Microdream neurophenomenology.
Neuroscience of Consciousness 2017 DOI: 10.1093/nc/nix001 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Dreaming Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Imagery Mind wandering Sleep and dreaming Sleep onset |
| Citations | 57 |
| Key findings | Microdreams during sleep onset offer a fruitful alternative object of study for understanding dreaming's core phenomenology, memory sources, and underlying multisensory integration processes. |
Abstract
Nightly transitions into sleep are usually uneventful and transpire in the blink of an eye. But in the laboratory these transitions afford a unique view of how experience is transformed from the perceptually grounded consciousness of wakefulness to the hallucinatory simulations of dreaming. The present review considers imagery in the sleep-onset transition-"microdreams" in particular-as an alternative object of study to dreaming as traditionally studied in the sleep lab. A focus on microdream phenomenology has thus far proven fruitful in preliminary efforts to (i) develop a classification for dreaming's core phenomenology (the "oneiragogic spectrum"), (ii) establish a structure for assessing dreaming's multiple memory inputs ("multi-temporal memory sources"), (iii) further Silberer's project for classifying sleep-onset images in relation to waking cognition by revealing two new imagery types ("autosensory imagery," "exosensory imagery"), and (iv) embed a potential understanding of microdreaming processes in a larger explanatory framework ("multisensory integration approach"). Such efforts may help resolve outstanding questions about dream neurophysiology and dreaming's role in memory consolidation during sleep but may also advance discovery in the neuroscience of consciousness more broadly.
Comparable studies
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| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body Consciousness: A Philosophy of Mindfulness and Somaesthetics | 2008 | Review article | |
| Phenomenology, Structure, and Dynamic of Psychedelic States | 2016 | Review | |
| Classic Hallucinogens and Mystical Experiences: Phenomenology and Neural Correlates. | 2018 | Review | |
| The lived experience of psychosis: a bottom-up review co-written by experts by experience and academics. Individuals with lived experience of psychosis, family members, and carers | 2022 | Co-written bottom-up review | |
| From autopoiesis to neurophenomenology: Francisco Varela's exploration of the biophysics of being. | 2003 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 27
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to Neurophenomenology - The Case of Studying Self Boundaries With Meditators. Frontiers in Psychology 2020
- How deep is the rift between conscious states in sleep and wakefulness? Spontaneous experience over the sleep–wake cycle Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences December 13, 2020
- A Novel Approach to Dream Content Analysis Reveals Links Between Learning-Related Dream Incorporation and Cognitive Abilities Frontiers in Psychology August 6, 2018
- Imprinting: expanding the extra-pharmacological model of psychedelic drug action to incorporate delayed influences of sets and settings Frontiers in Human Neuroscience July 18, 2023
- The hypnagogic state: A brief update Journal of Sleep Research August 26, 2022
and 22 more in the library
Cites 27
- Guiding the study of brain dynamics by using first-person data: Synchrony patterns correlate with ongoing conscious states during a simple visual task Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 22, 2002
- Brain sources of EEG gamma frequency during volitionally meditation-induced, altered states of consciousness, and experience of the self Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging November 1, 2001
- Assessing sleep consciousness within subjects using a serial awakening paradigm Frontiers in Psychology 2013
- Microcognitive science: bridging experiential and neuronal microdynamics. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013
- The Structure of Laboratory Dream Reports in Blind and Sighted Subjects The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease May 1, 1982
and 22 more in the library