As we fall asleep we forget about the future: A quantitative linguistic analysis of mentation reports from hypnagogia.

Mental time travel to the future, but not to the past, decreases during sleep onset hypnagogia. Three independent judges analyzed 150 mentation reports collected before and after sleep onset, using a linguistic tool grounded in grammatical and cognitive-semantic theories. The results indicate that memory for the future diminishes at sleep onset, supporting preliminary physiological evidence at the level of brain function. This state of consciousness may help dissociate between mental time travel to the past and the future, despite recent research emphasizing similarities in their cognitive and physiological processes.

Study at a glance

Abstract

We present a quantitative study of mental time travel to the past and future in sleep onset hypnagogia. Three independent, blind judges analysed a total of 150 mentation reports from different intervals prior to and after sleep onset. The linguistic tool for the mentation report analysis grounds on established grammatical and cognitive-semantic theories, and proof of concept has been provided in previous studies. The current results indicate that memory for the future, but not for the past, decreases in sleep onset - thereby supporting preliminary physiological evidence at the level of brain function. While recent memory research emphasizes similarities in the cognitive and physiological processes of mental time travel to the past and future, the current study explores a state of consciousness which may serve to dissociate between the two.