October 20, 2026
María Laura Gorosito, Matías Rodolfo Pretel, Nerea L Herrero et al.
preprint
Dreams often incorporate recent waking experiences, but whether the relationship between dream content and subsequent memory depends on the state of the memory before sleep remains unclear. In this exploratory study, fifteen participants learned novel word-definition-image associations across a four-day home-based protocol. Dream reports were collected after serial awakenings following initial...
PsyArXiv
June 21, 2026
Nerea L Herrero, Yohann Corfdir, Cecilia Forcato
preprint
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) during sleep involve a transient disruption of bodily self-consciousness, in which the self or center of awareness is experienced as displaced from the physical body. Although OBEs have been reported in neurological, psychiatric, and dissociative contexts, they also occur in non-clinical populations, raising the question of whether their altered-self phenomenology...
Scientific Reports
September 29, 2025
Nerea L Herrero, Yohann Corfdir, Aylin A Vázquez-Chenlo et al.
Consciousness does not always fade during sleep. Instead, it can re-emerge in the form of non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOSC), such as lucid dreams (LDs), sleep paralysis (SP), out-of-body experiences (OBEs), and false awakenings (FAs). While some of these states have been studied phenomenologically, their neurophysiological underpinnings remain unclear. In this exploratory study, we...
bioRxiv
February 12, 2025
Nerea L Herrero, Yohann Corfdir, Aylin A Vázquez-Chenlo et al.
preprint
Consciousness does not always fade during sleep. Instead, it can re-emerge, giving rise to lucid dreams (LDs), sleep paralysis (SP), out-of-body experiences (OBEs), and false awakenings (FAs). While some of these states have been studied phenomenologically, their neurophysiological underpinnings remain unclear. Here, we investigate their electrophysiological correlates and distinguish them from...
Scientific Reports
November 9, 2023
Francisco T Gallo, Ignacio Spiousas, Nerea L Herrero et al.
5 citations
Dreaming is a complex phenomenon that occurs during sleep, involving various conscious dream experiences. Lucid dreams (LDs) involve heightened awareness within the dream environment, while out-of-body experiences (OBEs) involve the sensation of being outside one's physical body. OBEs occur during sleep paralysis (SP), where voluntary movements are inhibited during sleep/wake transitions while...
PsyArXiv
March 14, 2023
Francisco T Gallo, Ignacio Spiousas, Nerea L Herrero et al.
preprint
In this study, we examine the structural properties of dream reports that include non-lucid, lucid dreams (LDs) and out-of-body experiences (OBEs). We collected a set of 916 dream reports (728 non-lucid dreams, 122 LDs, 68 OBEs) obtained from 60 participants that kept a dream journal for two months. The collected reports were transformed into directed graphs, where each different word plays the...
PsyArXiv
March 13, 2023
Francisco T Gallo, Nerea L Herrero, Antonela Tommasel et al.
preprint
Lucid dreams (LDs) and out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are phenomena characterized by the return of higher cognitive abilities during sleep, including reflective self-awareness and abstract thought. Given the similarities in reflective self-awareness between LDs and OBEs, some authors consider them variations of the same phenomenon. This study aimed to compare the differences in content between...
Journal of Sleep Research
February 1, 2023
Nerea L Herrero, Francisco T Gallo, Miguel Gasca-Rolín et al.
15 citations
Sleep paralysis is characterized by the incapacity to perform voluntary movements during sleep/wake transitions, and could bring great discomfort. During sleep paralysis, out-of-body experiences can occur. Out-of-body experiences refers to the sensation of being outside of the physical body and perceiving the world from this outside perspective; however, they are pleasant in comparison with...