LDF – Lucid Dream Frequency
CRT – Cognitive Reflections Test
DLPFC – Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex
Locus Of Control – “…the degree to which people believe that they have control over the outcome of events in their lives, as opposed to external forces beyond their control.” – Wikipedia

“Type 1 – thinking is fast, intuitive, unconscious thought. Most everyday activities (like driving, talking, cleaning, etc.) make heavy use of the type 1 system…
The type 2 system is slow, calculating, conscious thought. When you’re doing a difficult math problem or thinking carefully about a philosophical problem, you’re engaging the type 2 system. – Hacker News – quanticle on June 12, 2012 – https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4102848

The below excerpts are from a research paper initially published in the International Journal Of Dream Research – modified by addition of picture(s) – Rizea, A. E., & Malinowski, J. E. (2017). An investigation of a dual-processing hypothesis of lucid dreaming. International Journal of Dream Research, 10(1), 15–22. https://doi.org/10.11588/ijodr.2017.1.29722 

 “An Investigation Of A Dual-Processing Hypothesis Of Lucid Dreaming

Andreea E. Rizea, University of Bedfordshire, Department of Psychology, United Kingdom
Josie E. Malinowski, University of East London, School of Psychology, United Kingdom

…Neuroimaging research has isolated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) as a brain structure associated with lucid dreaming, indicating that higher-order executive functions are involved in the onset of lucid dreaming. The DLPFC has also been implicated in the onset of type 2 thinking…

 …The present study investigated this potential link, hypothesising that lucid dreaming frequency would be related to type 2 thinking…

… The type 2 processing mechanism is believed to be uniquely human as it allows sophisticated reasoning capacities different from those seen in animals…Furthermore, it is thought to require decontextualized processing which tends to reject knowledge or belief-based biases. When confronted with a problem, some people may come up with quick and plausible judgement, while others may discard the immediate response and engage in further reflection… One proposed explanation suggests that people tend to neglect information in their thinking, mostly because the type 1 processing mechanism is used by default due to its low computational expense…This strong bias to default to the least expensive computational mechanism results in humans being less than rational…The fMRI studies available provide support for the qualitative distinction between belief- and reason-based response, with activation in different regions of the brain for the two instances…In addition…found neuroimaging evidence of type 2 processing system overwriting the type 1 processing system that was coming from the emotion centres, thus concluding that the main area responsible for overwriting an emotional response is the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex….The sudden insight that one experiences at the beginning of a lucid dream could be attributed to the activation of the rational type 2 processing system that overwrites the dominant emotional type 1 system. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is normally deactivated during REM sleep…shows activation during lucid dreaming… The same area is thought to be involved mainly in linking the information stored in our short-term memory to the organisation of forthcoming actions… Thus, this particular area of the brain that activates during lucid dreams loads heavily on working memory while supporting theoretical thinking which is necessary for the planning of future events. These attributes have been found as defining features of the type 2 processing system. Moreover, the evolution of this rational second system can be seen as a precursor and requirement for the manifestation of lucid dreams because they require conscious rationality. There seem to be a connection between the workings of the second system and lucid dreaming mediated by the activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Thus, it is worth investigating the dual-processing theory of reasoning as a possible explanation for the emergence of lucid dreams…

…A lateral/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex modulation caused by syllogism content was noticed in a study conducted by Brunetti et al (2014) when looking at the influence of emotions on reasoning abilities. This is the area that is deactivated during REM sleep, but active during lucid dreaming; thus providing more evidence of the connection between dual-processing theory and lucid dreaming, more precisely the activation of type 2 processing system that corresponds to the sudden realisation that one is dreaming. As far as causality is concerned, it makes sense to assume that the activation of type 2 processing system coincides with the onset of a lucid dream…

…Thus the first study supported previous research in finding a relationship between lucid dream frequency and dream recall frequency, and lucid dream frequency and internal locus of control. However, it did not support previous findings pertaining to openness to experience, nor video game play. Further, it did not find evidence for a relationship between lucid dream frequency and scores on the Cognitive Reflections Test, thereby not supporting a dual process hypothesis of lucid dreaming…

…Overall, the findings of the present paper indicate that there are relationships between prospective and retrospective measures of lucid dream frequency (LDF) and openness to experience, locus of control, and dream recall frequency. However, the dual processing hypothesis of lucid dreaming was not supported: no relationship between LDF and Cognitive Reflective Test scores, nor with scores on a syllogisms test, was found, neither with retrospective nor prospective estimates of LDF. In addition there was no relationship found between LDF and video game play…

…Further research could implement other measures of reflective reasoning abilities or focus on measuring reflective awareness of the environment and of oneself. On the other hand, this was not the first study to fail to find a relationship between lucid dreaming and a task known to require dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation…

… It is likely that lucid dream onset is more complicated than a simple reactivation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex…it may be that different neural substrates are implicated in different kinds of lucid dreaming, since lucid dreaming is not a unitary phenomenon. Although humans spend one third of their life sleeping, most models of human cognition are structured based upon evidence derived from waking-life cognition. The development of a 24 hour model of cognition is necessary for the further understanding of consciousness. The existence of lucid dreaming reveals higher-order cognitive skills present during sleep; skills that previously have been assumed to be characteristic only of waking life. The question remains whether there is any relationship between the manifestation of higher-order cognitive skills in dreams and their manifestation in waking life. The uniquely human ability to reflect upon ourselves, think about past and plan the future could help illuminate the human condition…

…Conclusion There was no relationship found between rational reflective abilities measured with the Cognitive Reflective Test nor the syllogisms test and lucid dream frequency…therefore providing no evidence for a dual-processing account of lucid dreaming. However, internal locus of control, dream recall frequency, and openness to experience were correlated with lucid dream frequency, supporting previous research.” 

 Related Post(s):

The Relation Of Metacognition And Lucid Dreams; And The Possible Treatment Approaches That Come With It

Lucid Dreaming And Locus Of Control

Prefrontal Cortex and its Role in Lucid Dreaming

Frontal Parts Of The Brain Click Back In During Lucid Dreams Despite Them Normally Being Off During REM Sleep

A Study on Neurological Differences (Prefrontal Cortex) between Long Term Lucid Dreamers and Non-Lucid Dreamers

Neuroscience of Lucid Dreams and Amount of Frontopolar Cortex Grey Matter in Lucid Dreamers

The post A Study Examining The Relation Between Type 2 Thinking (Calculating, Conscious Thoughts) And Lucid Dreaming appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.

…In fact, the dream sleep stage…has been suggested as a model for schizophrenia…and there is some evidence that psychosis may be conceptualized as sleeping mentation entering the waking state… The various nocturnal consciousness characteristics that have been related to stress, negative emotion, or psychopathological symptoms include—but are not limited to—traumatic and non-traumatic nightmares…, recurrent dreams…falling asleep…, dream bizarreness, and hypnagogic hallucinations…” Nirit Soffer-Dudek – Consciousness and Psychopathology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel – Frontiers in Psychology, journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00733/full

The post “Nocturnal Consciousness And Its Importance For The Exploration Of Psychopathology” appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.

“…During lucid dreaming the bilateral precuneus, cuneus, parietal lobules, and prefrontal and occipito-temporal cortices activated strongly as compared with non-lucid REM sleep…

…We further observed increased activation in bilateral frontopolar areas, which have been related to the processing of internal states, e.g., the evaluation of one’s own thoughts and feelings…

…The strongest increase in activation during lucid compared to non-lucid REM sleep was observed in the precuneus, a brain region that has been implicated in self-referential processing, such as first-person perspective and experience of agency…

…Interestingly, we found activation in the bilateral cuneus and occipitotemporal cortices. These areas are part of the ventral stream of visual processing, which is involved in several aspects of conscious awareness in visual perception. While these activations seem puzzling… they are in line with reports of lucid dreamers stating that lucidity is associated with an exceptional brightness and visual clarity of the dream scenery…

…lucid dreaming therefore fits well with the therapeutic effects of lucidity training on recurrent nightmares. If lucid dreaming can also be utilized in the treatment of other dream disorders like terrifying hypnogogic hallucinations or pathological dream vivification is an open question that warrants further investigation.” … – By Martin Dresler, PhD, Renate Wehrle, PhD, Victor I. Spoormaker, PhD, Stefan P. Koch, PhD, Florian Holsboer, MD, PhD, Axel Steiger, MD, Hellmuth Obrig, MD, Philipp G. Sämann, MD, and Michael Czisch, PhD – www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3369221/

Related Post(s):

Frontal Parts Of The Brain Click Back In During Lucid Dreams Despite Them Normally Being Off During REM Sleep

Neuroscience of Lucid Dreams and Amount of Frontopolar Cortex Grey Matter in Lucid Dreamers

Training The Prefrontal Cortex And Possible Applications

Prefrontal Cortex and its Role in Lucid Dreaming

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Here is a small paper with some terms I collected to a list about conscious dreaming from the work of Claude Rifat, “Conscious Dreaming And Controlled Hallucinations”.

Links to his work are at the bottom of the attached article.

Excerpt:

“This article is written mostly for people who have the basic knowledge of what conscious dreaming is. This means they have some experiences of conscious dreaming, daydreaming, imaginative visualization, these and other relative concepts are considered known and understood.

To start with, I will list first some terms Claude Rifat used to describe phenomena related to dreams, conscious dreams and in general how our biological memory works. Below the list are parts from Claude’s article [in blue text – everything with black text is my comments] which explain the concepts in the list. The study he made is based on scientific research and with personal observations inside dreams. This is important because until then very few scientists of the mind were exploring consciousness from inside, from the perspective of the dreamer. The study had been written since 1976 until 1989.

When we imagine something or having a memory of something, what we do in neurological level is that we activate a specific memory zone in the brain, and what an expert conscious dreamer do, when he build a scenery for example, is that he have learned to activate and stabilize specific memory zones at will.

The intensity of how vivid is the memory of something, means how much is metabolically active that zone. In comparison of exogenous imagination and endogenus [in a conscious dream] we soon discover that in exogenus, in our natural everyday state, we can imagine only to a certain point and in dreams we can have much stronger visualization to the level of materialization with many senses involved. This is controlled by some regulator mechanisms I will explain below, the attenuator, DRP and SBEM which are responsible for the normal function of our consciousness.

Why we see irrational scenes in dreams or without continuous time sequence? This can be explained with MHV, and MCV “box” concepts along with the previous mechanisms the Attenuator and DRP. So when we are awake, consciously or unconsciously we activate some memory zones, some more and some less intense [with different emotional impression and different meaning each-one so they make different connections with different memory zones involved]. When they are activated they can remain active in the memory for some time [as we imprint in our memory the events some remain and some faint, so when we see a dream of something we would not expect we still remember that but for a reason had stayed in memory. Or we see things that are imprinted with our second unconscious attention]. Now, when we are sleeping the logical reasoning and other functions ceases [not completely and with variations in intensity] but the memory areas are still active and informational objects fall into the oneiric scene, somehow like a collection of unrelated events and objects interacting inside a portion of continuous time of an oneiric episode.

It is not so simple though, because maybe it can be with no logical explanation the sequence of images or the dream scenario, so to seem random but sometimes it follows some internal rules from the instincts or emotional centers, the drives or archetypes, to make some kind of coded symbolic message for our conscious self about a specific matter like a solution to a problem, like a different type of thought processor than everyday rational thinking. Even if usually consciousnes or reasoning are not active but other mechanisms could be driving the dream or are active to involve with the dream.

Claude Rifat was a biologist, his accomplishments include some early research into GHB (γ-Hydroxybutyric acid), including the thymoanaleptic/antidepressant and sociabilising effects of this molecule. So he is referring for examples about cannabinoid hallucinations, cholinergic, hallucinations by NMDA receptors, serotoninergic, and other molecules or about regular state of mind, dreaming state, schizophrenic state etc. I wanted not to write anything about substances but this is his research and I can not just put them out. After all, every serious researcher on the subject who has a real interest to learn has to consider them also which are part of nature.

One last thing I want to mention is that I have not make any official studies on these subjects, I just like to study these concepts in my free time because it happened to have conscious dreams spontaneously and with time I started to interest about the mechanisms of it and finally about the mechanisms that produce our consciousnees and our memory. If some of these are not right, if I have wrong ideas, at least I think this kind of concepts are very interesting and should be studied more. If I have understood Claude’s ideas wrongly please send me a message to know…” – Konstantinos Fakinos

Copyright 2018 Konstantinos Fakinos

LINK TO ENTIRE ARTICLE:  Claude Rifat’s Concepts From Conscious Dreaming And Controlled Hallucinations

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Weighing the Pros and Cons of a Device That Can Record Your Dreams

By Gardner Eeden

July 28^th, 2018

–ST. LOUIS, MO

Instead of binge-watching the latest viral Netflix series, how about watching yourself in episodes of your own twisted inner dream world on Dreamflix?

As gaming and social media tech companies are rushing to give us immersive, interactive, “first-person” mind-blowing virtual experiences, a handful of smaller startups and researchers are trying to capture the ultimate virtual world we all inhabit naturally—the dream.  The idea of a dream recorder (DR) isn’t just fantasy.  People are working on it.

A device that can record and display our inner thoughts, imagination, and dream world would be one of the most profound devices ever created–but some may wonder if it should be created in the first place.  What are the benefits and consequences of technology that might one day put all our brightest and darkest thoughts on display?  How well have these companies considered the ramifications of the technology?  Such a device would arguably do as much or more to alter human behavior than psychotropic drugs, Crispr, and gene splicing combined.

Imagine the marketable form of such a device; something that combines the abilities of an fMRI, EEG, and video recorder that’s portable enough to attach comfortably to your body.  In essence, a device not unlike a smart phone or smart watch, with tiny electrodes that feed from the brain’s electrical signals in order to record our inner visualization, or that can read biosignals from your skin.

What would actually be recorded?  To start, we’d capture an ongoing series of random images as crude visualizations, not unlike how we experience the dream; it would record pure, fractured thought as it’s formulated.  It could be calibrated and set to infiltrate our near-subconscious levels of thought, then dive to deeper layers to get to deep stage dreaming.  Assuming we are conscious in this state all the time (biconsciousness), whether asleep or awake in the world, we would not necessarily need to be asleep to use such a device.

Would our DR be able to capture sound as well, even if no actual sound waves are generated within the dream?  Would it capture our perception of sound and convert it to an audible and understandable track within the device?  It would certainly need to be able to provide instant playback and the ability to send the captured video imagery to your laptop or another source.

In one approach, we’d need to establish a baseline of conscious imagery and build a database of our particular visual perceptive data, as has been done in experiments by Dr. Yukiyasu Kamitami, with the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International in Kyoto.  We all imagine things—even a ball, a dog, a girl—somewhat differently.  Just like Siri and Alexa need to get to know your voice—the intonation and dialect you speak—the DR would need to understand what signals fire when you think of certain objects.  After extensive mapping, a subject then sleeps in an MRI machine (no small feat in itself), and her visualizations are captured and matched to her database.  With this, researchers have a very rough but often accurately close estimate of objects she sees within her dream.

Another approach is utilized with Dormio, a hand/finger device which collects biosignals that track transitions in sleep stages (such as muscle tone and heart rate change), specifically to study hypnagogia, the stage between waking and sleeping.  Adam Haar Horowitz, a researcher with the Media Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology,  stated in a BBC interview that “The waking you will be more connected to the sleeping you and that connection between the two is a form of self-discovery.”

Then, there’s CloudX, a Los Angeles-based startup that seeks to directly record dream imagery, speech and motor behavior.  It would use a combination of EEG, fMRI, fNRIS and EMG to produce a crude taped recreation of your dream.  This project is in its startup phase and doing work with the professional dream research community, including the IASD (International Association for the Study of Dreams).

This is all a far cry from watching your last night’s dreams on an app no more complicated than Hulu.  None of these projects, whether for research or commercial usage, are promising hi-res, 4K playback—or any meaningful playback at all.

But let’s assume these technical challenges are achieved; we can capture our dream, video and sound both, and replay it on a device.    We would have countless hours of video, something akin to watching a cloudcam display that we would desperately try to make sense of (just as we attempt to interpret the dream), because we wouldn’t be able to understand it all.  It would give us generations of data to process about our own thoughts; we could easily become obsessed, even addicted, to watching and dissecting our dreams.  Indeed, the 1985 Wim Wenders film Until the End of the World gave us just such a scenario, in which people became utterly addicted to watching their own dream replay.

Perhaps most importantly, we are not going to like much of what we see—especially if watching the playback of our lovers, spouses, friends, and children.  Even St. Augustine was terrified that God would judge his actions within the dream.  Are we ready to experience our darker sides that we rarely acknowledge?  Would it open the way for self-reflection and healing, or open the door to new, bolder (or pathological) ways of behaving in the world?  It’s possible that our behavior in social media has already given us a clue.

Then throw into the mix an ability to spur lucidity within the dream.  With stronger degrees of lucidity, we can be in the dream environment and do whatever we want—exercise our super powers of flight, strength, and speed; conjure any figure we like to interact with them; and have sexual encounters with anyone in the dream or anyone we can imagine.  What would we do with a recording of us living out our wildest fantasies?  Would we be posting these on Dreamflix or DreamHub?

Let’s consider how culture, industry, and other fields could be revolutionized by DR technology.

The subconscious mind, and thusly all imagery that it generates, is perception, not factual truth.  It is both highly subjective and objective, a paradox of self-reflection.  Rest assured, if humans can abuse a technology, we will.

HEALTH/MEDICAL

An entire new industry would spring up within the fields of neurology, psychology, and behavioral sciences.

Imagine being able to explore the inner mind of someone, such as an autistic child, who can’t outwardly express themselves in an understandable way.  Or, perhaps, someone in a physical coma whose mental activity seems shuttered.  What clues would be yielded from unedited broadcasts from the subconscious?  Could the DR (Dream Recorder) open ways of communicating with those we couldn’t previously understand?

Imagine how this might shed light on the trapped mentalities of an autistic individual, someone suffering from schizophrenia, dementia, or just delusions in general.  Could we develop any insights into how they might view the world?  People prone to psychosomatic illnesses might be able to trace the origin of such delusions.

In the world of psychology, new treatments for people who display psychopathic behavior might be discovered.  When the subconscious is made visible, we become exposed in ways far more intimate than our guarded confessions during therapy sessions.  However, visualization of actions from the dream would be far from trust-worthy for the sake of diagnoses.  The dream is where we exist unencumbered by laws of physics and morality, and surreal, obtuse events from the dream would be ripe for misinterpretation (just as the “interpretation” of dreams now).  Psychiatrists sometimes use dreamwork as a means of overcoming debilitating fears; a DR could offer an entirely new approach.

Individuals would likely need to give legal consent to DR usage, whether awake or asleep.   Countless ethical issues could arise in considering the devices as tools of treatment in psychiatric therapy.  HIPAA laws and restrictions would certainly need a rewrite.

SCIENCE

Recorded imagery would be a scientific playground and/or battleground, rife with sparring factions of “materialists” (who believe that all consciousness, imagery and dream activity is physically based within the brain) and “fundamentalists” (who believe, to varying degrees, that consciousness is a fundamental force of the universe along with gravity, electromagnetism, and the nuclear forces).  Would actual recorded evidence of subconscious activity provide real clues to explore regarding the origin and nature of consciousness itself?

First and foremost would be the pressing question that undermines all of reality TV, and also of quantum particle physics:  being observed can change a particle’s state, and people who know they are being observed (or even suspect so) will change their behavior.  But could they actually alter subconscious activity knowing that the activity would be viewed?  Double-blind experiments may prove difficult and ineffective.

We could broaden the study of conscious experience and capture dream imagery at its shallowest layers—from the moment we close our eyes and our own inner visualization takes over.  We could prove whether or not a “hypnogogic” state emerges from a different visual toolbox that transforms into dream imagery as we ride the conscious waves into—and through—our sleep cycles.  Vitally, we could record our subconscious imagery even as we are awake and conscious with most of our attention and focus turned to the physical world.  This is the basis of biconsciousness.

The ability to become lucid is key to using this technology to push the current limits of our conscious experience.  Avid lucid dreamers could be enlisted to control their dream activities and do exercises that expand their simultaneous awareness in the world and the dream.  They would become mental athletes in training.  How far can they go?  Would it be like an athlete watching tape of the day’s game; analyzing where they went wrong, what mistakes they made when losing lucidity, and how to correct them next time?  After repeated viewings, they could learn how to hone their attention and focus to strengthen their dream stamina and control—and take it to new extremes.

ENTERTAINMENT

A recording device that displays all our wildest fantasies and epic surreal thought lines would be immensely addictive to watch and to learn about ourselves.  Imagine taking a mental “selfie” of your current deep state thought.  Would you be willing to share it with your friends?  Your parents?  Your wife or lover?

We would create “ultimate dream warrior” competitions; first person to achieve a wild goal within the dream wins.  Lucid dreamers might broadcast their wild adventures; the “found footage” genre would have an entirely new springboard in which to experiment.

Put the DR on as you listen to music.  You would essentially create your own music video to go along with it.  Artists of all media—film, music, painting—could generate an endless creative loop that feeds on itself, exploring within the dream works of theirs that haven’t yet been produced, and producing them in the world.

We could possibly learn to value pure experience over “story.”  People would create YouTube channels that are, literally, made of themselves, giving new meaning to “YouTube.”

Perhaps, at long last, we will be able to realize that people rarely, if ever, dream of “midgets” and people talking backward (thanks, David Lynch, for that trope).  Maybe when confronted with real dream imagery and action, Hollywood will stop thinking that dreams are meant to tell stories or underscore plot lines.  We don’t fold buildings in perfect geometrical lines, and shootouts are rare (thanks Christopher Nolan).

MILITARY

As with most technology, the military, especially in the hands of outlying terrorist factions, could put machines like this to horrible use.  They could record the dreams of POWs and use them as interrogation bumpers.  Sleep deprivation is already one of the most heinous torture methods.  One of the last remaining comforts of a POW is that their captors can’t get in their heads.

Most frighteningly, if we can indeed capture video from the dream, would we also be able to insert visualizations into the dream?  Brainhacking is a thing…would dreamhacking be far behind?  And could it be used as a new form of subversive or subliminal advertising and marketing, or, worse, as a means of intimidating or terrifying an opponent?

If the reverse DR technology is realized and we are able to inject another person’s experiences into our conscious arena (just like the plot device in Kathryn Bigelow’s stunning 1995 film, Strange Days), groups could simulate terrifying and tragic experiences.

Military training might seek to tap into the wild and lawless “id” to further train special forces to prepare them for “black ops” missions.

RELIGION

If our consciousness is an intrinsic and vital part of our sense of self and our sense of spirituality, would these devices harness a more powerful tool for exploring, in a spiritual way, our connectedness with the universe?  For centuries, some have felt that God speaks to them through their dreams; would people start seeing God in their dreams, the way we see Jesus in a piece of toast?

We would certainly see aspects of ourselves and our free, subconscious behavior that we might not recognize.  As Carl Jung once wrote, “one does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”

Most of these ideas may seem far-fetched now, but we have to remember just decades ago when artificial intelligence and quantum computing were the stuff of science fiction.  Brilliant minds of today are cautioning against the rush to usage of technology we barely comprehend, technology that could be devastating and catastrophic in the wrong hands.  It often comes down to weighing whether the benefits would be worth the abuses.

And so we ask the question that ethical scientists have asked for centuries: If we can, does it mean we should?  Captain Kirk from Star Trek was wrong.  “Space…the final frontier…”.  The final frontier is exactly the frontier we started with…our own mind.

GARDNER EEDEN is a writer, photographer and avid lucid dreamer and author of Lucid: Awake in the World and the Dream.  He recently presented his groundbreaking workshop on biconsciousness, “Lucidity & the Biconscious Mind” at the International Association for the Study of Dreams conference in Scottsdale, AZ.  Eeden is producing a new video and workshop series titled “Hardcore Lucid: WTF, Dream?” that will be available in spring of 2019.  You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter @gardnereeden.  For interviews/correspondence, email: gardnereeden@gmail.com

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The next generation of dream recording technology is under way. Cloud X is a non-profit, crowdfunded project set to take place in Los Angeles, California.

Considering that such technology is becoming a reality is quite mind-blowing and, of course, has various aspects to it. Below is some information on the new project. The team exists of quite a number of experts in the fields of psychology, neuropsychology and neuroimaging.

“The CLOUD X project is an attempt to record a complete dream—imagery, dreamed speech and dreamed motor behavior…

The technologies involved in the project will be a combination of electroencephalography (EEG), electrooculography (EOG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electromyography (EMG). EEG and EOG will help determine when the sleeper is in rapid eye movement sleep (ripe for dreaming), fMRI or fNIRS will capture dreamed imagery, and EMG will collect covert muscle activity used in dreamed speech and dreamed body movement reconstruction…

…recording and reconstructing dreamed visual imagery and dreamed speech are more complex. In both cases, pattern matching of awake recordings and dream recordings determine the resultant reconstruction and dream movie…

…For visual imagery, software needs to be trained on awake brain patterns gathered from individual and image databases…

…For this project, we plan to utilize experienced lucid dreamers as subjects and train these subjects in a set of specific dream scenarios, i.e. visualization, body movements and speaking both when awake and when dreaming…If successful with this approach, the software training cycles for imagery and phoneme decoding can be reduced and the imagery recorded more personal and specific.

…As part of Cloud X, we also plan on producing a short documentary about the project, a “making of” film, in this case on the creation of the first movie from a dream…

…Our project lead, Daniel Oldis, is an independent dream researcher and author of The Lucid Dream Manifesto. His work has been featured by Forbes, CNN, Psychology Today, the Huffington Post, Fox Networks, Coast-To-Coast AM, CBS Radio, Australian Broadcasting, the Orange County Register, Dreamtime magazine and other media…” – Go Fund Me – Cloud X – The Dream Movie

The post Cloud X – The Next Generation Of Dream Recording appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.

…External stimuli in the form of scent, audio and muscle stimulation direct the content of the dreams. We use Dormio to detect the state between sleep and wake (Hypnagogia), influencing visual and idea generation using audio. We use Essence to alter the emotional content of dreams and memory consolidation during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and Deep Sleep. We use Electronight to administer muscle stimulation to arms and legs and change the kinesthetic content of dreams…

…Crossing boundaries both disciplinary and experiential, Cocoon offers an embodied investigation of one’s own consciousness, a philosophy in the flesh: With it users can observe and engage the torsion of their senses, see and shape dreams which are otherwise entirely uncontrollable, unlinked, and unseen” – Engineeringdreams – Dream Lab – “The Dream Lab is an initiative from the Fluid Interfaces Group at the MIT Media Lab” – MIT Media Lab – Engineering Dreams

Related Post(s):

DORMIO – A DEVICE TO INDUCE CREATIVITY, INFLUENCE MICRODREAMS AND EXTRACT INFORMATION DURING HYPNAGOGIA

SPATIAL ANGLE MODULATION (SAM) – The Future Replacement Of Binaural Beats To Gain Altered States Of Consciousness, Such As Lucid Dreaming, Through Audio Technology?

Cocoon

This is "Cocoon" by Oscar Rosello on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and…

Vimeo

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DISSOCIATION: 

“Terror and bliss? COMMONALITIES AND DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN SLEEP PARALYSIS, LUCID DREAMING, and their associations with waking life experiences…

…Sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming are both dissociated experiences related to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Anecdotal evidence suggests that episodes of sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming are related but different experiences…

… Confirming anecdotal evidence, sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming frequency were related positively and this association was most apparent between lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis episodes featuring vestibular‐motor hallucinations. Dissociative experiences were the only common (positive) predictor of both sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming… 

…sleep paralysis was predicted by sleep quality, anxiety and life stress, whereas lucid dreaming was predicted by a positive constructive daydreaming style and vividness of sensory imagery… 

…while sleep paralysis is related primarily to issues of sleep quality and wellbeing, lucid dreaming may reflect a continuation of greater imaginative capacity and positive imagery in waking states.

…Sleep paralysis frequency (but not lucid dreaming) was associated with poorer sleep quality and greater stress and anxiety, whereas lucid dreaming frequency (but not sleep paralysis) was associated with positive constructive daydreaming and more vivid imagination…

…lucid dreaming was not associated with negative affective states or poor sleep quality, and may be reflective of a continuation of greater imaginative capacity and positive relationship with imagery in waking states…

…Notwithstanding these limitations, this study has provided the first evidence linking sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming, not only to each other but also to important and relevant waking states such as daydreaming, dissociative experiences and affect…”

Excerpts are from the following study – with pictures added – Denis D, Poerio GL. Terror and bliss? Commonalities and distinctions between sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, and their associations with waking life experiences. J Sleep Res. 2017 Feb;26(1):38-47. doi: 10.1111/jsr.12441. Epub 2016 Jul 27. PMID: 27460633; PMCID: PMC5245115.

Related Post(s):

Sleep Paralysis And How To Stop It When Needed

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“A Brief Synopsis Of The History And Characters Of The Gateway Project” – reddit – by u/SuperFestigio
https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/6d0nys/a_brief_synopsis_of_the_history_and_characters_of/

“Analysis And Assessment Of The Gateway Experience” – CIA Library – Declassified – https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00788r001700210016-5

The Monroe Institute – Hemi-Sync & Sam Tech – https://www.monroeinstitute.org/node/2519

“Hemi-Sync is a trademarked brand name for a patented process used to create audio patterns containing binaural beats, which are commercialized in the form of audio CDs. Interstate Industries Inc., created by Hemi-Sync founder Robert Monroe, is the owner of the Hemi-Sync technology.” – Wikipedia

Related Post(s):

SPATIAL ANGLE MODULATION (SAM) – The Future Replacement Of Binaural Beats To Gain Altered States Of Consciousness, Such As Lucid Dreaming, Through Audio Technology?

The post The Analysis And Assessment Of The CIA Gateway Experience appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.

…Horowitz said the third generation will work just by monitoring eyelid movement in sleeping subjects.“ – Motherboard – https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ywxjvg/steel-ball-control-dreams-dormio-mit-hypnagogia

“We initiate automatic audio recording alongside interruption, allowing users to speak their dreams in semi-lucid states, not waking themselves up entirely to issue reports…

…The technology that drives Dormio is open source. That means the software for our biosignal tracking is on Github. ..And Tomás, who led that build, wrote about it step by step here. You can, for now, build yourself one. – Media – https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/sleep-creativity/overview/#faq-is-this-dreaming-what-is-stage-1-sleep

“HYPNAGOGIA, also referred to as “hypnagogic hallucinations”, is the experience of the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep… Mental phenomena that may occur during this “threshold consciousness” phase include lucid thought, lucid dreaming, hallucinations and, sleep paralysis.” – Wikipedia

Dormio: Interfacing with Dreams

Dormio: Interfacing with DreamsAdam Haar Horowitz, Ishaan Grover, Pedro Reynolds-Cuéllar, Cynthia Breazeal, Pattie MaesCHI ’18:…

YouTube

The post DORMIO – A DEVICE TO INDUCE CREATIVITY, INFLUENCE MICRODREAMS AND EXTRACT INFORMATION DURING HYPNAGOGIA appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.

“The Monroe Institute (TMI) provides experiential education programs facilitating the personal exploration of human consciousness…”

“In 2008, The Monroe Institute began to investigate a complementary method of producing the consciousness altering effects…

…Rather than binaural beating to achieve its effect, Spatial Angle Modulation (SAM) uses a single frequency tone…

…The greater the quantum coherence quotient, the more non-local awareness emerges or what one might call experiential quantum entanglement, the gate key to non-local awareness…

… We believe that the objective evidence for SAM’s effectiveness in facilitating enhanced states of awareness will be shown in ongoing studies of gamma synchrony as an electrophysiological correlate of consciousness itself.” –  The Monroe Institute – http://www.monroeinstituteuk.org/spatial-angle-modulaton-sam/

“It’s supposed to help get you in altered states of consciousness…They’re interested in states that correlate with gamma waves (above beta frequencies).” – https://astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_astral_consciousness/anybody_heard_of_spatial_angle_modulation_monroe_institute-t36339.0.html

“Another way to picture all this…is that with the SAM quantum mind technology we will be able to alter the frame exposure rate for perceived local reality, the interlude between frames (when you are entangled with all space/time), and the exposure period for both perspectives…” – Restless Soma – Tributary – July 19, 2011 – http://restlesssoma.com.au/restlesssoma/index.php?topic=2666.0

“…Using stereo headphones or speakers, the spatial angle of the apparent sound source moves more rapidly than the brain can process as a Doppler shift anomaly. As a result, the brain produces a modulation or change in the tone – a tremolo effect similar to binaural beating. It is this tremolo effect coupled with the size and orientation of the movement arc produced that give SAM its ability to influence regional brain activity and changes in states of consciousness…” – F. Holmes (Skip) Atwater – IRVA 2012 – Quantum Mind RV with Spatial Angle Modulation – http://www.irva.org/conferences/speakers/atwater.html

The Monroe Institute – Spacial Angle Modulation – Open Meditation: YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecBZo9Aw3V8

 Related Post(s):

The Analysis And Assessment Of The CIA Gateway Experience

The post SPATIAL ANGLE MODULATION (SAM) – The Future Replacement Of Binaural Beats To Gain Altered States Of Consciousness, Such As Lucid Dreaming, Through Audio Technology? appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.

“The difference in cognition between the two types of dreaming suggests that lucid dreaming occurs when the frontal parts of the sleeper’s brain — which are normally “off-line” during REM sleep — click back in, bringing back self-consciousness. However, the back parts, which process sensations, are not synced up with the wide awake frontal cortex. So instead of taking in information from the outside world, they remain closed off in the word of the dream, creating a virtual world as convincing as the one outside.”

The Huffington Post – By Rayleigh Ping-Ying Chiang, M.D., Shu-Hui Tsai, Ph.D., Rita Carter (The Huffington Post, 02/05/2014)  

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Prefrontal Cortex and its Role in Lucid Dreaming

Neuroscience of Lucid Dreams and Amount of Frontopolar Cortex Grey Matter in Lucid Dreamers

Research into Brain Activity during Lucid Dreaming

The post Frontal Parts Of The Brain Click Back In During Lucid Dreams Despite Them Normally Being Off During REM Sleep appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.

“The Neuroscience of Lucid Dreams” – Scientific American – By Susana Martinez-Conde

“…The research showed that the brains of people with high and low dream lucidity were different. Subjects with high lucidity had greater gray matter volume in the frontopolar cortex, compared to those with low lucidity. …”

Click here for the article:  https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/illusion-chasers/the-neuroscience-of-lucid-dreams/

GREY MATTER – “Grey matter refers to unmyelinated neurons and other cells of the central nervous system. It is present in the brain, brainstem and cerebellum, and present throughout the spinal cord.” – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_matter

Prefrontal Cortex and its Role in Lucid Dreaming

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“Could we one day heal the mind by taking control of our dreams?…

…Brain regions involved in meta-cognition are among the most activated in lucid dreaming…

…In principle, lucid dreaming may be a powerful tool for promoting insight and emotional change, as one gains moment-by-moment conscious access to the workings of the mind – including suppressed feelings. This may even offer a way to work with issues such as addiction, just as a hypnotherapist may approach a nicotine addiction by suggesting a conscious intent to the subconscious mind…” – July 14, 2016 – Adhip Rawal – Lecturer In Psychology, University of Sussex – theconversation.com/could-we-one-day-heal-the-mind-by-taking-control-of-our-dreams-60886 …

The post The Relation Of Metacognition And Lucid Dreams; And The Possible Treatment Approaches That Come With It appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.

Click here to read it:  liminaldreaming.com/

Related Post(s):

Hypnagogic Hallucinations

The post Hypnagogia And Hypnopompia appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.

Interesting…since the pre-frontal cortex is highly activated during lucid dreaming, maybe the results of this study will interest psychologist for future lucid dream therapy…

The post Training The Prefrontal Cortex And Possible Applications appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.

“Nevertheless, the many parts of the brain that have to do with interpreting language are toward the back and middle of your brain and, in general, are much less active while we are asleep….They include, crucially, two regions known as Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area….

… We Do Not Dream of the Three Rs.” He was referring to reading, writing, and arithmetic — energy-intensive actions that overwhelm our day-to-day lives — and found that less than one percent of the people he surveyed experience them in their dreams.” – By Yasmin Tayag – on November 16, 2017 – www.inverse.com/article/38510-can-you-read-in-your-dreams

“…Wernicke’s area (/ˈvɛərnɪkə/; German: [ˈvɛɐ̯nɪkə]), also called Wernicke’s speech area, is one of the two parts of the cerebral cortex that are linked to speech, the other being Broca’s area…” – Wikipedia

The post Why Dreams Are Predominantly Experienced In Imagistic Terms appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.

“The article explores how ions can control the neuronal firing patterns and how the dynamics change in a transition to chaos… This transition represents what happens when organisms go from a sleeping to waking state and could potentially provide a new angle on how to define sleep…”

Medical Express – Neural Science – Credit: Niels Bohr Institute – medicalxpress.com/news/2017-12-chaos-transition.html

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Schrödinger’s Cat is Both Dreaming and Awake: The Quantum Connections To Lucid Dreaming – By Ian Jaydid

Any Thoughts on Connecting Quantum Physics, Teleportation and Lucid Dreaming?

Applying Quantum Mechanics in Research to Test if Human Mind can separate itself from the Physical World

The post About How Ions Control The Neuronal Firing Patterns During the Transition From Sleep to Wakefulness appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.

…LSD produced mental imagery similar to dreaming, primarily via activation of the 5-HT2A receptor and in relation to loss of self-boundaries and cognitive control…

…Future psychopharmacological studies should assess the differential contribution of the D2/D1 and 5-HT1A receptors to cognitiv.” – SPRINGER*

“…We investigated the semantic similarity between a large number of subjective reports of psychoactive substances and reports of high/low lucidity dreams, and found that the highest-ranking substance in terms of the similarity to high lucidity dreams was the serotonergic psychedelic lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), whereas the highest-ranking in terms of the similarity to dreams of low lucidity were plants of the Datura genus, rich in deliriant tropane alkaloids. Conversely, sedatives, stimulants, antipsychotics, and antidepressants comprised most of the lowest-ranking substances…” – FRONTIERS**

“PSYCHEDELIC LUCID DREAM RESEARCH…
…The highest ranking substances were LSD, Mescaline, & then plants of the Datura genus. Findings showed that serotonergic & dissociative psychedelics bear the highest resemblance to dreaming…

…In general, dreams & psychedelics have a lot in common. A few of the clear similarities are the changes in perception, self-awareness, & stimulation of metacognitive functions…” – GET LUCID WITH LANA -***

https://www.facebook.com/ViniViciMusic/videos/1240690376010089/

* By Rainer KraehenmannEmail authorDan PokornyLeonie VollenweiderKatrin H. PrellerThomas PokornyErich SeifritzFranz X. – https://link.springer.com/artic…/10.1007%2Fs00213-017-4610-0

** The Experience Elicited by Hallucinogens Presents the Highest Similarity to Dreaming within a Large Database of Psychoactive Substance Reports – By Camila Sanz, Federico Zamberlan, Earth Erowid, Fire Erowid and Enzo Tagliazucchi – https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/…/fnins.2018.00007/full

*** – By Lana Sackwild – Get Lucid With Lana – https://www.lanasackwild.com/…/psychedelic-lucid-dream-rese…

The post The Connection Between LSD And Dreams appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.

  “Michio Kaku on the Science of Dreams” – Dr. Michio Kaku summarizing the differences between a regular dream and a lucid dream, and how the pre-frontal cortex plays a role in lucid dreaming – Youtube – Big Think –

Michio Kaku on the Science of Dreams | Big Think

Michio Kaku on the Science of DreamsNew videos DAILY: https://bigth.inkJoin Big Think Edge for exclusive…

YouTube

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Frontal Parts of the Brain click back in during Lucid Dreams despite them normally being off during REM Sleep

Neuroscience of Lucid Dreams and Amount of Frontopolar Cortex Grey Matter in Lucid Dreamers

Prefrontal Cortex and its Role in Lucid Dreaming

The post Difference Between A Regular Dream And A Lucid Dream – The Science Of Dreams appeared first on LUCID DREAM RESEARCH.