Can Dreams Be Manipulated?

Paul Bignell furthers the cause of art and science by taking part in a unique experiment that involves sleeping with 20 strangers…What are dreams made of? This question has troubled the finest minds ever since people first woke up. Now, the ICA in London thinks it can shed some light on the matter. And, in the interests of science, I agreed to help by spending a night in an art gallery, sleeping with 20 people I had never met before.

We were part of what the ICA is calling the Dream Director, a sleepover experiment to see if our dreams could be manipulated.

Luke Jerram, an installation artist with an interest in science, created an experiment in which participants are played sounds during their sleep to see if, and how, their dreams are affected. “From my perspective I want to use it to investigate sleep space as a territory for potentially making art in dream space,” said Jerram….

Well, experts believe careful analysis of dreams can change people’s lives. Jennifer Parker, a dream research scientist from the University of the West of England, said the results could, for example, help people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

…”One of the statistically significant findings from our studies is that people’s moods in the morning were dramatically improved. For me it’s the benefits of how people react in the morning and the calming influence this experiment has on them.”

Full article at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-stuff-of-dreams-1031224.html

Bilingual Participants Needed for Dream Study

A doctoral student at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, California is investigating dreams. The criteria are:

• Have a language other than English as your primary language
• Speak English as a second language
• Have lived in the host country approximately 10 years
• Are Aged 20 to 80
•  Have a dream where both languages were present and remember it well enough to talk about it

For more information, visit:
http://dreamtalk.hypermart.net/bb2005/viewtopic.php?t=2914

Call for Presentations: 2009 IASD Conference in Chicago

Call for Presentations
International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD) 26th Annual Conference
EARTH DREAMING: 25 YEARS OF CARRYING THE DREAM FORWARD

June 26-30, 2009 in Chicago

The 2009 Call for Presentations submission deadline is November 30, 2008. For more details:
www.asdreams.org/2009

Project Seeks Your Predictive Catastrophic Dreams

To help predict pending catastrophic events, the Arlington Institute is seeking dream descriptions of dreams believed to be predictive.  Here is an excerpt from the project description:

The Arlington Institute’s project “WHETHERMAP” is predicated on the idea that before catastrophic, world changing events people have intuitional dreams that anticipate those events. While there have been a number of famous people throughout history who have accurately predicted the future, it also appears that almost everyone has premonitions from time to time in the form of dreams, visions, or simple gut feelings.

WHETHERMAP will provide an online portal for people to create intuition journals which they could update daily. While maintaining complete privacy and anonymity, their reports will be scanned and aggregated with the most sophisticated sense making and pattern recognition technology available today in order to create visual displays of intuition clusters designed to identify potential catastrophic events.

Our hope is that through WHETHERMAP human beings will have a system that can anticipate surprise events of global significance, and radically change the way that people look at themselves and at the world.

To contribute your dreams or to read more, visit:
www.whethermap.org

Work Life Intruding on Your Dreams?

“Can’t seem to get away from work, even in your wildest dreams? Well, you’re not alone. In a study by Staples, more than half of small-business professionals said that work has actually become part of their dream cycle at night.”

Read the full article at:

http://www.theledger.com/article/20080512/NEWS/805120308/1326

Maybe Dreams Aren’t as Bizarre as You Think

The web site for the Quantitative Study of Dreams mentions this new research paper by G. William Domhoff in its News section:

Bill’s latest analysis of findings on the realistic nature of dreams, challenging the stereotype that everything about them is bizarre, appeared as a chapter in a recent book entitled The New Science of Dreaming

http://dreamresearch.net/Library/domhoff_2007b.html

Separate Beds for a Better Night’s Sleep?

The Sleep Council says that one in four of us regularly retreats to a spare room or sofa for a refreshing night’s sleep, and the National Association of Home Builders predicts that by 2015 more than 60 per cent of custom-built houses will have dual master bedrooms. This is the right approach, say an increasing number of psychologists and sleep experts.

That, according to an article from the TimesOnline. The article goes on to point to a host of sleep disruptors such as snoring, wrestling for the covers, kicking during dreams, and incompatible sleep schedules, among others. The article also includes a “case study” of a couple with sleep compatibility challenges, with advice from an expert.

If you’re experiencing sleep-related challenges with your bed partner, the question is: Are you secure enough in your relationship to consider sleeping apart?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/
health/article3593222.ece

Dream-Related Graduate Programs

If you’re looking for dream-related graduate study, here’s a great resource. This page lists sources of graduate-level dream study (although not all are full dream programs).

www.asdreams.org/subidxedugraduatestudies_98.htm

Twins Needed to Participate in New Dream Study

Margery Runyan, a licensed clinical social worker with a special interest in twins (she is also a twin), is seeking twins for a dream-related study:

Participants are being recruited for a study on the dreams of identical twins for my doctoral dissertation at Capella University in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Identical twins male and female raised together but now living apart who are BOTH willing to participate are needed The twins will be asked to record their dreams and the content analyzed to determine if twins have different dreams from singles and similar dreams to other twins.

For details, including preliminary questions ad a sample of the dream journal that participants will be asked to complete, visit:

http://twindreams.info/about_us

Sleep-Related Research

Find a large selection of sleep-related research results at the National Sleep Awareness Round Table site. Study topics include:

• Night Shift Work Linked to Cancer Risk
• Smoking May Cause Sleep Problems, Study Shows
• Less Sleep Linked with Weight Retention for New Moms
• Biological Clock Doesn’t Adjust to Daylight Saving Time
• Irregular Breathing during Sleep Increases with Age
• Long-Term Improvements in Snoring and Sleep Apnea with Mandibular Repositioning Appliances

Visit www.nsart.org/site/c.gfLJJQOsHkE/b.3053923/