There seems to be a burgeoning of interest in lucid dreaming. Here is the wikipedia definition: A lucid dream is a dream in which the sleeper is aware that he or she is dreaming. When the dreamer is lucid, he or she can actively participate in and often manipulate the imaginary experiences in the dream environment. Lucid dreams can seem extremely real and vivid depending on a person's level of self-awareness during the lucid dream.[1]
There are lots of references and other information as a good point of departure. Annette Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 619-260-4006 tay...@sandiego.edu ---- Original message ---- >Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:07:50 -0500 (CDT) >From: "Joan Warmbold" <jwarm...@oakton.edu> >Subject: Re: [tips] Two questions about sleep and dreams >To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <tips@acsun.frostburg.edu> > >I have always thought that the only dreams we remember are those that wake >us up and then we think about, at least enough to get elements into our >LTM. Is this valid? > >Also, it would seem logical that the minimal amount of time we spend in >deep sleep as well as the fact that it's spread out during our first two >cycles could be supported by the evolutionary psychology. That is, in >"days of yore," in order to survive a night's sleep with dangerous >predators nearby, we could ill-afford to spend too much time during one >cycle in this comatose state. Also, could not the same evolutionary >explanation be used to explain why our brain returns to the very active >REM state at the end of each cycle, thereby making us more able to be >aroused if danger is lurking? > >I ask the latter as during one of my classes when we were discussing the >hypotheses concerning the purpose of REM (e.g., activation-synthesis), I >concluded that we still don't have closure on precisely why our brain >returns to this very active REM brain state at the end of every sleep >cycle. One of my students mentioned the survival mechanism for returning >to REM so frequently during an average night's sleep and I was intrigued >with his question and would appreciate comments/reactions. > >Joan >jwarm...@oakton.edu > > > >--- >To make changes to your subscription contact: > >Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
