Dream & Sleep Research | dream studies portal

Calvin Hall and the Cognitive Theory of Dreaming

Posted by Ryan Hurd on December 3, 2009 | 10 Comments

Any survey of modern dream research must include Calvin Hall (1909-1985). Hall was a behavioral psychologist who explored the cognitive dimensions of dreaming. His work began before the discovery of REM sleep, so little was known about the biology of sleep and dreams. Hall drew worldwide attention for his cognitive theory of dreaming, which was [...]

Filed Under: Theories of Dreaming

Contemporary Dream Theories Starting with Freud

Posted by Ryan Hurd on November 19, 2009 | 4 Comments

I’ve been brewing this post series for a long time. Many readers have asked me to review the influential theories of dream formation that are still at work today. Unfortunately, in our Western culture, where dreaming has long been considered insignificant, advances have been slow due to a lack of funded research. And no one [...]

Filed Under: Theories of Dreaming

Lucid Dreaming, Religion and Cognitive Science

Posted by Ryan Hurd on April 30, 2009 | 2 Comments

For my San Francisco Bay area readers, I”m announcing a free public event titled “Lucid Dreaming, Religion, and Cognitive Science” taking place next week at the Institute of Buddhist Studies. I’ll be speaking about the history of lucid dreaming with a focus on religious and scientific applications, and will be joined by two [...]

Filed Under: Lucid Dreaming

New Survey for Finding the Meaning of Dreams

Posted by Ryan Hurd on March 16, 2009 | 2 Comments

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 [...]

Filed Under: New Dream Studies

Lucid Dreamers Wanted for Study on Hypnopompic Hallucinations

Posted by Ryan Hurd on February 26, 2009 | 94 Comments

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 [...]

Filed Under: New Dream Studies

Dreaming in Black and White

Posted by Ryan Hurd on October 20, 2008 | 24 Comments

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.