Rivera 1 Pamela Rivera Professor Presnell English 1103 November 26, 2012 Unconscious Power Have you ever

woken up in the middle of a dream you were enjoying and went back to sleep hoping to finish the same dream? I certainly have had this experience. It is such a mysterious topic and yet, we are all familiar with it. On the Internet, Thesaurus Dictionary defines the word dreams as a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep. When analyzing this definition, one can conclude that it is a vague explanation considering the different existing aspects about dreams. In my opinion, dreams can simply be defined as the brains usage of boundless imagination during sleep. Now, this idea will be applied to something greater. People have control of their imagination and can advance it to different levels. This is better known as daydreaming. Therefore, can we influence our dreams at night just as we control our imagination while remaining conscious during the day? My Experience With Dreams Aside from nightmares, dreams can be fun and entertaining. I, personally, have wished to dream about a certain situation I would have liked to happen in my life, or a particular person I would have liked to see and spend time with. I have tried to influence my dreams by thinking about the subject or situation right before going to bed. I have been doing this for a long time without even realizing it. When I was around twelve years old, I saw the cutest boy at a shoe store but I didnt have the chance to talk to him. That same night I went to bed wishing I could see him again.

Rivera 2 My wish came true. I saw him in my dreams and he gave me his phone number! I immediately woke up and wrote the numbers down. How silly, right? I was impressed that I had the dream I wanted and even more impressed that I remembered all the numbers from the dream. Unfortunately, I am not as lucky, but I yearn to learn how to control what I dream about, if possible. What Happens When We Are Sleeping In order to understand dreams, I needed to find information about the different sleep stages one goes through while asleep. Jessica D. Payne, a Psychology professor at the University of Notre Dame, and Lynn Nadel, the Regents professor of Psychology at the University of Arizona, explained these stages on a study about sleep, dreams, and memory consolidation. They discussed the two major types of sleep, which are known as REM and NREM. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep takes place in approximately 90-minute cycles and alternates with four other phases known as NREM sleep. Slow wave sleep (SWS) is considered to be the deepest NREM phase because it is when people have the most difficulty being woken. A person goes through SWS for at least 3 hours during the first half of a typical 8-hour night, and the second half mostly contains twice as much REM sleep as does the first half. In addition, Payne and Nadel discuss that when examining REM sleep dreams for memory content, one finds that episodic memories are rare and typically emerge as disconnected fragments that are often difficult to relate to waking life events. This is because the normal rules of space and time can be ignored or violated. So, in REM dreams, it is possible to fly, walk through concrete, interact with an unknown person as if he was your father, or be in Japan after going up the stairs at your house.

Rivera 3 Interesting Gender Trends As most of us know, dreams can literally be about anything. A study realized in Miami University proved that men and women have different dream themes. They discovered that females have more dreams about sex and men have more dreams about examinations. This is very surprising for me because I would have thought the exact opposite. My mom always tells me the story of when she had a dream about being late to her final thesis presentation and she woke up agitated thinking it was real. She didnt realize it was just a dream until she saw her graduation ring on her finger. Furthermore, the results proved that men had more dreams about falling off of surfaces and nudity, while the dreams about being pursued seemed to be evenly split between genders (Holinger). Aside from this study, it is scientifically proven that men have more dreams about mutilation, separation, kidnappers, robbers, and being powerless while women have more dreams about anxiety and loss of relatives (Winget 297). It makes perfect sense to me because these facts provide an idea of how peoples brains work and what kind of thoughts go through their minds. Additionally, dream patterns could represent fears that men and women face daily in society. An article written by Patrick McNamara, an Associate Professor of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, explained some explanations for the difference between the dreams of men and women. McNamara argued that one possibility is that men and women are raised in different ways. For example, boys are taught to be more aggressive while girls are taught to be more social. In addition, he used the sexual selection and war theories to support his arguments. Men have always seen the need to outcompete one another to look more appealing to women. He mentioned the fact that men served in wars while women stayed home to take care of

Rivera 4 the family. In conclusion, men are aggressive because they see it as a mechanism to survive. So Can We Control Our Dreams Or Not? A reporter from Scientific American Magazine interviewed a dream expert from Harvard University about how to control our dreams. Deirdre Barrett is an assistant clinical professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School and also the author of The Committee of Sleep: How Artists, Scientist and Athletes Use Dreams for Creative Problem-Solvingand How You Can, Too. He assures that people can control their dreams, though the details on how to do it are different. This is determined by an individuals specific goal. A person can attempt to induce lucid dreams (being aware theyre in a dream). Individuals also have the abilities to dream about particular content or solutions to personal objectives and problems. Through a study with his students, Barrett proved that you could problem-solve in a dream by following a specific set of guidelines. The first thing you should do is find a visual image or an object that represents the problem and set it on your bedside table. Most importantly, think of the problem right before bed and let this be the last thought in your mind before falling asleep. Dont jump out of bed when you wake up, Barrett warns us. He explained that almost half of dream content is lost if you get distracted. Therefore, I suggest keeping a dream journal because in doing so, you will be able to record your dream without any distractions. Professor Barrett also argued that there are some techniques people can use to increase their chances of having lucid dreams. Someone is more likely to have a lucid dream simply by reminding themself they want to realize they are dreaming before falling asleep. Barrett reassures that getting enough sleep is also an important factor. When you deprive yourself of sleep, you are getting a lower amount of REM. People

Rivera 5 use other different techniques to help them enhance their experience with dreams. For example, my roommate uses a small scented, lavender pillow to remember her dreams in the morning. When she told me about it, I was a little skeptical by the idea of using a smell to boost my memory, though I have to admit that it worked when I tried it a couple of days ago. In fact, National Geographic News released an article on how smell influences dreams. Researchers proved that nice odors cause pleasant dreams and bad scents provoke unpleasant dreams (Carroll). I now realize what helped me remember my dream was not the lavender smell, but the fact that I went to bed with the intention of having a lucid dream. Lets Give This A Try! On the other hand, a more sophisticated technique has been created in order to prove that it is possible to influence peoples dreams. An article posted on Science Daily News announced the launch of a new study at the Edinburgh International Science Festival. A Psychology professor, Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire is conducting the experiment. For this study, they developed an iPhone application called Dream:ON which is described by the developers YUZA as an app that monitors a person as they sleep and plays a carefully crafted soundscape when they dream. The goal with each soundscape is to evoke a pleasant scenario and influence peoples dreams. The person can set up an alarm to be awake at a desired time and the person is prompted to submit a description of their dream into a database, which is constantly analyzed by Wiseman (Mass). According to their Facebook page, nearly 500,000 people have downloaded the app, therefore they are getting a great amount of data and results will be announced very soon. I took the initiative to participate in this study to find out if Wisemans theory works. I used the Dream:On application for four nights choosing the option of lucid

Rivera 6 dream and different soundscapes. Unfortunately, I didnt remember any of my dreams when I used this application, but I read multiple comments on Facebook and Twitter of people who are successfully using this app. I found out that this works after five or six days using the app. Its Your Decision Thinking that people are already finding ways to make you have perfect dreams or dreams that you desire to have can sound scary, but mind-blowing at the same time. It is impressive to realize how powerful our mind is if we know how to control it. We can have power over our mind unconsciously when asleep. Additionally, if we learn how to influence our dreams, we could use it in a positive way and take our imagination skills to a completely different level. This cannot only benefit a person in their personal life, but it can benefit society as a whole. If people start practicing problem-solving dreams, perhaps they can discover something new to contribute to society. So, how will people use this power?

Rivera 7

Works Cited Barrett, Deirdre. Interview by Jordan Lite. "How Can You Control Your Dreams?" Scientific American. 27 July 2011. . Web. 29 Oct 2012. Carroll, Rebecca. "Smells Influence Dreams, Study Says." National Geographic News. 23 Sep 2008. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. Hollinger, Lauren, Lauren Schone, Carrie Myers, and Bong Sok. "Final Draft: Factors That Influence Dreams." JR Science. N.p., 19 2002. Web. 29 Oct 2012. "Mass Participation Dream Experiment Launches." University of Hertfordshire. ScienceDaily, 9 Apr. 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. McNamara, Patrick. The Dreams of Men and Women. (2011): 1-2. Web. 25 Nov. 2012 Nauert, Rick. "Dreams Influence Behavior." Psych Central . American Psychological Association, 18 2009. Web. 1 Nov 2012. Payne, Jessica D., and Lynn Na. "Sleep, Dreams, and Memory Consolidation: The role of the stress hormone cortisol." (2004): 1-8. EBSCO. J. Murrey Atkins Library. UNCC.Web. 29 Oct 2012. United States. Nielsen, Tore, and Tyna Paquette. Associated Professional Sleep Societies. Dream-associated Behaviors Affecting Pregnant and Postpartum Women. Bethesda: Journal Sleep, 2007. Web. United States. Nuri, Yuval, and Guilio Tononi. US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. Dreaming and The Brain: from Phenomenology to Neurophysiology. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2010. Web. Winget, Carolyn and Kramer, Milton. Dimensions of Dreams. University Presses of Florida: Florida, 1979. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.