Friday, March 12, 2021

- Research Blog 9 - Visual Statistic -

 - Visual Statistic -


    The picture above is a topographic image from a 2009 study done in Frankfurt, Germany in a Neurological Laboratory. The colors from red to blue on the side indicate brain activity with red being most active and blue being relatively inactive. The top image is an example of a brain when awake, the bottom is when one is lucid dreaming, and the last is when one reaches the deepest level of sleep, REM. From the image, we can see that lucid dreaming activates the brain enough that there is both activity and inactivity with the most activity towards the parietal (side) and frontal (front) of the brain. These are sections of the brain that have been found to be needed for waking memory, self-reflective awareness, and insight. Because these parts of the brain are active, it suggests a hybrid state of consciousness that has definable and measurable differences when compared to wake and REM sleep. Basically, this means that there are certain parts of the brain that are active during lucid dreaming that cause the dreamer to be aware that they are dreaming and are not awake. This is key to my paper because it is novel research that acts as tangible evidence of the reality of lucid dreaming and what parts are affected. Understanding the neurophysiology is also important because, in order to use lucid dreaming as an intervention, understanding what occurs allows researchers to investigate further inquires and theories, such as the efficacy of lucid dreaming as a therapeutic intervention for nightmare disorders.

___________________________________________________________________________________



Voss, Ursula, et al. “Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming.” Sleep, Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC, Sept. 2009, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2737577/.




Thursday, March 11, 2021

- Research Blog 8 - Revised Research Question and Current Works Cited -

 - Revised Research Question and Current Works Cited - 


My main research question hasn't changed, but the subsequent questions following after have altered somewhat as I delved into more scholarly articles and researched more about lucid dreaming and nightmares. However, I am unsure about whether I will be able to delve deep into all the supporting questions I have so far. 

Main Research Question → 

    Can lucid dreaming reduce and regulate nightmares amongst individuals suffering from nightmare disorders related to anxiety, depression, and PTSD, and can the use of video games supplement lucid dreaming therapy (LDT) to increase efficacy?

        Supporting Questions ⦂

  • What is LD? 
    • What happens during LD?
    • Can you train yourself to use it?
    • What parts of the brain are being used? 
    • To what extent is LD a conscious process?
  • What are nightmares?
    • How do you get diagnosed with a nightmare disorder?
    • Is it a disorder that stands alone or is there comorbidity with other psychological disorders?
    • What are lucid nightmares?
    • What disorders are commonly attached to nightmare disorders?
    • How can LD help nightmares?
  • What is the clinical application of LDT (lucid dreaming therapy) and IRT (Image Rehearsal Therapy)?
    • What are its advantages? potential uses?
    • Is it cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)? 
    • How is LDT and IRT usually done? 
    • How does it help? 
  • How can video games help LD?
    • What is it theorized to do?
    • What group is most studied when it comes to video games, nightmares, and LD?
    • What kind of people would video games and LD benefit the most?
    • Is there any evidence that video games can help? 
  • Are there any limitations and how can they be remedied?
    • How difficult is it to induce LD?
    • How lucid/aware do you have to be for it to be considered LD?
    • How much time is needed for its application?
    • What kind of studies are there? 
    • What kind of future investigations need to be done to add more support to LD and its potential uses?

Works Cited →


Chapter 1 - Video Games, Nightmares, and Emotional Processing

Bown, Johnathan, and Jayne Gackenbach. “Video Games, Nightmares, and Emotional Processing.” Emotions, Technology, and Digital Games, Academic Press, 25 Mar. 2016, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128017388000014#:~:text=More%20presence%20in%20video%20games,control%20dreaming)%20and%20nightmare%20protection.&text=Anecdotally%2C%20experiences%20of%20increased%20lucid,our%20laboratory%20following%20VR%20gameplay.

My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares?

De Macêdo, Tainá Carla, et al. “My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares?” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 10, 2019, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02618.

Cognitions in Sleep: Lucid Dreaming as an Intervention for Nightmares in Patients With Posttraumatic Stress

Holzinger, Brigitte, et al. “Cognitions in Sleep: Lucid Dreaming as an Intervention for Nightmares in Patients With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 11, 2020, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01826.

Expanding Self-Help Imagery Rehearsal Therapy for Nightmares With Sleep Hygiene and Lucid Dreaming: A Waiting-List Controlled Trial

Lancee, Jaap, et al. “Expanding Self-Help Imagery Rehearsal Therapy for Nightmares With Sleep Hygiene and Lucid Dreaming: A Waiting-List Controlled Trial.” International Journal of Dream Research , vol. 3, 2010, doi:10.11588/ijodr.2010.2.6128.

Inner Ghosts: Encounters With Threatening Dream Characters in Lucid Dreams

Stumbrys, Tadas, and Daniel Erlacher. “Inner Ghosts: Encounters with Threatening Dream Characters in Lucid Dreams.” Dreaming, vol. 27, no. 1, 2017, pp. 40–48., doi:10.1037/drm0000043.

Induction of lucid dreams: A systematic review of evidence

Stumbrys, Tadas, et al. “Induction of Lucid Dreams: A Systematic Review of Evidence.” Consciousness and Cognition, Academic Press, 27 July 2012, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810012001614.

Lucid Dreaming Treatment for Nightmares: A Pilot Study

Spoormaker, Victor I., and Jan Van den Bout. “Lucid Dreaming Treatment for Nightmares: A Pilot Study.” Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, vol. 75, no. 6, 2006, pp. 389–394., doi:10.1159/000095446.












- Research Blog 7 - Literature Review 3 -

 - Literature Review #3 - 



~ Citation ~ 

Cognitions in Sleep: Lucid Dreaming as an Intervention for Nightmares in Patients With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Holzinger, Brigitte, et al. “Cognitions in Sleep: Lucid Dreaming as an Intervention for Nightmares in Patients With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 11, 2020, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01826. 

This journal article was punished in volume 11 of Frontiers in Psychology. The institutions that they are all connected to are the Institute for Consciousness and Dream Research, Certificat Programme Sleep Coaching, Department of Psychiatry, and Department of Neurology in the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. Other than this article, each article is credited to numerous other research that has been done in their respective fields of study.    

~ Summary ~

    The article first begins by describing what nightmares are and how their frequency can cause major distress and impact nighttime or daytime functioning and become classified as a nightmare disorder. In order to be diagnosed the minimal criteria are as follows: (1) the patient suffers from repeated episodes of extended, extremely dysphoric, and well-remembered dreams that involve threats to survival, security, or physical integrity, (2) a person must experience rapid orientation and alertness upon waking up from the dysphoric dreams, and  (3) the dream experience itself or the sleep disorder resulting from it causes distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. It also provides statistics about nightmares and their effects and describes the physiological changes that lead up to the creation of nightmares and what occurs because of them. The introduction concludes by describing why this investigation is needed and then explaining what Lucid Dreaming Therapy is, mentioning that LD can be a useful tool for those affected by nightmares and that the overall purpose of the study is to (1) evaluate LDT in patients with PTSD with nightmares (2) if LDT leads to a sustainable reduction of nightmares, with a secondary goal of investigating its efficiency and sustainability in regards to reducing nightmare frequency. 
    The following section of the article discusses the material and methods that were used for this study and is broken up into four subsections. The first subsection is titled Participants and Procedures and explains that there were 31 adult participants in the study, with all of them recruited through an inpatient treatment center for psychiatric patients in Ybbs. These 31 subjects kept a sleep diary for 6 weeks and were randomly assigned to LDT or a credible active comparison condition for the treatment of nightmares. During the 6 weeks, those assigned to LDT received an additional 60-min group session each week. After the 6 weeks, there was a follow-up survey that followed 6 weeks after the intervention. The second subsection is titled Lucid Dream Therapy Sessions and describes what occurred during the sessions and how it was documented and done. The third subsection was Measurements and Questionnaires and described the different measures used such as a symptom checklist, Impact of Events Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Self-rating Depression Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, and a Sleep/Dream Checklist. The final subsection was titled Data Analysis and explained the type of data collection that was used in order to analyze the information collected. 
    The final parts of the article described and explained the results and discussed what they meant and the implications of the findings. Where it was concluded that the results provide some support of the effectiveness of LDT in the treatment of nightmares, specifically those with psychological disorders, but that there were limitations in their study and so it would require further investigation. The sample size was quite small and there was a high-drop out rate. There was also difficult due to comorbidity of substance use that affected concentration and lucidity with some patients and kept them from being able to induce LD. The article also explains that many of the methodological shortcomings could be resolves, but its potential is worth investigating amongst other psychological disorders other than PTSD. The article finally makes the concluding statement that due to a number of mediators and moderators, further investigation is necessary, but the overall potential is interesting.

~ Quotes ~

"...LD could provide a useful tool for people affected by nightmares, since it could activate self-responsibility and self-control in a frightening situation...it presents an advantage over therapeutic treatments as it can be applied in the situation itself, while the nightmare is happening, and not afterwards.." (pg 3)

 "Our findings provide some support on the effectivenes of LDT in the treatment of nightmares, especially when it comes to patients with psychological disorders." (pg 5) 

 "It has to be taken into account that LDT as an intervention technique belongs to the factors or variables that in general explain 10-15% of the variance of the therapy outcome." (pg 6)

~ Value ~      

    This particular article is valuable due to it being a relatively new publishing related to the topic of LD and nightmares. Meaning that, it should have some new information regarding the topic based on the number of newer studies investigating LD and its potential uses. Despite the sample size being rather small and the other limitations, the findings it has reported thus far shows promise in reducing anxiety and depression in patients, and if anything, shows support in its use not as a primary intervention, but as a supplement for another intervention. It also provides insight in the variance that comes with investigating LD among individuals and how it may be useful in more than just PTSD, anxiety disorders, and depression. The article also has some interesting references and citations that can also help in forming a paper investigating LD and nightmares. 

Saturday, February 27, 2021

- Research Blog 6 - Final Research Proposal -

 - Final Research Proposal - 


~ WORKING TITLE~

1. Lucid  Dreaming and Nightmares: Do Video Games Work?
2. Lucid Dreaming as Therapy: Will Video Games Help?
3. Lucid Dreaming and Nightmares

~ TOPIC DESCRIPTION ~

    I will be looking into lucid dreaming (LD) and its overall potential in the psychology world. To be more specific, I will be examining LD's potential clinical application as a therapeutic intervention for those suffering from nightmare disorders. Furthermore, this paper will attempt to understand LD through a multidisciplinary lense, tackling psychology and neuroscience, in order to understand the conscious process of LD and its related frequency and distress. 

~ RESEARCH QUESTION ~

    The main research questions is this; Can sleep disorders, specifically related to nightmares, be tempered through training via controlled dreaming, aka LD, and can the use of video games supplement lucid dreaming therapy (LDT) for greater outcomes/success rates?

~ THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ~

    According to a research article titled Expanding Self-Help Imagery Rehearsal Therapy for Nightmares With Sleep Hygiene And Lucid Dreaming: A Waiting- List Controlled Trial, written by Jaap Lancee, J. wan den Bout, and Victor I Spoormaker in 2010, nightmares are a “common disorder affecting 2-5% of the general population” (111). Among those who suffer from nightmares, they are found to have poor sleep hygiene, meaning that they often experience disturbed sleep which inflicts distress during the daytime. Nightmares have been conceptualized as a sleep disorder and because of this it is diagnosable and can be treated. Through the use of a cognitive-behavioral intervention, Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT), where you imagine the nightmare while awake, and exposure, which helps in desensitization, nightmares are manageable. These are self-help formats that were then expanded to include Lucid Dreaming Therapy (LDT) to help further enhance the effectiveness of the treatment. In addition to that, it was found to be plausible that nightmares can trigger lucid dreaming because there is a moderate correlation between nightmare frequency and lucid dreaming frequency. 

           Unfortunately, this study was done in the Netherlands and not in the United States so the statistics may be off, but the articles that were cited in its intro can help look at the relationship between lucid dreaming and nightmares globally. I will also be looking at the relationship between lucid dreaming and video games, and so a part of my paper will be discussing how video games can help supplement LDT and possibly encourage greater effectiveness. Because the topic seems to be approaching a more psychological lens, I have more interest due to my major being psychology and my general interest in unconventional treatment methods for different mental illnesses/disorders such as the use of VR, virtual reality, with patients suffering from PTSD. There will also be a lot more neuroscience than I initially thought as there lucid dreaming has been proven to be a real phenomenon that the brain undergoes and can train to do. And so, I will be trying my best to deliver the terms as clearly as I can.


~ CASE(S) or EXAMPLES ~


    There is a book titled Emotions, Technology, and Digital Games written by Johnathan Brown and Jayne Gackenbach that has a chapter titled Video games, Nightmares, and Emotional Processing. In this chapter, Gackenbach and Brown summarize the research that supports the hypothesis that playing video games can help grant gamers protection from nightmares and that this can alter emotional processing and regulation during the daytime when they are awake. There is something that is called the nightmare protection effect that is mentioned in the chapter to be related to threat stimulation theories that suggest that humans have the basic need of wanting to rehearse threatening situations as a form of survival adaptation. And so, the usage of violent video gameplay may help to subvert this process and thus remove the need for nightmare virtual rehearsal. It also mentioned that those who participated were students and active-duty soldiers and that females were not included in the study. Thus, making one of my examples being an examination of male students and active-duty soldiers who play violent video games and their effects concerning nightmares and how they may be connected to lucid dreaming. 


~ WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY ~

Bown, Johnathan, and Jayne Gackenbach. “Video Games, Nightmares, and Emotional Processing.” Emotions, Technology, and Digital Games, Academic Press, 25 Mar. 2016, (RUID ACCESS NEEDED) www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128017388000014#:~:text=More%20presence%20in%20video%20games,control%20dreaming)%20and%20nightmare%20protection.&text=Anecdotally%2C%20experiences%20of%20increased%20lucid,our%20laboratory%20following%20VR%20gameplay.

de Macêdo, Tainá Carla Freitas, et al. “My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares?” Frontiers in Psychology, Frontiers Media S.A., 26 Nov. 2019, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6902039/.

Lancee, Jaap, et al. “Expanding Self-Help Imagery Rehearsal Therapy for Nightmares with Sleep Hygiene and Lucid Dreaming: A Waiting-List Controlled Tria.” International Journal of Dream Research, vol. 3, no. 2, 2010, doi:10.11588/ijodr.2010.2.6128.

Stumbrys, Tadas, et al. “Induction of Lucid Dreams: A Systematic Review of Evidence.” Consciousness and Cognition, vol. 21, no. 3, 2012, pp. 1456–1475., doi:10.1016/j.concog.2012.07.003. (RUID ACCESS NEEDED)

Voss, Ursula, et al. “Measuring Consciousness in Dreams: the Lucidity and Consciousness in Dreams Scale.” Consciousness and Cognition, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2012, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23220345/.  (RUID ACCESS NEEDED)






Friday, February 26, 2021

- Research Blog 5 - Literature Review 2 -

 - Literature Review #2 - 


~ Citation ~
Induction of lucid dreams: A systematic review of evidence 

Stumbrys, Tadas, et al. “Induction of Lucid Dreams: A Systematic Review of Evidence.” Consciousness and Cognition, vol. 21, no. 3, 2012, pp. 1456–1475., doi:10.1016/j.concog.2012.07.003.

All involved in the production of the article are individuals who are related to the institutes of sports and sport sciences, psychology, and mental health. Each has also participated in the authorship of numerous other articles that have contributed to the study of dreams and sleep. 

~ Summary ~ 

     This article compiles evidence in order to review the taxonomy of lucid dreaming and its induction methods. This includes the cognitive methods, external stimulation, and drug applications that are related to the topic. In addition, the article highlights that none of the induction techniques presented work on demand but have some potential in doing so. Furthermore, the taxonomy of these methods is presented with evidence of effectiveness levels to verify each, and considerations for future methodology and directions are given to further the research on lucid dreaming.

    The introduction is divided into two subsections; (1) Lucid Dreams and (2) Induction techniques and their classifications. The former defines LD as potentially needing seven aspects in order to be proclaimed as lucidity in dreams. These are as follows; (1) clarity about the state of consciousness (2) clarity about the freedom of choice (3) clarity of consciousness (4) clarity about the waking life (5) clarity of perception (6) clarity about the meaning of the dream (7) clarity recollecting the dream. Out of these seven, 1-4 are required prerequisites of LD. However, they also state that dream lucidity is a continuum with different degrees of lucidity and cannot be examined as an all-or-nothing phenomenon. There is also brief history where it is mentioned that LD was known since the age of Aristotle, but it was only proven in a sleep laboratory less than 50 years ago through the measurement of rapid-eye-movement (REM) that correspond with dreamed gaze shifts. Afterward, there is a section that discusses the neuroscience behind LD by describing what parts of the brain light up during LD. This is then followed up by a brief mention of the importance of recognizing the differences of LD across cultures and ages, but it is a skill that can be learned. Nightmare treatment is also mentioned and it is mentioned once again how important it is to look into induction techniques to find reliable ones that can aid in frequency and treatment. 

    The latter section discusses the different classifications of induction techniques throughout history. First beginning with two categories; (1) presleep induction (i.e. intentional techniques [reflection of dream awareness, engagement with focused activities] and unintentional considerations [situations during the day, individual propensities] and (2) sleep induction [ divided into two parts; internal and external]. This then became three categories; (1)lucid-awareness training [cultivation of proper waking attitude to promote lucidity], (2) intention and suggestion techniques [triggering of LD through the act of will or suggestion], (3) cue "REM-minding" techniques [the involvement of tactile, auditory, and other external stimuli presented during REM that triggers lucidity]. The paper then states that while these classifications make sense, they will be using an empirically based classification in combination with an extensive systemic review of induction evidence in order to define induction techniques into three broad categories; (1) cognitive techniques, (2) external stimulation, (3) miscellaneous techniques.

 The proceeding sections continue to examine the evidence from previous research and explain the relevance and limitations of each in order to make the statement the review is a new starting point for LD science and has potential in both research and practical application. 

~ Quotes ~

1. "None of inductions techniques were verified to induce dreams reliably, consistently, and with a higher success rate...Most lucid dream induction methods produced only slight effects, although some of the techniques look promising." (1469)

2. " While in most cases lucidity is attained when a dreamer recognizes a prearranged external stimulus as a cue in the dream that he or she is dreaming, in some cases an external cue can trigger lucidity even without being actively recognized by the dreamer..." (1470) 
 
3. " One of the major issues concerning lucid dream induction research in general is what to define a valid criterion for successful induction." (1472)

~ Value ~

This article is valuable if we want to discuss LD because in order to use it for therapeutic application there need to be reliable methods of induction so that LDT can be used to the full extent. It also points out a lot of drawbacks in relying on LDT as there is not enough research that can fully support its use in clinical application. If LD cannot be properly and consistently induced, then it is difficult to make the claim of its effectiveness in usage. Therefore, the examination of video games and their potential as an asset for LDT therapy among those with recurrent nightmares can be easily dismissed due to various limitations from the scarcity of research. However, the article does address further directions and future examinations which can help add validity to LDT if approached well.

Research Blog 4 - Literature Review 1 -

 - Literature Review #1 - 


~ Citation ~ 

My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares?

de Macêdo, Tainá Carla Freitas, et al. “My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares?” Frontiers in Psychology, Frontiers Media S.A., 26 Nov. 2019, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6902039/. 

          All participants of the article work in a variety of departments, such as Psychology, Philosophy, Neurobiology, and Physiology and Behavior. Each has contributed equally to the work and share authorship. The article itself was submitted to the Consciousness Research section of a journal titled Frontiers in Psychology. 

~ Summary ~

                In this paper, de Macêdo et al. begins by stating that "nightmares are defined as repeated occurrences of extremely dysphoric and well-remembered dreams that usually involve subjective threats to survival, security, or physical integrity." These occurrences are further defined as either being recurrent or idiopathic (spontaneous) in nature. Those that suffer from recurrent nightmares may experience significant distress and impairments that affect both occupational and social functioning and it is more commonly associated and observed among those who suffer from PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Lucid dreaming (LD) is described in this article as having the potential to help those who suffer from nightmare disorder through the resignifications of the dreams. Meaning that the knowledge that they are dreaming and being able to control their dreams would reduce nightmares to normal dreams and therefore restore proper sleep hygiene (i.e. proper sleeping habits and lack of disturbances). And so, the article is a review of existing literature that examines the use of LD as a feasible aid in treating patients with nightmares by helping to minimize "frequency, intensity, and psychological distress." Unfortunately, the article also points out that there is a scarcity of studies in relation to the topic and much of the results have been inconsistent. Therefore, it is necessary that more studies be done to thoroughly investigate the potential of LD as a therapeutic intervention. 

                The introduction described the importance of labeling nightmares as recurrent (posttraumatic) and idiopathic. This is because idiopathic nightmares have unknown etiology, are unrelated to other disorders, and the content themselves are unspecific and can include "interpersonal conflict, failure, helplessness, apprehension, being chased, accident, [an] evil force, disaster, and environmental abnormality." In contrast, recurrent (posttraumatic) nightmares are specifically related to disturbances that are part of the stress reaction following exposure to trauma. These nightmares are a core feature of PTSD and have a prevalence rate of 80% of individuals reporting disturbing and suicidal dreams that are related to the trauma. There is also a brief discussion of nightmares and anxiety wherein it is mentioned that the increased frequency of negative emotions due to nightmares can increase anxiety and exacerbate anxiety disorders. And an additional relationship is discussed between nightmares and depression where there is a relationship between nightmares and suicides that can increase suicide risk. Some other keywords that are mentioned in this section are nightmare frequency and nightmare distress wherein the former refers to the number of occurrences of the nightmare and the latter refers to the negative feelings one has upon awakening after the occurrence of a nightmare. Towards the end of this section, the authors state that LD can help in resignification and there are three things that the article aims to address: 1) Is LDT effective for treating nightmares? 2) What are the mechanisms by which LDT works? 3)What are the most used procedures, and the limitations of the LDT? 

                The discussion section divides the article by labeling them using the questions: 1)What are the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms that underlie LDT? 2) How does LDT work in practice? 3)What are the main limitations of LDT? The conclusion is that LDT may be an efficient treatment for nightmares, and even if it unable to be induced, the exercises helped patients develop critical thinking over dream content. However, despite a positive outlook on its practice, limited literature, inconsistent results, and small sample sizes mean that there is a need for more research for a better estimate on the effectiveness of LDT in clinical practice. 

~ Quotes ~ 

1. "At the psychological level, Rousseau and Belleville [2017] gathers possible mechanisms by which LDT and other similar treatments work, which are: modification of beliefs [Krakow et al., 2000], prevention of avoidance [Pruiksma, 2012], decreased arousal [Davis, 2009], restoration of sleep functions [Germain, 2002], emotional processing [Davis et al., 2007], and a sense of mastery [Spoormaker et al., 2003]" (page 5)

2. "Initially, 'just wake up' could be a useful weapon until a minimum sense of control is developed; however it is necessary to practice for the LD scenario does not fade away causing the awakening, which allows the dreamer to explore other possibilities and face their fears" (page 6) 

3. "Lucid nightmares maybe even more terrifying than common nightmares...lucid nightmare frequency is associated not only to nightmare frequency but also to LD frequency [Stumbrys, 2018]...makes patients with nightmares very vulnerable to lucid nightmares in a LDT." (page 6)

 ~ Value ~ 

This article is very valuable because it points out the importance of differentiating the nightmare disorder so that the use of LDT can be used effectively. It also discusses comorbidity between multiple disorders with the nightmare disorder and how that can impact the effectiveness of LDT. It also has the potential to be the foundation of my paper by providing me with a base that I can use to further my paper. Additionally, it mentions important terms that need to be looked into such as lucid nightmares, nightmare frequency, nightmare distress, recurrent nightmares, and idiopathic nightmares.  

Friday, February 12, 2021

Research Blog 3 -

- LUCID DREAMING -

Research into this topic may take a little work, so hopefully, I'll be able to find enough reliable resources to make sure my paper shines. Below, are a few research questions that I will be attempting to answer: 


Friday, February 5, 2021

Scouting the Territory

- STILL CONFUSED, BUT JUST AS INTERESTED -

So, I've done some basic research on both by just inputting both topics in the Google search engine without any other words. And the results of both topics, kind of made it harder to choose. Lucid dreaming pulled up a lot of results describing how to go about achieving awareness and control of your dreams, the benefits of successfully doing so, and the risks. However, only one scholarly article popped up about the topic being a state of consciousness and uses a sleep study. When I then searched out of body experiences (OBE), a lot of the results that popped up on the first page dealt involved scholarly research that circled around neurology. Both topics are actually really interesting, and so now I'm more confused about what topic to choose. I might just have someone I know pick randomly for me. 

Honestly, when I did further searches on the topics, I found that just going through the who, what, where, why, and how was the most efficient way to find more information. What was also really helpful was randomly picking a website to browse and then searching up the keywords that were related to the topic. So for example, lucid dreaming combined with searches of awareness and consciousness. While OBE had me searching for more specifics using the words spontaneous and induced. Afterward, I changed the Google search engine to Google Scholar to check out the scholarly articles related and inputted the topics without any other keywords and then allowed it to autofill. With this, lucid dreaming was often searched with the words therapy, nightmares, benefits, treatment, frequency, evidence, personality, induction, studies, and consciousness. OBE gave me experience, illusion, seizures, induced hippocampal amnesia, review, psychology, image, virtual reality, meditation, and neuroscience. Depending on which topic I finally choose, there seems to be a good amount of things that I can talk about. 

Through the research I've done so far, there seems to be interested in how lucid dreaming could be beneficial and seems to be approached a little more spiritually. While a lot of people are interested in the neuroscience behind OBE's, their potential, and the more science-based aspects of what happens to a person during an OBE.  Either way, both topics seem to have really fascinating subtopics to look into for the final paper. 

- POTENTIAL RESOURCES -


Since I have yet to choose a topic, I decided to find one article each. Based on this, it's looking like there is going to be a good amount of psychology, physiology, and neuroscience involved in my paper regardless of the topic chosen. Hopefully, I'll able to write the paper clearly and not fumble on the more technical terms.

In this specific scholarly article that I found, researchers in a sleep laboratory of the Neurological Lab at Frankfurt University studied six student volunteers who were trained to lucid dream in order to figure out whether a physiological response occurs during the act. From this one small sample, these researchers were able to find evidence that when you lucid dream, it creates a hybrid state of consciousness that can be measured and differentiated from waking and REM sleep, and that this activity is particularly strong in the frontal areas of the brain. It also provides evidence that when you lucid dream, one is able to shift the electric signals in the brain forcefully and purposefully.

⮟Out‐of‐body Experience and Autoscopy of Neurological Origin

In this article, the authors look into OBE and introduce a new word, autoscopy (AS). The article is a little long, so I briefly skimmed it and found out a general idea of the paper through its abstract. According to the paper, OBE is when a person seems to be awake and is able to see their body and the world from a location that is outside of the physical body. On the other hand, AS is when a person is able to see their body through an extrapersonal space, which means through the space around us via our senses like eyes, ears, nose, but is unable to actually see the physical body. The author specifically mentions that there isn't enough information, study, or testable neuroscientific theory in regards to the two (the paper was written back in 2004), but there seems to neurological evidence that both share important mechanisms and that overall, both could be due to a "cerebral dysfunction of the TPJ [temporo-parietal junction] in a state of partially and briefly impaired consciousness."

- CONTROVERSY? -

Lucid dreaming's controversy seems to revolve around the dilemma between this type of dreaming and natural dreaming. To be specific, whether training oneself to lucid dream will keep you from getting a healthy rest and produce more restless sleep. However, it seems that there may be papers that say otherwise. Another is that there is a possibility that there is a link between lucid dreaming frequency and depression. With there being studies that because of sleep disorders that arise from depression, there is a higher likelihood that one may be able to lucid dream. In addition to that, there are also some that believe that lucidity during dreams is not real and argue against its possibility. 

OBE doesn't seem to have as much controversy as lucid dreaming because there is far more scientific research about it in the fields of parapsychology, neurology, and cognitive neuroscience. Because of the larger-scale investigations into the mechanisms of how it works, there seems to be a more scientific basis behind the phenomenon. Thus, more people are far more supportive of it than lucid dreaming. However, there does seem to be a dilemma between spirituality (i.e. religion) and neurology. And so, if there are any debates it's between the science community and the more spiritual groups.

Monday, January 25, 2021

Lucid Dreaming? Out-of-Body Experiences?



For my project, I found myself searching up potential topics because I could not for the life of me come up with anything besides parapsychology and ghosts. When I researched some, lucid dreaming and out-of-body experiences caught my eye and one of these may end up as my final choice.



The reason I chose these two topics is that my sister has recently acquired an interest in both of these things and constantly tells me stories of successful attempts or ways in how to have an out of body experience via astral projection and how to control your dreams through lucid dreaming. I for one have never really tried myself, but I've heard stories and watched enough horror movies to somewhat have a belief that they are possible to do. Because of this, I think I would really enjoy investigating either-or.