Frontiers in Sleep
June 24, 2026
Adam Haar Horowitz, Karen R Konkoly, Michelle Carr et al.
Targeted dream incubation (TDI) is a highly effective method for eliciting hypnagogic dreams related to specific topics through the presentation of verbal prompts and serial awakenings at sleep onset. In this pilot study, we tested whether TDI at sleep onset can effectively direct dream content in subsequent rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. We allowed participants a daytime nap opportunity...
CHI Extended Abstracts
April 13, 2026
Xiao Zoe Fang, Duoduo Li, Tian Zhou et al.
Dream engineering is an emerging field within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) that uses interactive systems to monitor sleep stages and deliver sensory stimuli to influence dream content for human well-being. Existing systems face two key limitations: 1) for sensing, the absence of deployable systems with laboratory-grade sleep staging capability creates a barrier to translating dream science...
SLEEP Advances
March 8, 2025
Westley Youngren, Adam Haar Horowitz, Victoria West Staples et al.
4 citations
Abstract This preliminary study investigates the potential for a technique that enables purposeful guiding of dream content (Targeted Dream Incubation; TDI) to change the degree to which an individual feels in control of their dreams (Dream Self-Efficacy; DSE). DSE is a subset of a larger concept of self-efficacy relating to one’s belief in their own abilities and competencies. Examining DSE...
Frontiers in Sleep
May 28, 2024
Lucas Bellaiche, Adam Haar Horowitz, Mason McClay et al.
5 citations
Hypnagogia—the transitional state between wakefulness and sleep—is marked by “hypnagogic dreams,” during which our brains tend to forge connections among concepts that are otherwise unrelated. This process of creating novel associations during hypnagogic dreams is said to contribute to enhancing creativity, learning, and memory. Recently, researchers have proposed that mind-wandering—a form of...
Scientific Reports
May 15, 2023
Adam Haar Horowitz, Kathleen Esfahany, Tomás Vega Galvez et al.
31 citations
The link between dreams and creativity has been a topic of intense speculation. Recent scientific findings suggest that sleep onset (known as N1) may be an ideal brain state for creative ideation. However, the specific link between N1 dream content and creativity has remained unclear. To investigate the contribution of N1 dream content to creative performance, we administered targeted dream...
Consciousness and Cognition
August 1, 2020
Adam Haar Horowitz, Tony J. Cunningham, Pattie Maes et al.
Information processing during sleep is active, ongoing and accessible to engineering. Protocols such as targeted memory reactivation use sensory stimuli during sleep to reactivate memories and demonstrate subsequent, specific enhancement of their consolidation. These protocols rely on physiological, as opposed to phenomenological, evidence of their reactivation. While dream content can predict...