Parasomnias are abnormal behaviours or mental experiences during sleep or the sleep-wake transition. As disorders of arousal (DOA) or REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) can be difficult to capture in the sleep laboratory and may need to be diagnosed in large communities, new home diagnostic devices are being developed, including actigraphy, EEG headbands, as well as 2D infrared and 3D time of...
Dreaming is a universal yet poorly understood phenomenon. This thesis investigates the neural mechanisms of dream traits and states using multimodal neuroimaging, including structural and functional MRI, diffusion imaging, and simultaneous EEG/fMRI. By addressing methodological challenges and leveraging large-scale datasets, the studies provide novel insights into the neural correlates of dream...
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...
A Chaotic Life is a three-volume series in which Stanley Krippner (b.1932), a well-known American parapsychologist (and much more), recounts his life from his childhood, recalling his university years, recounting his reactions to various episodes of the Second World War and passages from his adult life.Krippner has visited more than one hundred countries and has interacted with cultures and...
Abstract Patients undergoing general anesthesia are often assumed to be unconscious. However, it is known that conscious experiences in the form of dreams occur even in unresponsive states induced by anesthetics. Here, we recorded resting state electroencephalography (EEG) as well as EEG combined with TMS perturbations in 20 healthy participants during propofol sedation. Participants were...
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 NREM sleep to examine its neural and experiential correlates. As expected, deeper sleep was associated with reduced cortical activation, reflected in a lower...
Abstract This article concerns a Hasidic homily describing a technique for lucid dream cultivation. The homily outlines a worldview in which fantasy and reality merge, and thoughts, both positive and negative, have real cosmic and personal consequences. To counter the allure of sexual fantasy, the homily recommends a form of Neoplatonic contemplation widely taught within early Hasidic circles....
Insights into the mysteries of dreaming and waking conscious experience can be gained by considering fundamental concepts in memory research. To support this assertion, we first provide an overview of the conscious/nonconscious distinction in memory research and then summarize the memory theory of consciousness (MToC). According to the MToC, the brain system responsible for explicit memory is...
The problem of dramatic conventions must be solved in close relationship with the conventional nature of art in general and the peculiarities of the dramatic genre in particular. The problem has been widely discussed by such western critics as John Gassner, Francis Fergusson and Siegfried Melchinger. The interest of Soviet literary criticism in the problem of dramatic conventions is manifested...
Sleep and dreams are frequent themes in science fiction (Sci-Fi) literature and films, often used to explore questions about consciousness, reality, technology and the human experience. Sci-Fi authors and filmmakers utilise the enigmatic nature of sleep and dreams to blur the boundaries between reality and imagination, raising philosophical questions or extrapolating the effects of futuristic...