Hobson's AIM theory offers a general framework for thinking about states of consciousness like wakefulness, REM dreaming and NREM mentations in terms of a state space defined by the dimensions of the level of brain activity, the source of input, and the type of neurochemical modulation. This account inspired theoretical models of other altered states of consciousness-including hypnosis-claiming...
A higher creative potential has been reported in narcoleptic patients and linked to lucid dreaming. The aim of the present study was to explore the role of narcolepsy symptoms (presence and severity) in predicting creativity. Sixty-six consecutive type 1 narcolepsy patients (mean age 38.62 ± 17.05, 31 females) took part in this study. Creative achievement in different life domains and creative...
ObjectiveTo review the way consciousness is operationalised in contemporary research, discuss strengths and weaknesses of current approaches and propose new measures.MethodWe first reviewed the literature pertaining to the phenomenal character of visual and self‐consciousness as well as awareness of visual stimuli. We also reviewed more problematic cases of dreams and animal consciousness,...
In the years leading up to India’s independence, a young Punjabi woman known to us only as Mrs. A., ill at ease in her marriage and eager for personal and national freedom, sat down with psychiatrist Dev Satya Nand for an experiment in his new and “Oriental” method of dream analysis. Her analysis, which appeared in a case self-published by Satya Nand, included a surge of emotion and reflections...
General anesthesia reversibly alters consciousness, without shutting down the brain globally. Depending on the anesthetic agent and dose, it may produce different consciousness states including a complete absence of subjective experience (unconsciousness), a conscious experience without perception of the environment (disconnected consciousness, like during dreaming), or episodes of oriented...
The stream of human consciousness persists during sleep, albeit in altered form. Disconnected from external input, the mind and brain remain active, at times creating the bizarre sequences of thought and imagery that comprise "dreaming." Yet despite substantial effort toward understanding this unique state of consciousness, no reliable neurophysiological indicator of dreaming has been...
The Dream Catcher test defines the criteria for a genuine discovery of the neural constituents of phenomenal consciousness. Passing the test implies that some patterns of purely brain-based data directly correspond to the subjective features of phenomenal experience, which would help to bridge the explanatory gap between consciousness and brain. Here, we conducted the Dream Catcher test for the...
In this study, approximately one thousand cases of spontaneous psychic experiences were analyzed to find out what range of forms the experiences more commonly took.Four main types were found: (1) Intuitive, in which the subject's experience was a simple, unreasoned impression or hunch.(2) Hallucinatory, in which the experience was projected as if it were a sensation.(3) Unrealistic dreaming, in...
This chapter examines the oneiric film theory which claims that the experience of cinema is akin to that of dreaming, before considering what methods are used in Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010) to depict the dream states. It details how Inception uses dream theory. It is clear that the film assumes the existence of an unconscious area of the mind, which can be influenced through access by...
The paper is divided into four parts. In Part I, I review principle NDE models, important recent research findings and limitations of NDE research I remark on the absence of consensus on an explanatory model of NDEs. Part II begins with an overview of NDE evolutionary thinking up until now. I define an NDE predisposition as a specialized kind of higher cognitive trait and argue that this...