People can say all sorts of strange things in their sleep, but a new study suggests that someone in the middle of a vivid dream can understand questions
Real-time dialogue with a dreaming person is possible
Dreams take us to an alternative reality. They also happen while we’re fast asleep. So, you might not expect that a person in the midst of a vivid dream would be able to perceive incoming questions and provide answers to them. But a new study led by Northwestern University researchers shows that, in fact, they can.
“Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep” published today (Feb. 18) in the journal Current Biology. Read the study here.
The researchers studied individuals who aimed to have a lucid dream, in which a person is aware they’re dreaming. Study participants were briefed in bidirectional communication before sleep. Some also practiced with sensory stimulation, such as beeps or lights. Participants were instructed to signal researchers when they experienced a lucid dream, usually with a sequence of large eye movements to the left and to the right.
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