Scientists have identified a new phenomenon they describe as an “interactive dream”, where people who have deep sleep and restless dreams will be able to follow simple, yes-no- questions or answer, and even solve basic mathematical problems.
As well as adding a whole new level of understanding to what happens to our brains when we dream, the new study could finally teach us how we should train our dreams – to helping us towards a specific goal, for example, or treating her particular mental health problem.
There’s a lot about sleep psychology that remains a mystery, including a rapid eye movement (REM) phase where dreams usually occur. It can be very helpful to get responses from sleepers in real time, rather than relying on subsequent reports.
“We found that individuals in REM sleep can interact with a tester and engage in real-time communication,” says psychologist Ken Paller of Northwestern University. “We have also shown that dreamers are able to understand questions, engage in working memory activity, and come up with answers.
“Most could argue that this would not be possible – that people would either wake up when asked or not answer, and certainly not ‘understand a question without abusing it. “
The researchers worked with 36 people in experiments across four different laboratories. One volunteer had narcolepsy and often had vivid dreams, while the others differed in their experience with ragged dreaming.
Through the deepest stages of sleep, as studied by electroencephalogram (EEG) instruments, scientists interacted with the study participants through speech audibility, shower lights, and physical massage: the sleepers answer simple mathematical questions, to count flashes of light or physical friction. , and to answer basic yes or no questions (such as “can you speak Spanish?”).
Responses were provided through pre-agreed eye movements or facial muscle movements. Over 57 sleep sessions, at least one correct answer to a question was observed in 47 percent of the sessions where lucid dreaming was confirmed by the participant.
The states of dreamy dreaming were tested blindly, with several witnesses agreeing with sleep responses.
Summary of the tests. (Konkoly et al., Conventional Biology 2021)
“We put the results together because we felt that the combination of results from four different labs using different approaches certainly testifies to the reality of this phenomenon of two-way communication,” says neuroscientist Karen Konkoly of Northwestern University.
“In this way, we see that different methods can be used for communication.”
Those involved in the study were usually awakened after a successful response to get them to recount their dreams. In some cases, the external intrusions were remembered as being external or overwhelmed by the dream; in others, they came through something within the dream (like radio).
In the published study the researchers compare trying to communicate with a ragged dream to trying to contact an astronaut in space, and the answers are so close. making this new approach so exciting.
The research could be helpful in examining dreams, memory, and the importance of sleep in replacing memories. It may also be useful in treating sleep disorders, and further down the line may even give us a way to train what we see in our dreams.
“These consistent observations of interactive dreaming, recorded by four independent laboratory groups, show that the geological and mental characteristics of a dream can be studied in real time,” the researchers wrote. in their paper.
“This relatively unexamined communication channel can enable a variety of practical applications and a new strategy for the empirical study of dreams.”
The research was published in Conventional biology.