AUTHOR: Science Daily Staff/Association for Psychological Science
PUBLICATION NAME: Science Daily
DATE OF PUBLICATION: November 12, 2010
SUMMARY: Scientists have proven that humans spend about a third of their lives sleeping. According to the authors of an article in “Current Directions in Psychological Science,” sleeping seems to reorganize memories by picking out certain memories, such as the emotional ones and reconfiguring them to help create and produce fresh and innovative ideas. Sleep makes memories become stronger and restructure. According to Payne and Kensinger’s studies about what happens to memories during sleep, they have proven and found that if a person is asleep, they have a tendency to hang on to the most emotional and affecting part of a memory. For instance, if someone were to be tested after a night of sleep and were shown a scene or a picture of an emotional and disturbed object, such as a burning house, wrecked car, or an injured person or animal, they are more likely to respond and expected to remember the emotive object in the scene or picture than the non-emotive object(s) in the background. Payne and Kensinger have also measured people’s brain activity during their sleep. According to Payne and Kensinger’s brain activity research and results, they have found that certain areas and regions of the brain that are involved with memory and emotion consolidation are dynamic and active. During our sleep, our brains are full of activity. They are not only strengthening and stabilizing our memories, but also organizing them. Our brains are also selecting out the most noticeable, significant, and striking information we have. As a result, it is making it possible for us to come up with new and innovative ideas.
LINKS TO STUDY: None
ARTICLE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101113165441.htm
SUBMITTED BY: Arielle Calara
Showing posts with label Sleep and Dreams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sleep and Dreams. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Guiding Your Sleep While You're Awake
Author: Sarah Kershaw
Publication Name: The New York Times
Date of Publication: July 26, 2010
Summary: In the article, “Guiding Your Sleep While You’re Awake,” the author writes about nightmares. Normally, when a person has an extremely vivid nightmare from a traumatic experience, over time, the nightmares lessen and the person is naturally able to overcome these nightmares. However, in some cases, people are not able to naturally overcome the nightmares and are then helped by therapists who have invented behavioral techniques to lessen these nightmares.
Some example techniques to help people overcome their nightmares are the following: lucid dreaming, where a patient is taught to know that they are in a dream while in a nightmare; vivo desensitization, in which the patient is faced with their nightmare while awake to overcome it before they sleep; and a more recent technique known as dream incubation, which was first studied during the 1990s by a psychologist at Harvard Medical School.
According to the link that corresponds to this article about dream incubation, “Approximately half of the subjects recalled a dream which they felt was related to the problem. Seventy percent of these believed their dream contained a solution to the problem” (Barrett). The results show that many people, after continuing to practice the methods, could guide themselves as they dream. Not only that, these conclusions had similar results as earlier researchers have had (Wile, 1934; Wollmering, 1978).
The article continues on about the different therapy that is available for those suffering incessant nightmares. These therapies give a new light to those that are suffering from nightmares due to an experience they wish to forget, or something that scares them in general.
Links to Study: Dream Incubation
Article: Guiding Your Sleep While You're Awake
Submitted by Julia Wong
Publication Name: The New York Times
Date of Publication: July 26, 2010
Summary: In the article, “Guiding Your Sleep While You’re Awake,” the author writes about nightmares. Normally, when a person has an extremely vivid nightmare from a traumatic experience, over time, the nightmares lessen and the person is naturally able to overcome these nightmares. However, in some cases, people are not able to naturally overcome the nightmares and are then helped by therapists who have invented behavioral techniques to lessen these nightmares.
Some example techniques to help people overcome their nightmares are the following: lucid dreaming, where a patient is taught to know that they are in a dream while in a nightmare; vivo desensitization, in which the patient is faced with their nightmare while awake to overcome it before they sleep; and a more recent technique known as dream incubation, which was first studied during the 1990s by a psychologist at Harvard Medical School.
According to the link that corresponds to this article about dream incubation, “Approximately half of the subjects recalled a dream which they felt was related to the problem. Seventy percent of these believed their dream contained a solution to the problem” (Barrett). The results show that many people, after continuing to practice the methods, could guide themselves as they dream. Not only that, these conclusions had similar results as earlier researchers have had (Wile, 1934; Wollmering, 1978).
The article continues on about the different therapy that is available for those suffering incessant nightmares. These therapies give a new light to those that are suffering from nightmares due to an experience they wish to forget, or something that scares them in general.
Links to Study: Dream Incubation
Article: Guiding Your Sleep While You're Awake
Submitted by Julia Wong
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