Why do we dream? Evolutionary theories suggest that dreams may confer a fitness advantage by simulating real-world challenges. Simulation-based models suggest that dreams serve adaptive functions, including resolving emotional stress and enhancing readiness for waking encounters. From this perspective, evidence of evolutionary pressures reflected in dream content would support the view that...
Introduction: Evolutionary threat simulation theories posit that dreams and nightmares recreate risk scenarios that activate cognitive systems with potential clinical implications. Having a scale to assess these scenarios—or “oneiric settings”—could help to understand and test these theories, while also proving useful for the assessment of dreams and nightmares. Objectives: To examine the...
This chapter demonstrates exactly how well the adaptive inactivity theory of sleep explains several unusual features of human sleep, which were not fully known and understood before the publication in 2015 of a longitudinal study of sleep in three indigenous societies without electricity. These indigenous groups sleep on average only 5–7 hours a night, and they sleep longer in the winter than...
This chapter provides a detailed explanation for self-knowing (autonoetic) consciousness, based on the Multistate Hierarchical Model of Consciousness. This full statement of the theory makes it possible to explain more fully how autonoetic consciousness differs from dreaming, which is a form of noetic (fact-knowing) consciousness. The relationship between autonoetic consciousness and noetic...
Background: Excessive use of mobile phones before bedtime has emerged as a growing concern among young adults, particularly students, due to its potential impact on sleep quality and circadian rhythm. Exposure to screen-based light and cognitive stimulation during the pre-sleep period may delay sleep onset and alter sleep-related experiences such as dream recall. Objectives: To assess the...
One important element of twentieth-century avant-garde composition is the intersection between advances in technology and transformations in religious consciousness and experience. This piece argues that the lineage from John Cage through Pierre Schaeffer, Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Lucier, Eliane Radigue, and William Basinski make for a compelling addition to the study of religion and sound/music.
ABSTRACT In March–May 2020, New York City's college students suffered sudden lockdown due to the COVID‐19 pandemic and a mandatory transition from in‐person classes to virtual meetings. Unexpectedly, my introductory course to anthropology transformed into a collective space to share experiences of the city in times of crisis. This article examines in‐class conversations on nightmares and the...
Perceived sleep depth is a key determinant of subjective sleep quality, traditionally thought to reflect unconsciousness and reduced cortical activation. Here, we combined high-density EEG with a serial awakening paradigm during NREM2 (N2) sleep in healthy human participants to examine its neural and experiential correlates. As expected, deeper sleep was associated with reduced cortical...
The focus of this study is to learn how lucid dreaming can be used to change dream content in a way that is beneficial for the participant. The research delves into the benefits of lucid dreaming, as well as common techniques for lucidity. Furthermore, the study analyzes the positive impact of becoming lucid as a way to treat nightmares. Finally, the researcher shows data that was collected...
Frontiers in SleepFebruary 27, 2026Lisa DeMarni Cromer, Emily Kaier Cromwell, Lauren Prince et al.
Theories of chronic nightmare maintenance highlight dysfunctional beliefs about sleep and nightmares, distress and arousal, anticipatory anxiety, maladaptive sleep habits, and sleep deprivation as perpetuating factors that maintain nightmare disorder over time. Theories of nightmare treatment suggest that self-efficacy is a common factor in nightmare mitigation. The current article introduces...