream and age reduction. International journal of psychophysiology, 15(2), pp.153-166.

Holzinger, B. Laberge, S., Levitan, L., (2006) Psychophsiological correlates of lucid dreaming.  Dreaming. 16(2), pp. 88-95.

Hunt, H. (1989). The multiplicity of dreams: memory, imagination and consciousness. Yale University Press.

Hurd, R. (2009) Lucid dreaming science: new evidence of GAMMA band activation. Lucid Dream Exchange, Fall 2009.

Lutz, A., Greishar, L., Rawlings, N., Ricar, M., Davidson, R.J. (2004). Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice.  Proceedings National Academy Science, USA 101(46), pp. 16369-16373.

Ogilvie, R., Vierna, K., Small, R. (1991). EEG activity during lucid dreaming. Lucidity 10 (1&2), pp. 224-226.

Rojas DC, Maharajh K, Teale P, Rogers SJ. (2008).  Reduced neural synchronization of gamma-band MEG oscillations in first-degree relatives of children with autism. BMC Psychiatry. Aug 1;8:66

Voss, U., Holzmann, R., Tuin., Hobson, J.A. (2009). Lucid dreaming: a state of consciousness with features of both waking and non-lucid dreaming. Accepted but not published yet in Sleep. http://www.journalsleep.org/Accepted.aspx

Winkelman, M. (2000). Shamanism: the neural ecology of consciousness. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.

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.

Keynote presenters this year include award-winning author Robert Moss, parapsychology researcher Charles Tart, and altered states of consciousness expert Stanley Krippner.

Some of the other presentations and workshops include the topics of remote viewing, precognition, dream telepathy, mutual dreaming, psychokinesis, lucid dreaming, visionary dreaming, prodromal dreams, dream healing, the nature of dream reality, and dreaming as a spiritual practice.

I am also giving a paper titled “How to Transform Sleep Paralysis Nightmares into Lucid Dream Journeys.”

If you have never been part of an online conference, you’re in for a treat.  The papers roll out over the duration of the con, and readers can leave comments and ask questions to the presenters.  It’s a rare opportunity to converse with dream experts about their work and maybe even interpret your dreams.  Also, the discussion forums or online cafes are a popular way to meet dreamers from around the world and discuss theories and experiences.

Finally, a dream art gallery will be online, and anyone who participates can upload their dream-inspired art to be viewed.  But probably the most popular event is the annual dream telepathy and mutual dreaming contests.  Test your psychic mettle in a controlled dream telepathy experiment!

The conference is sponsored by the International Association for the Study of Dreams, which is running a deal that will get you entry into the conference for free if you become a member of the IASD.  Students can also get a $15 break if they register with a valid student ID.

When you register, make sure to tell them that you heard about the conference from dreamstudies.org.  Hope to see you there!

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.

However, a group of dream researchers are now showing the world that dreams can help with physical healing, too.   Known as the Healing Power of Dreams, this group of clinical psychologists, dream workers and artists are studying how the healing imagery of dreams can be integrated into pain reduction programs for cancer sufferers.

Pain Pills Are Not Enough

For many people that live with the intense daily pain from cancer, taking medication is a hard pill to swallow because the side effects are almost as hard to bear as the pain itself.  Others dislike trading their pain for the drugged state of mind that follows, preventing them from thinking clearly and communicating effectively with friends and family.   Still others find that pain medication does not touch their deeper needs, which includes the need for hope to envision the future, and a purpose for living with this pain in the first place.

This is where healing dreams come in.

Dreamworker Talullah Lyons, MEd recently gave a talk at the annual conference for the International Association for the Study of Dreams in Chicago, and presented the most recent findings of the Healing Power of Dreams in association with the IASD Cancer Project.  With grants from the Lloyd Symington Foundation and the H.M. Bitner Charitable Trust, the IASD Cancer Project has been developing protocols to integrate the healing imagery of dreams with institutional pain management programs.

Already, many hospitals, healing centers and hospice care programs combine traditional pain management with patient-focused care, such as meditation, visualization, music therapy and touch therapy.  The project suggests that dream imagery is a natural addition to these alternative healing arts, as dreams can provide inspiration, ecstasy, and spontaneous visions that provide hope and clarity.

Dream Re-entry Focuses Healing Imagery on Bodily Pain

One of the core techniques of dream healing is dream re-entry.  As practiced by the Healing Power of Dreams, this is a guided meditation done in the waking state.  The dreamer gets in touch with a particular image or sensation from a healing dream.  Primed by relaxing music and breathwork, the dreamer is invited to “re-enter” the dream narrative and savor the memory.

Then, the dreamer is guided to direct the healing energy of the dream towards the pain, in a sense bathing it in the dream’s balm.

Lyons says that this powerful technique can be done during chemotherapy sessions, as well as whenever the patient has the desire to work their dreams.  Patients say that this dreamwork lessens their pain, gives them hope, and provides an easy way to access a meditative state.   Lyons reminded us that this project is designed to complement traditional cancer treatments, not replace them.  As one patient put it, “This is very helpful, but I still need my pain pills.”

Lyons also recently completed research about using healing dream therapy for sufferers of breast cancer.  This project was in association with Dr. Teresa L. DeCicco in the Department of Psychology at Trent University in Ontario.

The Healing Power of Dreams, created by Lyons and writer Wendy Pannier, lists their research goals for 2009 as:

1) To teach Dream Therapies to Cancer patients so they can make meaning from their dreams and decrease nightmares or negative imagery when they occur.

2) To help cancer patients work with their dreams effectively because we know that dream work can decrease distress, and distress directly affects the immune system.  By working with dreams we can indirectly boost the immune system of cancer patients.

3) To better understand the mind-body relationship with the dream therapies that we use so we can help program participants, but also, cancer patients in the future will also benefit from these programs and research.

The Healing Power of Dreams also currently provides guidebooks, workshops and training modules for institutions such as hospices, cancer centers, and hospitals that are interested in adding dreamwork to their complementary healing programs.  Lectures to the public are also regularly offered in Atlanta, GA and Philadelphia, PA.

To learn more about this dynamic healing modality, or look into participation in their ongoing research, visit www.healingpowerofdreams.com.

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.

Maybe this time I’ll come through with some podcastables too.

Image: 25/365 by ? maybe a mezzo ?

One more reason to take a nap: a new study reported by the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine suggests that REM sleep  — also known as dreaming sleep— enhances creative problem solving. While this link has been established for some time (especially in regards to language ability), this study deserves attention because the researchers controlled for a couple key factors to help answer why dreaming encourages creativity.

Essentially, the researchers asked if REM sleep encourages creative connections due to unique ways that the brain operates in that state, or is because in REM sleep we are not interrupted by the distractions of waking life? In other words, is it really about creative thinking, or just a happenstance of environmental factors?

Or as Al Gore might say, “When dreaming, are we just putting our creativity into a lock box?”

Dreaming Encourages Unique Ways of Thinking

The design: The researchers had participants answer a creativity test about word associations after a good night’s sleep, after naps, and after quiet restful periods.  The results showed 40% improvement in the test after REM sleep, suggesting that REM sleep actually fosters unique associations, compared not only to non-REM sleep but also waking consciousness. From the article at ScienceDaily:

“We found that – for creative problems that you’ve already been working on – the passage of time is enough to find solutions,” said Mednick. “However, for new problems, only REM sleep enhances creativity.”

The hypothetical agent of this unleashed creativity?  Changes in the soup of neurotransmitters during dreaming sleep.  For me, this finding hints at the possibility that REM sleep might have a (testable) evolutionary basis after all.  This question is one of the central debates in sleep science:  did dreams originate through evolutionary process or are they just applied creatively by humans after the fact?

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.

By the way, these are the same researchers who recently released a study about how dreamers are more likely to make meaning from a dream if it is a message they want to hear.

I covered that piece recently, highlighting the skepticism of dream interpretation in modern culture. Skepticism is good, but understanding the cultural context of dream interpretation makes for better informed skepticism. So let’s help these researchers take the temperature of modern dream interpretation as it is practiced in everyday situations.

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.

Hypnagogia and hypnopompia are two areas in dream research that are vastly unstudied, mostly because of the lack of lucid dreamers who can report back their experiences. Ordinarily, these two sister-states of consciousness last less than a minute, and are usually not remembered by the average sleeper. As with all consciousness thresholds, they hold secrets about the nature of our perceptions, memories, and sensations, especially with regards to the human visionary capability.

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.

Here’s a new take: TV may call the shots for whether we dream in B&W or in color. A new study published in Consciousness and Cognition recently reported that our perception of dreaming in color or black & white is correlated with age and early childhood exposure to television.

From the Thaindian News,

The researcher observed that only 4.4 per cent of the under-25s” dreams were black and white. The over-55s who had had access to colour TV and film during their childhood also reported a very low proportion of just 7.3 per cent.

However, the over-55 participants, who had only had access to black-and-white media, reported dreaming in black and white roughly a quarter of the time.

In a nutshell, the elderly report more dreaming in B &W, the young dream in color, and the middle-aged dream in technicolor.

Seriously, “There could be a critical period in our childhood when watching films has a big impact on the way dreams are formed,” New Scientist magazine quoted researcher Eva Murzyn from the University of Dundee, UK.

This study reveals one of the biggest issues with dream research: are really studying dreams – or are we studying our remembered narratives of dreams? How reliable is memory anyways? Evidence suggests: not very, at least when trying to recall the insignificant details of a remembered event.

Dreams and Vivid Color

Shades of gray are hard to remember. However, vivid color in dreams has a more powerful calling card. Robert Hoss’s research with color and emotions suggests that vivid colors in dreams correspond to emotional intensity. Here’s an example of Hoss’s approach:

Color is as much a symbol as is the imagery in a dream. Color appears to represent the emotional conditions that stimulated a dream or dream image. As with any other symbol, color combines with the imagery to form a more complete “meaning” for the dream image.

Just as the face of your son might combine with the body of a bird to represent some personal meaning such as “my son has left the nest”, color will combine with a dream image to give it greater emotional significance. A red hat would be more expressive of passion, drive and vibrancy, for example, than a colorless hat.

Just as bad smells in dreams are unconsciously translated into negative dreams, so are emotions represented in our dreams as vivid colors. Hoss suggests that the way a color becomes a “dream symbol” is not absolute, but rather a combination of cultural and personal significance as well as more widespread color values that are pan-human. (Red as passion, for example, may be an evolutionarily hardwired association).

In this light, dreaming in black and white may be a cultural interpretation for a remembered dream with no vivid colors – but is that so surprising, given that most of us are not taught to pay attention to colors in dreams?

So whether or not you grew up watching the Andy Griffith Show or Spongebob Square Pants, some colors in dreams speak louder than others. Tracking these associations can be a fruitful practice.