DrmDoc

My efforts in all this have been to pressed beyond the boundaries of conscious thought and plumb our unconscious well of potential insight and information. Indeed, it is the programming that eludes me and I have studied nearly all of them. Some methods worked initially but quickly lose efficacy. I think this has to do with the placebo effect of belief, which produces a desired results. I think that for lasting, consistent results, our brain actually has to work on the issue while fully active to exhaust those brain regions associated with the results we seek. During the restorative processes of sleep, those exhausted region will activate to restore its energy (glycogen) and thus produce our desired dream results. However, this may also result in the placebo effect of believing that this approach could work. Thank you for your insight. Thank you for the link; I am very familiar with TMS. I agree with its statements regarding the benefits of slow-wave. When we combine this insight with what we now know about the glymphatic system I previously referenced in this thread, I think we understand a little better why slow-wave sleep is so important. Did you know that our brain actually shrinks during the slow-wave, Non-REM phase of sleep? That shrinkage, which is part of the glymphatic process, seems counterintuitive to the stability and synaptic growth we expect from the sleep process but is essential to preparing our brain for wakeful activation. Thank you again for your insight and continued interest.

I've often heard the atom described as a nucleus surrounded by a "cloud" of electrons. Until now, I was unaware that electrons do penetrate their nucleus but don't remain there. Until that article, I was unaware that the space between electron and nucleus is not empty but is filled with waves of photonic emissions. So, in reality, the electromagnetic force that maintain our cohesion fills the empty spaces between atoms. Therefore, it is a misconception to perceive the molecules of matter as mainly comprised of empty space, correct? Further still, does the size of this photonic field between particles suggest that matter is mainly comprised of photonic emissions? Would this make photons the most abundant subatomic particle of matter? I've been enlightened by yours, Moreno, and EdEarl's insight and I appreciate your continued indulgence.

Thanks again, EdEarl. I am clearly a novice on this subject, as I am on so many. Yet, it is a fascinating study. Thank you.

Dreams can be an extraordinary source of reliable insight, which is why I am also interested in their practical utility. One of my interests have regarded how to reliably recreate those dream types that consistently demonstrate some verifiably real physical/material value. For all my study, I've found that very few do. Therefore, I've explored the neuroscience to get some real sense of what is happening in the brain when we dream and how that distinction enables the type of insights I seek. The neuroscience suggests that dreaming is restorative, so the question for me has been what mental gymnastics must I engage during the day to consistently trigger those restorative processes that will produce the dream types I mentioned? Effective techniques for producing specific dream types are plentiful but are mostly placebo in nature and lose their effectiveness quickly. Interestingly, I've never considered the placebo effect in my study of the brain. I welcome you insight on subject and continued interest.

Thank you EdEarl for your response and insight. It seems I misread the article as swansont said. I reviewed the article and you are quite right; indeed, I did misread it. It states that the oppositely charged electron and nucleus absorbs each others photonic emissions and that is what maintains their attraction. Indeed, as you said, collision is not an issue between photons in this exchange. However, is there any explanation as to why electron and nucleus remain so distant? Why doesn't their attraction pull them closer or into the other? Is it, perhaps, a wave effect of their photonic emissions? Again, I welcome and appreciate your insight.

I was reading an article on the physics of the attractive force between electron and nucleus. It explained how physicist believe that the attraction is maintained by an exchange of positive and negatively charged photons between the nucleus and electron. Given this electromagnetic attraction my question is, what is the force that keeps these particles at such a vast subatomic distance and not collide because of this strong attraction? Is it the force generated by the collision between the oppositely charge photons or some other unknown force? I welcome your insight.

After consulting with a very patient and responsive forum moderator, I was informed that providing actual evidence in brain study would be more supportive of my claims on the existence of evidence supporting the meaningful nature of dream content. To that end, I have provided an abstract of this article, Neuropsychology of Dreaming, which concludes that the “'meaninful'” picture-metaphors’” of dream content incorporate many of the “active centers in the frontal regions” of the brain: “The unique state of the brain in REM sleep, when our more vivid dreams occur, appears to be involved in emotional processing and connecting new material with old material in memory systems, revealing these connections in the form of often personally “meaningful” picture-metaphors. The complex of active centers in the frontal regions may also provide the cognitive capability for not only managing emotion but also psychological restoral, conflict resolution and adaptive learning. Dreams can be observed to incorporate many of the waking state functions of these active centers, including initiating and mediating a resolution by creating and testing imagined scenarios, providing compensating cues to influence the action, and emotionally reinforcing scenarios which meet the anticipated outcome.” Presented in a way that is, perhaps, more amenable than my delivery, the researcher William G. Domhoff has provided these scholarly works exploring the neurophysiological substrates to dream content and meaning: http://psycnet.apa.org/books/10463/001 and http://psycnet.apa.org/books/10463/. The first link’s abstract is straightforward: “The neurocognitive model of dreaming and dreams proposed in this chapter has three basic components. First, the neurophysiological substrate underlies and activates the process of dreaming. Second, the conceptual system of schemata and scripts generates the process of dreaming. Third, dream content results from this cognitive process. This chapter discusses each of these components and suggests some of the specific ways in which they may relate to each other.” The second abstract link discusses “a new neurocognitive model of dreams that draws from empirical research to explain the process of dreaming and the nature of dream content.” Interesting still, the author of this Frontiers In Psychology article proposes “that the progressive refinement of our understanding of dream consciousness could foster significant advances for neuroscience and psychiatry as a whole.” This isn’t particularly about the contribution of neuroscience to dream content meaning but more about understanding how the dreaming state of consciousness contributes to neuroscience. Finally, on the issue of whether dream content and its discussion have any value in science, I offer the Dream-For-Survival/Threat Simulation Theory and this 2005 study that support its predictions. In retrospect, I could have been clearer about the discussion I had hoped to engage. I wanted to talk about whether dream content is meaningful in how it reflects the neural restorative processes occurring in the brain during sleep. For example, if dreaming is about restoring glycogen levels in the brain, does specific imagery signify the specific areas or aspect of the brain serviced by this process? I assure you that this is indeed a discussion and not a lecture no matter my phasing. Also, there is some evidence showing that dreams can prepare us for future survival related events. Does this sufficiently explain dreams that seem to precisely presage those events? I welcome your thoughts. ​

Hello cladking, Here an interesting link, which attempts to explain the idea of “’thinks’ in the absence of language”. This link will take you to a YouTube video providing an introduction to the Corollary Discharge Theorem, which provide one explanation in neuroscience for our inner voice. Although our sensory awareness is limited amid sleep, there really isn’t a state of normal brain function when its parts cease function even in sleep. Incredibly, some brain areas become more active in sleep than they are amid our conscious state.. Hello Bill Angel, Our animal ancestors evolved memory concurrent with experiences that had a real physical/material impact on their survival. Dreams are not real experiences, which is something our dreaming brain is able to detect. We do not remember our dreams easily because their content is incongruent with the real sensory experiences of our body at rest. Hello Xalatan, REM (rapid-eye-movement) stage of sleep is indeed believed to be stage where dreaming occurs. However, the most important stage of the sleep process neurologically is Non-REM when, as I mention initially, our brain evacuates extracellular waste (glymphatic system). Think of it as kind of a neural shower flushing away the byproducts of the nutrients our active brain consumes. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts.

There’s a popular theory suggesting that dreaming evolved and persists as a preparatory means for potential survival threats and pivotal social experiences. The idea is that dreaming gave our evolving ancestors a means to simulate potential encounters without incurring irrevocable consequences. This 2005 study appears to support this dream-for-survival theory. Do you think it likely that some dream simulations have precisely presaged a real survival or social consequence or outcome? For example, Abraham Lincoln’s dream? Although I’m not sure that Lincoln’s dream is a unique experience for a sitting wartime president under continual threat, I think such dreams can occur. However, I disagree with why they likely occur. I also disagree with the popular notion that some dreams are merely outlets for our frustrations and unconscious desires. Freud might suggest that your erotic dreams satisfy your unconscious desires. I disagree with Freud and the survival theory because the neuroscience and evolution points to our metabolic needs as the primary source of brain behavior. When we sleep, our brain doesn’t activate to dream; it activates to serve a metabolic need. Sleep and dreaming comprises the recovery processes our brain engages as I have previously described. Dream imagery tells us something about the neural influences compelling those recovery processes. I applaud your bravery in risking your intellectual reputation to engage a topic of profound psychological, neurological and, generally, scientific value that the shamefully unstudied considers speculative. I welcome your thoughts and continued interest. ​

Hello hoola, Do you believe, as some might, that the content of your dreams define their purpose? If so, are you suggesting that dreams are meaningful? I believe they are but not for the reasons most researchers have concluded. I welcome your continued interest. Hello Ophiolite, My apologies; that part of my post was a response to Strange’s comments. Indeed, I am painfully aware of how many respondents are likely not equipped to comment on this topic, which so many do not consider science. It was my mistake assuming all would understand that my use of terms would remain consistent with their initial introduction relative to established neuroscience. Again, my apologies. Fair and reasonable; I’m surprised and delighted given the relocation of this discussion. The first misconception regards why we sleep and particularly why we dream. I probably should have preference my initial definitive statement with comments regarding multiple studies supporting mental acuity recovery and memory consolidation as primary reasons for sleep and, particularly, dreaming--they are misconceptions. The neuroscience shows that sleep and dreaming occur for metabolic reasons rather than data sorting, assimilation, or elimination. Our brain works better when it is not in metabolic distress; our brain sleeps (NREM) to more efficiently remove metabolic waste (glymphatic system) and dreams to restore its metabolic reserves (glycogen). Succinctly, the sleep process regards brain health rather than mental health. My final comments regarded the misconception of why we remain immobile while dreaming (atonia). The popular notion that we experience muscle atonia to remain motionless while dreaming is based on the idea that this muscle posture evolved to prevent movement that might cause injury amid sleep. I described how research of this sleep phenomenon by Sir Sherrington and Dr. Jouvet showed that atonia persist without the brain structures associated with dreaming, which suggests that it did not evolve to serve the dream state but rather the metabolic needs of the body at rest. We don’t remain immobile while dreaming to keep from acting-out dream content. Sleepwalking is a prime example of that fact. It's clear that some may be unfamiliar with the neuroscience; however, that lack of familiarly or interest doesn't excuse the prejudice in labeling this discussion as speculative. The links I provided prove that it is not. As individuals of fair mind and reason, we should know that science and scientific discussion is not conducive to an environment of ignorance and bias, which is why I think this topic was moved from its original location. I welcome your thoughts and I hope mine have been informative.

If I may inquire, did any of you read my initial post? If you had, you would have understood that my reference to "energy" regards glycogen, which is the form in which our brain stores adenosine triphosphate and oxygen--that is science and fact. I think you misunderstood my reference to precognition as leading away from the scientifically proven or provable. Although precognition has been the subject of several scientific studies, that was not the focus or intent of my discussion. The intent of my initial comments was to explore the neural phenomena of the sleep process and dispel certain misconceptions using peer-reviewed neuroscience. My follow-up comments--obviously resulting in the prematurely placement of this topic as speculation--was to offer one possible explanation in neuroscience for an extraordinary phenomena believed to frequently arise from the dreaming state of brain function. The question of whether precognition exist is like asking whether there's such a thing as coincidence. In fact, coincidences do occur and there are reasonable explanations as to why they might occur relative to dream content and experience. What I was offering for discussion was neural research that this topic's moderator was, obviously, either not knowledgeable of or comfortable discussing as science. Nothing I've ever posted to this discussion board was ever about speculation or anything other than what could be scientifically proven or provable to the satisfaction of fair minded individuals. It has become increasingly clear to me that some prefer to remain ignorant of the science for fear of crossing some boundary of science faith--Science forbid that some extraordinary product of brain function be proven scientifically probable. I welcome your thoughts. I was informed that some citations are in order. I rely on many reference sources to produce my comments and I have a habit of waiting for certain citation requests as a sign of sincere interest-- which isn't always true for this topic. Here is one of many articles I've referenced about the nature of glycogen. Here is another article. Regarding adenosine, adenosine triphosphate, and the glymphatic system. There are multiple additional sources available that I've referenced, should you or this topics moderator require further.

On the surface, it may appear that dream imagery and content are merely activation conduits or props for metabolic purposes; like our brain is creating some perceptual scenario to activate. However, that activation is created by an energy reserve void or vacuum rather than some focal sensory perception or event our brain creates after NREM. Dream imagery and content is how our brain interprets the lingering perceptual affects of the energy voids or vacuums it detects and seeks to fill. What might make these interpretations meaningful is that they designate the focal area or aspect of conscious activity relative to those brain areas and functions that activity has depleted of its reserves; i.e., dream imagery tells us what conscious area or aspect of our mental activity has siphoned our brain's energy reserve. For example, if we dream about some recently learned task, it is because learning that task has depleted the energy reserves of those brain structures and function associated with that task's mental assimilation. Dreaming about recently learned tasks restores the energy reserves of those brain structures associated with assimilating those tasks. The question this appears to raise is whether this holds true for all types of dream content, particularly precognitive types. Again, I believe it does. I welcome your continued interest.

Who’s up for a brief discussion of the sleep process? Although I’ve studied dreams and dreaming for more than three decades and have blogged and published on the nature and evolution of the dreaming brain, I consider myself merely well informed rather than expert on the topic. However, based on the most recent and available peer-reviewed research, I will be making some definitive statements about the nature of sleep and dreaming that you may find compelling, if not informative. First, let’s explore why we sleep and dispel some misconceptions about why we dream and remain immobile while dreaming. Definitively, sleep and dreaming primarily serves the metabolic demands of our active brain and any mental benefit we experience after a cycle of sleep and dreaming is merely a byproduct of the metabolic processes our brain engages amid the sleep process--which includes dreaming. Sleep is a neurological imperative caused by the extracellular accumulation of adenosine, a hypnogenic molecule, in the brain. Adenosine accumulates as the brain metabolizes its primary source of energy, the sugar adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Adenosine build-up triggers a cascade of neural effects that induce the initial stage of sleep, non-REM (NREM). As NREM progresses, adenosine, beta amyloids (a peptide), and other extracellular waste are flushed from the brain via a hydraulic or convection system of waste removal dubbed the glymphatic system. Thus NREM, the initial stage of sleep, clears our brain of potential toxins, which prepares our brain for wakeful activity. The wakeful activity our brain normally engages after NREM is dreaming (REM). Dreaming is another way of describing those episodes of increased activity our sleeping brain experiences relative to its NREM sleep stages. Again, we dream to serve our brain’s metabolic demands and serving those demands enhances our mental acuity and overall brain function. Research shows that the sleep process increases the level of glycogen in the brain. Glycogen is the reserve form of the ATP and oxygen our brain stores to meet the emergent energy demands of conscious activity not immediately supplied or satisfied through normal cerebral blood flow. At the end of each cycle of NREM, our brain activates to resupply its glycogen reserves. That activation increases blood flow to those brain areas with depleted glycogen reserves. REM is the neural effect of our brain acting to regenerate its reserve energy supply. The imagery and content of our dreams are how our brain synthesizes the lingering neural affects that this energy storage process causes. With its toxins removed and energy reserves resupplied, our brain functions better and is prepared for full arousal to consciousness. Finally, we remain immobile while dreaming as a consequence of NREM rather than REM. Our lack of mobility while dreaming (atonia) initiates to serve the metabolic needs of the body at rest. Atonia is the inelastic state of muscle tone that our body experiences during the dreaming stages of sleep. This aspect of our muscle posture is mediated by neural structures below those associated dream production. It was the nineteenth century Nobel Laureate, Sir Charles Sherrington, who first observed how his low-decerebrate research animals would collapse into an atonic muscle posture when they were continually left undisturbed or unfed. Sir Sherrington was investigating the reflexive system of his test animals through the successive removal of brain structure. In 1963, the French sleep researcher Dr. Michel Jouvet, described this tonic-to-atonic cycle of behavior in his test animals as evidence of the “rhomencephalic phase of sleep.” If our brain retains evidence of its evolution path, then where atonia’s mediation arises--relative to other sleep components in brain structure--suggests that in its earliest incarnation atonia evolved between cycles of active survival behaviors where energy expense was minimal or unnecessary. During contemporary sleep, atonia punctuates the final stage of each cycle of NREM, which is the most passive, inactive state of normal brain function relative to dreaming and conscious brain function. We remain immobile while dreaming because our immobility conserves energy. Our brain is the largest consumer of our body’s energy uptake and our immobility amid sleep supports our dreaming brain’s efforts to resupply its energy reserves. It has been a while since my last visit to this forum and my perspective has evolved. I welcome your critique of my comment and your thoughts as to whether any of this suggests dream content is meaningful. I suggest that it probably does.

Hello Morrison50, This was likely a lucid dream experience if there is no evidence in your sleep environment of the activity you recall and you recall waking in bed at the conclusion of your experience. This lucid experience appears to suggest your mental state at the time of your dream, in my opinion. Dreams are empirically mental experiences and , therefore, more than likely reflect the state of mind of the dreamer. There was a reason why you smoke infrequently and prior to this experience. Perhaps that reason provides a clue to its cause. THC alters our state of mind and mood and, perhaps, that was your intent. Perhaps your dream suggest the state or mood you sought to alter or escape. I hope this helps.

Although muscle movement can be an efferent neural response to afferent neural stimuli, such movement may also be produced solely by brain function. For example involuntary movements or obsessive compulsive behaviors arising from iterative thoughts rather than afferent or neural stimuli external to our physical sensory systems.

It depends on the sleep stage of brain function. In the earlier stages (1st or 2nd), the brain could more readily detect limb numbness; however, amid the later stages (3rd or 4th) of sleep sensory information from the limbs does not reach the brain with same intensity as it does when the brain is aroused and wakeful. Amid dreaming (REM), the body's musculature enters a state of atonia, which is opposite the state of muscle readiness we experience amid wakefulness and prior stages of sleep. This is the state of sleep paralysis that many of us experience after sudden arousal from REM sleep. Amid insufficient REM sleep, arousal is possible but difficult to maintain without continual stimulation. Although many researchers believe this paralytic state evolved to prevent body movement and subsequent injury to the sleeper amid dreaming, this state actually evolved in brain function before those parts of the brain that produce dreaming. This suggest that atonia evolved for some purpose other than maintaining immobility of the body while dreaming. The neural evidence from the primitive brain structuree that produce atonia suggests it evolved to serve the metabolic needs of the body amid prolonged periods of rest.

Although an interesting article, it, like most articles and research on the subject of sleep and dreaming, do not adequately evaluate the substance of their content relative to how the sleeping brain likely evolved. Most studies are based on the contemporary nature of brain function and sleep; however, sleep is a product of millions of years of brain evolution, which suggests that contemporary brain function and sleep likely arouse from some earlier state that provides a basis for why the brain engages its contemporary processes--such as sleep. Sleep involves several components that arise from neurally distinct level of brain structure with the earliest component arising from the most primitive structures of the brainstem. Based on the function of those neural sturctures that produce the earliest components of sleep, it is likely sleep evolved from and continues to serve those meatabolic process associated with sustaining those neural systems vital to survival amid periods of rests and between extended periods of food privation. The earliest incarnation of sleep in ancestral animals likely arose as a means to sustain their survival through prolonged periods between feedings. When the contemporary brain becomes active amid sleep as it does when dreaming, neural and physiological systems such as the brain, heart, and lungs experience increased levels of energy uptake and usage, while systems associated with muscle tone decrease in uptake and usage. This is consistent with the likely nature of ancestral sleep wherein muscle readiness may not have been essential to species survival amid resting periods.

You are probably referring to Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI), which is condition caused by a rare genetic disorder involving a mutated prion protein. Although I'm not aware of any current research involving the treatment of FFI with Orexin-A, there has been promising research on the restorative effects of this peptide in sleep deprivation studies.

Although you remain you after brain injury, I think you become a lesser you; i.e., a you without access to the information, qualities and abilities that the damage parts of your brain contributed to the you prior to injury. However, through brain plasticity, it is possible that the prior you could emerge from such brain trauma. I hope this helps.

I think words you are looking for is congenital blindness. I hope this helps.

As an addendum to this topic, readers may want to check-out the July/August 2012 special issue Of Discover Magazine for the article,"Do You Have Superhuman Vision?". This article suggests that "An unknown number of women may perceive millions of colors invisible to the rest of us." The article appears to provide further evidence of how we may not all perceive color uniformly.

Actually, the dreaming brain appears and behaves much like that of a schizophrenic, which are both prominently characterized by low prefrontal activation (hypofrontality). However, the specifics of what causes this low prefrontal activation between the dreaming and schizophrenic brain may be distinct.

Within the context of my additional comments, yes indeed.

You are construing the nature of your overall brain function with the consciousness that brain function creates. Everything within a dream, including your persona and awareness, is produced by your overall brain function and it is that function which makes the distinction as to what you know and what you may not know within dream content. The imagery in your dreams are interpretations of the unconscious mental experiences that arise from the neural activations you experienced amid sleep. Your waking-state brain interpreted those neural activations as a scenario in which you were not aware of the joke about to transpire. In the content of your dream, you are a characterization or representation of only a small part of your awareness rather than the orchestrator of your entire dream, which is the whole of your active brain function at that time; i.e., your awareness within a dream is like a torch in the dark where you only see and understand what is apparent in the light rather than what is hidden in the dark. You were not aware of the hooded girl's identity for the same reasons you were not aware you were dreaming at the time--the experience was merely a personification of your unconscious thoughts and perceptions that may have regarded the type of scenario you experience in the dream. I hope this helps.