Because learning about your brain and sleep can be fun . . .
When I was in school there was this kid, Dave. He remembered all of his dreams, so he said. They’d be crazy. They’d have monsters in them, people with no faces, and talking ducks. Every so often he’d keep us entertained before school and at recess with his tales from the night before. Sometimes his…
Dreams are fun but it’s best to acknowledge it and not to get stuck on that aspect. It’s cool when you do something like holding seven men at gunpoint in your dreams. Or when you save a life. Or when you ride a horse fast. Unfortunately, the long-term dream journaler pseudonymously named “Barb Sanders” had…
Often dreams don’t match reality in any way shape or form. In the famous short story and movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber, hapless main character Mitty has one daydream after another triggered by mundane events. In one, he’s a surgeon saving lives. In another, a fighter pilot. And in another…
Anything can happen in a dream. Anything often does. One of those things that happen in dreams—unlike real life—is what dream researchers have come to call “character transformations.” In the collected dreams of a pseudonymous dream journaler whom Calvin Hall referred to as “Barb Sanders” these character transformations were fairly common. Hall estimated they occurred…
Part four in a series about one of Calvin Hall’s study subjects, pseudonymously named “Barb Sanders.” Barb kept a dream journal for much of her life. Barb Sanders loved everything about the theater. She had 169 dream reports about the theater, many of which involved her auditioning for a part, or directing a theatrical production.…
In part three we continue this summary of the dream diaries of “Barb Sanders.” Sanders was a pseudonymous dream enthusiast Calvin Hall studied and who kept a dream diary for much of her life. In late 1994 and into 1995, Barb Sanders’ longstanding friends grew worried. Once again, she seemed not to be seeing relationships…
When a notebook sits conveniently on your nightstand, for many people it becomes a target for all kinds of writing. To-do lists Phone numbers from ads Usernames and passwords to websites Measurements for different projects Notes about some kind of computer code or process that you’ve got to do over and over. Whatever comes…
Memory consolidation is a key biochemical and biomechanical process in forming the ideas by which you live your life. An idea takes an interesting path through sleep toward ultimate expression. Sleep is essential for memory consolidation, the process by which the brain transfers short-term memories into long-term memories. In memory consolidation, the brain undergoes structural…
Using the map GPS app on your phone to get from Point A to B works pretty well. If you’re old enough, you can easily appreciate this. It beats the old ways of finding your way around town. People used to print out directions on paper and navigate around like pirates using a treasure map.…
Dreams are an offshoot of the conscious mind. Well, usually, it seems that way. After one keeps a dream journal for a couple of months, it’s obvious. Day-to-day life inspires dreams. Some dreams are replays of your daily life. Others are full of symbolism, reflecting the issues you’re contending with. Sometimes your subconscious is urging…