The science of dreaming

[deleted-296957]

I'm planning on conducting a science experiment involving the science of dreams. I've decided to ask the question: can specific horror movies influence people's dreams. If i achieve this, i will choose to go further in the conscious mind and find the fears of others, from childhood boogy men to a simple clown. I will introduce my subjects to lucid dreaming and will tell them to watch a scary movie such as The Nightmare on Elm Street. Myself personally have always had nightmares and fears of Freddy Kruger. I will have this device similar to a mask that flashes lights once you've achieved the REM sleep which means you will be aware of the dream you are in. Hopefully the movie has influenced the dreams so you can face your deepest darkest fears once and for all. Any suggestions or critics? How will i be able to rely on my subject to practice the lucid dreaming and achieve it?

[deleted-294464]

This seems like a very ambitious project. It appears that your hypothesis is that lucid dreaming can be achieved flashing lights on a subject once REM sleep is reached. What sort of previous data or research have you collected on this topic?

It will be difficult to monitor REM sleep of individuals and flash lights in their eyes except in a properly designed lab, with protocols in place to work with patients. A slightly easier version of your experiment to conduct may just involve having subjects record their dreams one night, followed by watching a horror movie before sleep the next night and having them again record their dreams. In this way, you can see if the horror movies have any effect on the dreams. Note, because of dreams ambiguous nature and the high amount of unknowns in the field of dreaming, it may be difficult to draw solid conclusions.

[deleted-291782]

Hi Sandy,

I also agree with the above advice. I would also suggest that perhaps you can have a group of different test subjects and simply expose them to a scary movie with the end objective of recording their dreams the following morning. Remember though that the subjects should record their dreams as soon as they wake, since the memory of dreams tends to fade very quickly. What you could even do as well is to survey people about their fears, and then watch a related movie before the subject goes to bed. The intent is to see if that will elicit a specific dream sequence. Remember to have proper controls as well!

This is a very interesting project! Let us know if you have further questions and we will try to help.

[deleted-296957]

Thank you for taking the time to reply on my question, I highly appreciate it. I've found conclusions and experiments where they've used flashing lights to be conscious while in a dream... https://youtu.be/d7LssPuyu7c hopefully I can purchase this device to help me. I agree strongly with my test subjects recording their dreams in a notebook. However, it seems too simple and I feel the need to explore more about the science of dreaming and challenge myself. I'm stuck on how to conduct my experiment to a deeper lever but i think I'm thinking too hard. I love the mysteries dreams give to us.

[deleted-71536]

Hi Sandy,

You have a really interesting project idea and have gotten some great advice from the other mentors. I wanted to add that you might consider involving a smart phone app in your experiment. There is one specifically designed for lucid dreaming: http://www.dreamonapp.com/

You could also explore some of the apps and gadgets designed to track your sleep (http://lifehacker.com/5993005/five-best ... ts-or-apps), which would help you record the type of sleep your subjects are getting in a more objective way than only recording their dreams (which you should still have them do!).

I hope this helps. Please keep us posted on your progress!

Heather

[deleted-296957]

Thank you! that was very helpful. I remain and concluded with the question "How do horror movies affect the subconscious and can lucid dreaming control the subconscious?". Lucid dreaming interests me as well as regular dreaming because I myself take Melatonin due to horrible sleep, and have incredibly vivid dreams. It's quite amazing what the mind can conquer.