Improving Dream Fidelity and Five Sensory-Replay through attention focusing and training

We talk a lot about dreaming as a developmental skill at Dreaming For Gamers. If you haven't read my post on healthy sleep and memory, I recommend reading through it as it clearly presents an argument that brain function like dream-recall can be improved with training. Why healthy sleep is important for learning, memory, cognitive health, and dreams. : DreamingForGamers (reddit.com) You will often hear me say, we are an active dream programming school that focuses on developmental dreaming as cognitive skill and functional dreaming. I cover this is the first video for our first course on dream memory and recall and the benefits of dreaming. [DMRU01] The Benefits of Dreaming - Dreaming For Gamers In the free course set, we focus on the weakest regions of the brain where the loss of brain function, stunted development or atrophy has occurred impeding several functions of dreaming such as dream recall, five-sensory replay, and self-awareness. Many people who come to the courses are in various degrees of stunted dream development. Several have had no dream-recall in over a decade, the longest being two decades. Often they have stunted sensory-replay where only visual/audible dreams are present and the absence of touch/taste/smell is noted in their dream-replay. One student in their 50s loved their dreams, but never encountered information that provided advice on having five-sensory replay as part of their dream development and thought dreams were audible/visual only lacking the other senses spanning 30 years of their practice. It took them a week to rehabilitate touch (dreaming is developmental so no short-cuts exist for instant results). Another week for taste. Another week for smell. Well, what a nice recovery when your approach these developmental issues through proper training. Several others also improved dream fidelity and sensory replay through training. The oldest student was 70 and hadn't recalled dreams in over two decades and was able through active training rehabilitate dream recall. (No galantamine, no drugs, no supplementation as we are drug-free, and I have never endorsed or used drugs for dream development.) Many lack higher-brain function development for self-awareness and those who have trained through these courses have seen rehabilitation and development gaining functional skills for self-aware dream-replay. Why? We use simulation training, training tools, activities that promote dream development. That's how skill development works. We train, we learn and we develop towards results. The brain develops neural pathways for any skill we learn[1]. The more we use a skill, the more neural pathways strengthen. Activity in a skill favors neural-pathway development for those neural-pathways vs non-participatory neural pathways.[2] With any new skill, we require more focused attention until these neural pathways strengthen until the skill becomes more automatic.[1] Training in any skill makes the skill more functional.[3] Hippocampal-replay coordinates sensory-replay such as vision[4] in which visual memory presents itself in both premediate rest and dreams. The premediate effects of visual replay have been observed with video games such as Tetris. In 1994, Jeffery Goldsmith published an article in Wired magazine called, "This is your brain on Tetris"[5] where long hours of playing Tetris resulted in visual-replay of the game during rest and premediate sleep. This highly-visual effect is visual-memory in replay.[4] Not a hallucination. However, sensory replay is not limited to just vision. We have five senses that can all present during premediate rest towards sleep which is has been called hypnagogia[6] in which other senses such as hearing, touch, taste, and smell can present. Which for a long time due to a misunderstanding was viewed as hallucinations and even a mental disorder and is still viewed by some that this is the correct assumption to the point they try to treat natural occurring hippocampal replay clinically.[7][8] Strangely enough, drug use and certain medicines cause problematic hypnagogia as substances also affect dreams.[9] See a correlate there? Natural hippocampal-replay producing sensory-replay as part of natural sleeping patterns vs substance-induced hippocampal-replay producing hallucinatory problematic hypnagogia that can become clinical? Is there a difference? Absolutely! But that's another problem with dream culture we do have the drug cults totting this is the way to magic dreaming.[10] Maybe we can clear this misconception and error through modern-day neuroscience as understand this is how sensory-replay for memory-consolidation emerges as a sensory model for dreaming as proper brain function and drug use and stimulants that invoke hallucinations are the problem. That healthy drug-free dreaming is an actual thing. Let's first look at how sensory-memory works in the brain. In recent studies on sensory memory, it was discovered that in the five-sensory model, only the senses we gave attention to send memory of that sensory-experience to short-term memory.[11] Other research concludes that sensory memory is stored in or near the sensory regions of the brain.[12][13][14] Could this explain why some people lack certain faculties of sensory-replay during dreams? We have five sensory inputs for vision, hearing, touch, taste and smell[15]. We have five sensory-memory models Iconic (vision), Echoic (hearing), Haptic (touch), Gustatory (taste) and Olfactory (smell)[16] and hippocampal-replay coordinates with these systems as part of memory-consolidation.[4] In dream neuroscience studies the brain becomes very active during REM sleep.[17] If we chart through hippocampal-replay and the neocortex what sensory regions become active during REM and sleep, we can see this involves the visual-cortex (vision/iconic)[18], the audio-cortex(hearing/echoic)[19], the somatosensory/parietal lobe(touch/haptic)[19][20], the orbitofrontal cortex/fronto-insular cortex (taste/gustatory) [20], and the orbitofrontal cortex, olfactory cortex(smell/olfactory)[20] and the limbic system[21][22][23] Our dreams present a sensory-memory model for the five senses that may express in premediate hippocampal-replay and dream-replay. Not everyone observes every five senses as part of dream-replay. This can be either related to brain injury [24] such as lesions[25] or simply could be a lack of development for sensory-replay in dreams similar to how dream recall shows differentials in the development of neural-pathway density[26] indicating possible cognitive decline with age [27] or simply a lack of development resulting in loss of neural-pathways for sensory-replay as brain function during dreaming. Working with people who have an absent sensory function in sensory-dream replay, we use active attention on sensory information while awake to help focus on sensory experiences lacking in dream replay. Then we work on reviewing these sensory memories during premediate sleep. This simple process has helped rehabilitate sensory loss in dream-replay. It fits in with how sensory-memory works, and how hippocampal replay works as part of development for dreaming. In my experiences, I too suffered from a lack of taste/smell in my own dreams which I discovered back in 1987 when I encountered an article written by Dr. Stephan LaBerge and Jayne Gackenback in an Omni Magazine entitled "Power Trips: Controlling your dreams"[28]. At the age of 15, I was already very developed for dreaming and had figured out how to work with interactive-dream replays of influences from pop culture to form dream content. What I lacked was self-awareness during 1980-1987 because the limited access to proper information that could have helped with that development simply wasn't there until this magazine appeared in my school library and it changed everything. My interest in dreams started as an 8-year-old after watching Star Wars one night and observed the influence of this emerge as visual hippocampal-replay during sleep much like the 'Tetris' effect and having been so needed out as a kid, seeing the movie images animate as I fell asleep caught my attention. During sleep, an interactive replay of the movie emerged in the rich realism of dream-replay that we've all come to know and love as our dreams. Add an already existing ability to influence my dream content through pop culture making my own dreams fun and entertaining as a child. Now I had this idea that I could have total control over them through lucid dreaming. Sign me up! It was two days after the article that I would have my first lucid dream, and as a 15-year-old during the age of 8-bit graphic computer games and practical effects what I experienced from that point onward was unrivaled as an entertainment system. The graphics were great and it was fun. But to my dismay, if I encountered food in a dream setting and went to eat it. There would be no smell or taste. Now tell me how disappointing that would be if you found yourself in a dream-replay of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory but you couldn't taste the chocolate. That is what it was like. So from the age of 15-16, I had bland dreams but was still very entertained by them. I also notice many other problems appearing in the dream content that I called noise. I couldn't read text, there were stability issues, transitions to other dream themes were frustrating. I had a lot of work ahead of myself to fix these 'problems' for my own dream development and nothing to guide as Stephan LaBerge's first instructional book arrived in 1990[29] although I didn't read it until 1995. By the age, however, I was now effortlessly able to become lucid simply because I worked very hard training this skill over, and over again and was noticing how working with my waking reality as a 'template' to improve my dream quality seemed to work. My method was always work with what I wanted to dream about, review it as it started to replay, let that shape the dream content and just participate once the body entered sleep. But the no-taste/no-smell problem really bothered me. Just seemed like it had to somehow work, but zero insights as to how to fix. My breakthrough at the age of 16 in 1986 was simply drinking a hot chocolate as I ruminated over not having taste and smell in my dreams. I was demanding, pretentious about it. "I want to experience taste and smell equal or greater than this in my dreams" and I'd now pay close attention and focus on the experience of taste and smell. As part of my own practice, I used that as my reference and started to review those memories during premediate sleep. For the first time in premediate hippocampal replay, I noticed the faint allure of taste and smell from the memories of the hot chocolate. The dream progressed and as it formed I was now self-aware and drinking that hot chocolate replaying the memory and for the first time I had taste and smell. What a delight! It was always there. Just pay attention and work with those memories for dream-replay. On that insight, seeing such great improvements I started to work with all five senses for recording sensory memory with a technique I coined 'Cognitive Mapping' and now have a free perception training course that has helped others achieve the same results. 41 years of pop-culture/video-game influenced dreaming, 34 years of self-awareness, and 22 years of climbing out of the moors of uncertainties on what is really dream development later. We arrive here. It's just a skill we can develop or not. If you had stunted development for poor sensory replay the technique is very simple. Pay attention during the day to sensory experiences lacking for your dream-replay. Review that memory in the same sensory manner during premediate hippocampal dream-replay until those senses of that memory start to present before the dream. That's it... it was that easy. This simple self-evident tip works with how dreams are examples of memory consolidation and a big part of that is sensory-memory consolidation. Most dream improvements I've had simply worked with attention, memory, review, and execution of my desired dream content. Here is one of my favorite examples of gamified dreaming examples from 2014 where all of this comes together in how I still approach dreaming for fun and entertainment. One of my favorite Star Wars influenced dreams. - Dreaming For Gamers Here is the free perception course but I recommend starting with the memory course first if you have stunted dream recall issues. [DP] Improve Dream Perception - Dreaming For Gamers Ian Wilson r/DreamingForGamers References [1] Ronak Patel, MA1 , R. Nathan Spreng, PhD2 , and Gary R. Turner, PhD3. (2013) Functional Brain Changes Following Cognitive and Motor Skills Training: A Quantitative Meta-analysis Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair 27(3) 187–199 DOI: 10.1177/154596831246171 [2] Bähner F, Weiss EK, Birke G, Maier N, Schmitz D, Rudolph U, Frotscher M, Traub RD, Both M, Draguhn A. Cellular correlate of assembly formation in oscillating hippocampal networks in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Aug 30;108(35):E607-16. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1103546108. Epub 2011 Jul 18. PMID: 21768381; PMCID: PMC3167520. [3] Patel R, Spreng RN, Turner GR. Functional brain changes following cognitive and motor skills training: a quantitative meta-analysis. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 2013 Mar-Apr;27(3):187-199. DOI: 10.1177/1545968312461718. PMID: 23093519. [4] Ji, D., Wilson, M. Coordinated memory replay in the visual cortex and hippocampus during sleep. Nat Neurosci 10, 100–107 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1825 [5] Goldsmith, Jeffery (1994) This Is Your Brain on Tetris. Wired Magazine https://www.wired.com/1994/05/tetris-2/ [6] Waters F, Blom JD, Dang-Vu TT, et al. What Is the Link Between Hallucinations, Dreams, and Hypnagogic-Hypnopompic Experiences?. Schizophr Bull. 2016;42(5):1098-1109. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbw076 [7] Kompanje EJ. 'The devil lay upon her and held her down'. Hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis described by the Dutch physician Isbrand van Diemerbroeck (1609-1674) in 1664. J Sleep Res. 2008 Dec;17(4):464-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2008.00672.x. Epub 2008 Aug 5. PMID: 18691361. [8] Team, Sleepline (2019) Hypnagogia. Parasomnias, Sleep Disorders. Sleepline. https://www.sleepline.com/hypnagogia/ [9] Hemmingsen R, Rafaelsen OJ. Hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations during amitriptyline treatment. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1980 Oct;62(4):364-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1980.tb00622.x. PMID: 7468295. [10] Clark, Walter Houston. "drug cult". Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Sep. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/topic/drug-cult. Accessed 19 December 2021. [11] Tripathy, S. P., & Öǧmen, H. (2018). Sensory memory is allocated exclusively to the current event-segment. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 1435. [12] Nicoletta Savini, Marcella Brunetti, Claudio Babiloni, Antonio Ferretti, Working memory of somatosensory stimuli: An fMRI study, International Journal of Psychophysiology, Volume 86, Issue 3, 2012, Pages 220-228, ISSN 0167-8760, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.09.007. [13] Adaikkan Chinnakkaruppan, Marie E. Wintzer, Thomas J. McHugh, Kobi Rosenblum (2104) Differential Contribution of Hippocampal Subfields to Components of Associative Taste Learning Journal of Neuroscience 13 August 2014, 34 (33) 11007-11015; DOI: [14] Christina Strauch, Thu-Huong Hoang, Frank Angenstein, Denise Manahan-Vaughan, Olfactory Information Storage Engages Subcortical and Cortical Brain Regions That Support Valence Determination, Cerebral Cortex, 2021;, bhab226, https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab226 [15] Bradford, Alina The Five (and More) Senses (2017) LiveScience https://www.livescience.com/60752-human-senses.html [16] N. Cowan, 2.03 - Sensory Memory, Editor(s): John H. Byrne, Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference, Academic Press, 2008, Pages 23-32, ISBN 9780123705099, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012370509-9.00172-8. [17] Hobson JA, et al. Dreaming and the brain: toward a cognitive neuroscience of conscious states. Behav Brain Sci. 2000;23:793–842. discussion 904–1121. [18] Igawa M, Atsumi Y, Takahashi K, Shiotsuka S, Hirasawa H, Yamamoto R, Maki A, Yamashita Y, Koizumi H. Activation of visual cortex in REM sleep measured by 24-channel NIRS imaging. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2001 Jun;55(3):187-8. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-1819.2001.00819.x. PMID: 11422835. [19] Dang-Vu TT, Schabus M, Desseilles M, Sterpenich V, Bonjean M, Maquet P. Functional neuroimaging insights into the physiology of human sleep. Sleep. 2010;33(12):1589-1603. doi:10.1093/sleep/33.12.1589 [20] Yamamoto M, Nakahama H. Stochastic properties of spontaneous unit discharges in somatosensory cortex and mesencephalic reticular formation during sleep-waking states. J Neurophysiol. 1983;49:1182–1198. [21] Hong, C.C.-H., Harris, J.C., Pearlson, G.D., Kim, J.-S., Calhoun, V.D., Fallon, J.H., Golay, X., Gillen, J.S., Simmonds, D.J., van Zijl, P.C., Zee, D.S. and Pekar, J.J. (2009), fMRI evidence for multisensory recruitment associated with rapid eye movements during sleep. Hum. Brain Mapp., 30: 1705-1722. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.20635 [22] Caporro M, Haneef Z, Yeh HJ, Lenartowicz A, Buttinelli C, Parvizi J, Stern JM. Functional MRI of sleep spindles and K-complexes. Clin Neurophysiol. 2012 Feb;123(2):303-9. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2011.06.018. Epub 2011 Jul 19. PMID: 21775199; PMCID: PMC3208090. [23] Limbic System Function and Dream Content in University Students Nichol D.J. Peterson, Peter G. Henke, and Zoe Hayes The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 2002 14:3, 283-288 [24] Viola-Saltzman M, Watson NF. Traumatic brain injury and sleep disorders. Neurol Clin. 2012;30(4):1299-1312. doi:10.1016/j.ncl.2012.08.008 [25] Dumont, Mathieu & Braun, Claude & Guimond, Anik. (2007). Dreaming and unilateral brain lesions: A multiple lesion case analysis. Dreaming. 17. 20-34. 10.1037/1053-0797.17.1.20. [26] Vallat R, Eichenlaub JB, Nicolas A, Ruby P. Dream Recall Frequency Is Associated With Medial Prefrontal Cortex White-Matter Density. Front Psychol. 2018 Sep 27;9:1856. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01856. PMID: 30319519; PMCID: PMC6171441. [27] Nielsen T. Variations in dream recall frequency and dream theme diversity by age and sex. Front Neurol. 2012;3:106. Published 2012 Jul 4. doi:10.3389/fneur.2012.00106 [28] LaBerge, Stephen and Gackenbach, Jayne (1987) The Omni Experience Power Trips: Controlling Your Dreams. Omni Magazine 1987-03-19 [29] LaBerge, Stephen and Rheingold, Howard [1990] Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. Goodreads

Why healthy sleep is important for learning, memory, cognitive health, and dreams.

By Ian Wilson (2021) https://www.dreamingforgamers.com/ In 1990, a memory-forming protein was discovered by Alfonso Represa[1] called neurogranin. Since its discovery, research into neurogranin expression was found to play a role in how the brain forms memory[2]. Neurogranin is a postsynaptic neural protein, that is found in high quantities in the cortex, hippocampus, striatum, and amygdala. Neurogranin is a biomarker in Alzheimer's disease and cognitive impairment.[3] A decrease in Ng in blood plasma exomes and an increased level appears in cerebral spinal fluid CFS. Sleep deprivation[4] also causes a significant reduction in Ng levels by as much as 40%[5]. It has been known since 2013 in sleep apnea studies that sleep deprivation impairs long-term memory[6] And total sleep deprivation leads to serious health issues and even death. [7] REM impairment and poor sleep can impact learning development as much as 40%[8] Understanding the benefits of a good night's sleep and why we should strive towards a baseline average of 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep as an optimal marker for cognitive health stems from other important neuroscientific discoveries regarding how REM sleep is important for cognitive development[9] and neuronal development and maintenance[10]. Studies on the hippocampus during sleep plays a role in long-term memory consolidation[11] and learning development[12] during a process known as hippocampal replay. In addition to learning development and memory consolidation. Hippocamplay-replay has also been observed with memory retrieval[13]. Hippocampal-replay and memory consolidation is associated with how dreams are formed in the brain [14]. Dreaming is not exclusive to humans and is a function of the mammalian brain.[15] Dreaming is observed in REM[16] and NREM[17] sleep. On average a human produces 3-5[18] dreams each night as part of the REM/NREM sleep cycles. Why dream recall is not always present in certain people has been linked to white-matter density in the medial prefrontal cortex[19] and dream recall declines with age[20] with a 50% drop[20] in adults after the brain develops[21] with a rapid decline towards the age of 60+. Neural-pathway development and density in the medial prefrontal cortex are indicative that the role of dream recall is a cognitive function and can be viewed as a developmental skill[22]. Routine efforts to recall dreams can improve impaired development. As a cognitive skill, actively recalling dreams will help promote neural-pathway development and this is noted in people who have had a prolonged loss in dream recall spanning years and even decades who begin to recall dreams in later years when learning how to recall dreams. If you have developmental issues around dream recall, here are some methods for dream recall that may help with improving memory if dreaming is of any interest. Unless there are lesions or damage to the medial-prefrontal cortex, rehabilitating memory loss with dreams is more an issue of effort and practice over time to get the proper function of dream-recall. 1.) Have a healthy amount of sleep. 2.) If you drink coffee, alcohol, use weed or other drugs[23]. Going to sleep while still under the influence can impede REM sleep impairing learning and neuronal development and can affect recall. It's recommended at a minimum to let stimulants wear off before sleep, or limit the use or remove them together. 3.) Dream memory resides in short-term memory. The hippocampus becomes active again after two minutes upon waking. It's recommended not to immediately exit the bed and try to remember. Retain the memories and review while the hippocampus becomes active again for at least 2-5 minutes then proceed to write keywords of any dream fragment, then flush out the memories. Having keywords help as we can lose 90% of our recall in 10 minutes after waking.[24] These can help trigger a memory from amnesiac memory loss. 4.) Use a soft alarm like a quiet to loud melody or a light alarm. Loud alarms often cause instant dream memory loss and people who often ease themselves awake find dream recall more accessible. 5.) For any developmental skill, routine is important so work on dream-recall over a period of time and expect slow gradual improvements over a period of weeks. 6.) Why dream journals are helpful is they force repeat reviews of dreams which will help stimulate the medial-prefrontal cortex helping stimulate those neural pathways that function for dream memory. References: [1] Represa, Alfonso & Deloulme, Jean Christophe & Sensenbrenner, M & Ben-Ari, Yehezkel & Baudier, Jacques. (1991). Neurogranin: Immunocytochemical localization of a brain-specific protein kinase C substrate. The Journal of neuroscience: the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 10. 3782-92. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.10-12-03782.1990. [2] Jones KJ, Templet S, Zemoura K, Kuzniewska B, Pena FX, Hwang H, Lei DJ, Haensgen H, Nguyen S, Saenz C, Lewis M, Dziembowska M, Xu W. Rapid, experience-dependent translation of neurogranin enables memory encoding. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Jun 19;115(25):E5805-E5814. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1716750115. Epub 2018 Jun 7. PMID: 29880715; PMCID: PMC6016824. [3] Liu W, Lin H, He X, Chen L, Dai Y, Jia W, Xue X, Tao J, Chen L. Neurogranin as a cognitive biomarker in cerebrospinal fluid and blood exosomes for Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. Transl Psychiatry. 2020 Apr 29;10(1):125. doi: 10.1038/s41398-020-0801-2. PMID: 32350238; PMCID: PMC7190828. [4]Martin Neuner-Jehle, Thomas A. Rhyner, Alexander A. Borbély, Sleep deprivation differentially alters the mRNA and protein levels of neurogranin in rat brain, Brain Research, Volume 685, Issues 1–2, 1995, Pages 143-153,ISSN 0006-8993 [5] Díez-Guerra, F.J. (2010), Neurogranin, a link between calcium/calmodulin and protein kinase C signaling in synaptic plasticity. IUBMB Life, 62: 597-606. https://doi.org/10.1002/iub.357 [6] Mander, B., Rao, V., Lu, B. et al. Prefrontal atrophy, disrupted NREM slow waves and impaired hippocampal-dependent memory in aging. Nat Neurosci 16, 357–364 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3324 [7] Everson CA, Bergmann BM, Rechtschaffen A. Sleep deprivation in the rat: III. Total sleep deprivation. Sleep. 1989 Feb;12(1):13-21. doi: 10.1093/sleep/12.1.13. PMID: 2928622. [8] Pacheco, Danielle & Reham, Anis (2020) Memory and Sleep. Sleep Foundation https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/memory-and-sleep [9] Jiang F. Sleep and Early Brain Development. Ann Nutr Metab. 2019;75 Suppl 1:44-54. doi: 10.1159/000508055. Epub 2020 Jun 19. PMID: 32564032. [10] Wolfe K, Ralls FM. Rapid eye movement sleep and neuronal development. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2019 Nov;25(6):555-560. doi: 10.1097/MCP.0000000000000622. PMID: 31503214. [11] Ólafsdóttir HF, Bush D, Barry C. The Role of Hippocampal Replay in Memory and Planning. Curr Biol. 2018;28(1):R37-R50. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.10.073 [12] Jean-Baptiste Eichenlaub, Beata Jarosiewicz, Jad Saab, Brian Franco, Jessica Kelemen, Eric Halgren, Leigh R. Hochberg, Sydney S. Cash, Replay of Learned Neural Firing Sequences during Rest in Human Motor Cortex, Cell Reports, Volume 31, Issue 5, 2020, 107581, ISSN 2211-1247, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107581. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124720305301) [13] Pfeiffer BE. The content of hippocampal "replay". Hippocampus. 2020 Jan;30(1):6-18. doi: 10.1002/hipo.22824. Epub 2018 Jan 10. PMID: 29266510; PMCID: PMC7027863. [14] Payne JD, Nadel L. Sleep, dreams, and memory consolidation: the role of the stress hormone cortisol. Learn Mem. 2004;11(6):671-678. doi:10.1101/lm.77104 [15] Manger PR, Siegel JM. Do all mammals dream? J Comp Neurol. 2020 Dec 1;528(17):3198-3204. doi: 10.1002/cne.24860. Epub 2020 Jan 29. PMID: 31960424; PMCID: PMC8211436. [16] Nir Y, Tononi G. Dreaming and the brain: from phenomenology to neurophysiology. Trends Cogn Sci. 2010;14(2):88-100. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2009.12.001 [17] Jaakko O. Nieminen, Olivia Gosseries, Marcello Massimini, Elyana Saad, Andrew D. Sheldon, Melanie Boly, Francesca Siclari, Bradley R. Postle, Giulio Tononi. Consciousness and cortical responsiveness: a within-state study during non-rapid eye movement sleep. Scientific Reports, 2016; 6: 30932 DOI: 10.1038/srep30932 [18] Siclari, Francesca & Bernardi, Giulio & Cataldi, Jacinthe & Tononi, Giulio Dreaming in NREM Sleep: A High-Density EEG Study of Slow Waves and Spindles (2018) 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0855-18.2018 The Journal of Neuroscience 9175-9185 [19] Vallat R, Eichenlaub JB, Nicolas A, Ruby P. Dream Recall Frequency Is Associated With Medial Prefrontal Cortex White-Matter Density. Front Psychol. 2018 Sep 27;9:1856. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01856. PMID: 30319519; PMCID: PMC6171441. [20] Nielsen T. Variations in dream recall frequency and dream theme diversity by age and sex. Front Neurol. 2012;3:106. Published 2012 Jul 4. doi:10.3389/fneur.2012.00106 [21] Arain M, Haque M, Johal L, et al. Maturation of the adolescent brain. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2013;9:449-461. doi:10.2147/NDT.S39776 [22] Emily R. Oby, Matthew D. Golub, Jay A. Hennig, Alan D. Degenhart, Elizabeth C. Tyler-Kabara, Byron M. Yu, Steven M. Chase, Aaron P. Batista. New neural activity patterns emerge with long-term learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019; 201820296 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1820296116 [23] Sharma, Shridhar & A, Prasad. (2015). DRUG INDUCED REM DISORDERS. Journal of Sleep Medicine & Disorders. 2. 1021. [24] Lee Ann Obringer & Yves Jeffcoat. How Dreams Work (2021) https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/dream4.htm

The Continuing Saga of Winning at the Casino with the Law-of-Attraction

Well, had to treat myself to dinner right.  A nice win, went and payed my bills then tucked away the rest.  Had a few people being negative about this blog and the LOA so I got a little cocky and decided to violate my frequency rule.  Took $100 out of my top as I didn't fractionalize with my system and decided to see if I could keep the hot-streak rolling.

Managed to get a nice little win, so set $150 of it aside as per my tuck-away rule.  Then decided to just go for it on the last $100 with bigger bets and voila on the 5th spin another $1000 win.  So... took the money and ran.  Based on my system this is where frequency becomes important.  I'm just going to relax, enjoy the money and take a break.

To you who said you just wave your magic little wand... still want to reconsider?

To read about the system and see why I believe law-of-attraction is helping, here's the full story.
http://you-are-dreaming.blogspot.ca/2015/01/winning-at-casino-with-law-of-attraction.html


To read about today's fun success:
http://you-are-dreaming.blogspot.ca/2015/01/continuation-of-winning-at-casino-with.html

Continuation of Winning at the Casino with Law of Attraction.

Yesterday I posted my personal experiments with Law of Attraction using it to see if it could improve my Casino winnings. I like to play usually on $20-$50 a few times a month. Up until I started using thought-manifestation and Law Of Attraction, my winnings were puny and more often than not nothing at all. Since this change in belief and attitude I have seen a significant success in having bigger and better wins.

 I still stick to a strict $20-$50 system and today as it's a payday so I budget $50 I managed to have another success so thought I would share.

To see the full examples see this blog-page:  http://you-are-dreaming.blogspot.ca/2015/01/winning-at-casino-with-law-of-attraction.html

Here is a sreencap of the win with the January 15th, 2014 timestamp in the photo.  Using my system, I only had $50 and lucky for me it paid on the last $5 before I would have walked.  I took the payment, cashed out and left.  I'll try my luck again in two weeks following the frequency rule covered in the above article.  I stuck to the leave on a big win rule and walked away a winner.

Now I'll take a nice 2 week break and enjoy some extra cash.  Thanks Law of Attraction you mysterious yet wonderful phenomena!

Ian

Winning at the Casino with the Law of Attraction

Up to a year ago, I can honestly say that I never won anything over $150 at the casino. I had been to Vegas twice and both times it emptied out my pockets faster than plate of hotdogs at an eating contest. I was at the point where I was going to give up on trying to win anything. I had played on and off for years with some hope that I could one day hit a jackpot or just know what it was like to actually have some tangible win.

Before I completely gave up however, I thought maybe it's also my attitude. I couldn't count the times that I would go, sit at a machine and someone next to me would have a nice win. I knew winning at least something over $150 was possible but I didn't understand why that wasn't me sitting at that machine having more fun. So I turned to thought-manifestation as my course of action using the Law of Attraction.

Instead of just going and loosing as per normal; the first change that I made was simple, I sat down and closed my eyes. I thought, “I am allowing myself to win at the casino. I want to know what it's like to win a $600 or greater. I would like to experience being a winner.” and I would mentally visualize a machine giving me a payout and I let go of this thought.

Well, for the first time in December 2013 right before Christmas, I won $1,200 and it paid for my Christmas that year. I was elated, the money I wasted in Vegas I finally won back. I couldn't believe it because for over 5 years of losses and minimal gains the Casino finally gave me a taste of what it was like to win at least something. Unfortunately, no picture of this win but when I started to win in 2014 it was absolutely outstanding so when I could remember I would take a picture or video. I've never experienced anything like this. These types of wins started to rain in like mana from heaven compared to all previous years. What changed wasn't my playstyle, it wasn't the amount of money I took for my bank roll... it was my attitude and the Law of Attraction.
Statistically comparing 2014 to all combined years of playing I've never seen anything like it. Keep in mind, my bankroll ranges from $20 to $50 when I go. I've made a couple mistakes at the Casino lost $600 at Vegas, one night when I was on budget bumped into a friend so we started to have a race to the bottom and instead of my bankroll I lost $400 on reckless playing so school of hard knocks lessons learned and made me stick to my simple system. The good news is that these losses have long since been recovered plus more after using the law of attraction.

Let's look at the results

Here are some samples as I did not take pictures of all of the wins, but most of them so from nothing up to 2014 to these results... they speak for themselves. And I'll add in all the tips and strategies at the end of the images.

Screen shot for TimeStamps on Images

I pulled the images off my phone so you could see the time stamps all in 2014.

February 22, 2014

This was a really fun win mostly because it was a $20 bankroll that I managed to win some start-up money on the penny machines which then grew into a this pot, so payout of $985.50 with a take-home of $965.50. I was quite happy about this one.

February 28, 2014

I waited almost a week from the first win and took in $50 and won $817 so took home $767.

March 19, 2014 - The Money Tree $2720.00

My Birthday was on March 15th, but my birthday present came a few days later. I didn't have my phone so I had to count it out and take a picture for prosperity. This was another win on a $50 bankroll so $2670, it was a very quick in and out because I hit the jackpot just as the attendant walked over and greeted me then bang, right in front of her it hits. I cashed out, ran out and took some time away from the casino to enjoy the winnings.

May 15, 2014

This was another really good example of taking in $20 where I first started on a penny machine to see if I could get some play money, then took the play money to this machine and won $1526.25 less $20 so $1506.25 take home. That strategy is covered below.

July 20, 2014

My brother-in-law wanted to try my system with me so we went with $40 each and I don't know if it's having someone else's energy there but if I go with other people... I loose. So I tend to like to go by myself and I'll explain that also why I think that is. So we go to the casino and each of us loose. I had $20 left in my budget that I was willing to spend so went back later that evening by myself on $20. I manage to get my start-up and walked over to this machine to see if that would grow and viola. $1204 less $100 was a nice $1104 take home. I gave my brother-in-law and sister $300 because I'm a nice guy and he couldn't believe it.

December 20, 2014

There were some more wins between July and December, I didn't take pictures as they were mid-range wins, and there were also losses. Christmas shopping had me tapped but I had some extra money after all the xmas shopping and wanted to try an experiment linked again to a request I made using thought-manifestation and the law of attraction. To make it work, I had to bump my budget so I took in $200, but I had a very good feeling about it. I also changed my max bet amount which on a dollar machine is $5. I just wanted to see if I could make a bigger bet, if it would pay and as luck or LOA would have it... won my single largest amount to date. $2,795 - $200 = $2,595 and this December was really amazing I had some more wins.

December 22, 2014

Now that I had that nice Xmas present, I took $50 from the winnings and played on this machine by the time I was down $25 hit the bonus and had a $1591 win with $25 in the machine so $1,566 take home.


As you can see... for years I couldn't win a damn thing but with a change of attitude, using the law-of-attraction and sticking to a very strict playing system I've finally had some fun at the wretched Casino. Now I know what it feels like to be a winner. I can sleep better knowing that it wasn't that I couldn't win rather my attitude was not letting me win.

Most people don't understand thought-manifestation nor do they believe that the law-of-attraction works. It's something you need to see to believe. If you can produce results with it and see it working then it certainly becomes more believable. As in this case with the frequency of these wins in 2014 vs all other years. If it did anything, it seemed to affect the probability of winning to be more favourable then how it was prior to this experiment.

One thing is certain, it doesn't mean you magically win all the time. What I am pointing out is that up until this point in my usual casino routine I never saw these types of wins. The goal of having more tangible wins is noted in the results.

Before I cover the Law-of-Attraction angle, I do have a strict system that I've used to moderate my spending at the casino. I'll cover that system first as I think it's very common-sense and practical if you want to test your luck at one-armed bandits. As per my lessons learned with a couple of large sums lost totalling $1,000. It doesn't matter what you walk in with. If you are going to lose, you'll lose it all so this is why the system is better than nothing at all. It minimizes losses and maximizes gain as a philosophy. I've stuck to this for years and when I stray, I pay.

My Casino System

Small Budget

The most important thing is budget. My budget fluctuates from $20 to $50 before I walk out of the casino. Live by that budget or don't play. It's not worth risking anything more in my opinion.

Low Frequency

The next important thing is frequency. Less is best! The less you go to a Casino, the better. My budget allows that I can afford to loose up to $50 a paycheck if things are not working out, but I don't like to loose any more than that. The frequency must fit your budget, excess frequency equals greater spending and larger losses, not bigger wins.

Play on Startup

Why this small budget system works for me is the first goal has always been to win small so I can play on that start-up money to win big. It is this strategy that has allowed a $20 budget to bloom to over $1,000.

The idea of the start-up is that you want to win some play-money at the casino first. This can let you tuck away your bankroll and try to grow on Casino money, not your own. Quite often I'll walk into a casino, say hi to the doorman and in a five minutes I am walking back saying goodbye and they always comment about how quick that was. That happens when I loose $20 with no hint of a win. If it's 10 minutes I probably was on my $50 bankroll and didn't hit my brake.

The start-up part of my strategy comes from years of loosing learning it doesn't matter what your budget is. If you play on your money, you'll lose your money. It's a casino right?

Don't Spend Your Bankroll

The idea of the start-up is to exceed by either doubling or greater the bankroll. If you succeed don't ever spend the bankroll to minimize loses and maximize gains. Again, common-sense and it's always nice to leave with the money you came in with if you gamble.

Fractionalize The Start-up

Just because you have some start-up casino money doesn't mean it should all be spent. On low amounts it's understandable I don't cry if I double my bankroll and then walk out with just the bankroll. If you have more than doubled your bankroll, it doesn't make sense to try to loose it all to see if something bigger comes that day. The start-up strategy can give you some play-money but the casino is very adept at taking all that back so knowing that makes this strategy effective in maximizing gains even if they are only +$20.

It's easy to play on casino money and forget it's now your money so this is a lesson learned in my earlier years where I would win $100 just to throw it all back in trying to win more. A very poor strategy indeed. Take some home is rewarding.

On moderate wins over $200 or $300 on the start-up run... it's safer to take a fraction of that amount that to play ( I range from 10%-20% ) and keep the majority of it to enjoy. But it does let me take my bankroll from that winning and try again. Why it's worth having a limit always is common-sense but with taking a fraction, I've grown little wins to where the end of the night I've walked out with $1,400 in small wins. So it can grow.

Tuck away the little wins

If you are having a good run, and the start-up money is producing more little wins, keep the fractionalized 10%-20% rule on the next win, set aside the majority. And this is a fun way to play if you are having a good run. I've walked out with $1,400 just on accumulated little wins.

Leave on any big win

If you have a big win, even on the start-up phase just leave. I hit the exit on all big wins, it just let me keep all of it. I like walking away a winner. If you can't then fractionalize and leave if the fraction is spent, don't keep spending.
Just remember this rule - stay and play and it will take it away.

Frequency equals loss at a Casino, it's a no brainer but for my system I like to have that right in front of me. Get any kind of big-pot win it's best to leave and enjoy that money. No sense winning if you are just going to spend it there so the final tip is walk away a winner!
Other little strategies include what I call a break. I usually do this if I have $50 and don't want to loose it all. If the first $25 is all loss, I'll cut my losses and leave until the next time I get paid. Generally if it's $20 I don't break at $10. The reason to have a break is when you do have a nice win, and you want to play on some of that winnings for example. I win $600 and put $500 away so now I have $100 to play on. But by $50 down if it's not paying back I break and leave. So the break strategy is good otherwise it's $100 instead of $50. It's more psychological because I could just say I'm ok with loosing $50 but without a break, I'll lose it. With the break I'll play with fifty, lose $25 and feel good about myself for leaving with $25 and think wonders of myself for doing the right thing.

So the strategy is not about what machine to play, how much to bet it's all about making a little bit of your money and turning it into a lot of casino money. And this comes with making all the dumb mistakes we all do in the beginning. Not having a budget, not respecting the dangers of a casino, thinking a win is just around the corner when it's not. In the end the goal is always to walk away a winner. Even if it's your bankroll or $20...

Casino System Summary

Small Budget	$20-$50 (break at $50).
Low Frequency	Couple times in a month or less if losing. A little more if winning but not much.
Play on Startup	Always try to play on Casino money and lock away your budget regardless if start-up is gone.
Don't Spend Your Bankroll	Always subtract bankroll from startup.
Fractionalize The Start-up	If you have a moderate win, put most of it away and play on a fraction of the start-up.
Tuck Away Little Wins	Always put the majority of a win away 10%-20% rule.
Leave on Big Wins	On a good win, leave the casino mission accomplished. Take time off and enjoy the extra cash.
Have a Break	On start-up or a larger budget leave if you can't win by your break so you at least leave with something.
Walk Away A Winner	Always best to leave with money right? Just remember, stay and play and it will take it away.

Without Law-of-Attraction I found playing with that system made going to the casino entertaining, I didn't always run out the door broke because of it. And the small wins paid for dinners, movies, nights out which is why I tolerated the casino in the first place and why my budget was always very small.

No matter what, a Casino isn't there for anyone to make money. I have watched people throw thousands of dollars in a machine just to win a fraction back, then to throw that in and lose it all. I've watched people win a nice mid-range pot only to throw it all back at a machine.

Now on to 2014 with Law-of-attraction and Thought-Manifestation.

Why do I think this is what produced these results? It's the only thing that has changed in the equation. This was a good test for me to see if the law-of-attraction even worked. I needed tangible results not some fluffy belief. Show me the evidence. But I have observed other key points in my life where future events seemed to synchronize with a past desire be it good or bad. Sometimes it was to uncanny to ignore.

The other problem that I have is related to deja-vu. Quite often I've had deja vu but linked the memory to past dreams which were the source of the future events this is known as Deja Reve. What I've done with that is even more amazing then this law-of-attraction experiment. I've written a paper called, "The Theory of Precognitive Dreams" which covers it's history, research, evidence and my own personal experiences with it. If you are in doubts, here is a great news article on the topic with another person who has had it verified many times over.

This precognitive potential occurs in many peoples lives often mistaken for deja vu - where some have enough memory to see the link to the dream. If you are like that... this PDF is invaluable and best of all, 100% free to just download and learn from.

Here is the link: The Theory of Precognitive Dreams
My point, the answers to why law-of-attraction works and why we can have deja vu reside in a much more deeper idea regarding the fundamental nature of reality then what most people are used to. Where precognitive dreaming can be active in accessing/manifesting future events see the pdf. It requires training in lucid dreaming, the ability to navigate the dreamstate and the ability to control dream content.

The Law of Attraction is done when you are awake, it is a thought exercise of focusing your intent for a desired outcome. They have some self-similar properties however in helping someone achieve certain life experiences so in many ways can go hand-in-hand. But enough about precognition and more about the Law of Attraction and Thought Manifestation.

The Law of Attraction works both ways for positive and negative experiences. We all use it on auto-pilot and it's until you start to see results in your own life does it become apparent as in my 2014 Casino exercise that in a directed way positive results can come forward more than the negative.

What I've learned is it's not about trying, forcing, expecting rather the passive qualities of "allowing one-self to experience" is what I find works best for me.

"I am allowing myself to experience what it is like to win at the casino".

"I am allowing myself to experience what it's like to succeed at business."

The next step is visualization, day dreaming of the desired outcome charging it with the allowing, the permission and then finally letting it go so it can manifest.

That in a nutshell is the simplest form of law-of-attraction and thought-manifestation by using intent and visualization. The rest is up to how these are permitted to unfold in the future.

My thoughts on why having other people involved seems to cause more losses. This is just an idea but I think when we are working in this area of belief and thought-manifestation, having another person who may not share that same focus could negate it. We may have individual and group manifestation so if there is discontinuity in the group the effects ground out the intent at the individual level. Some of this idea stems from group events which Dean Radin has studied where in group events changes spike in RNG. Casino's are RNG and if our mass consciousness affects them as per Dean Radin's research this might be why. So I don't object to going at it alone because of this particular possibility. Here is Dean Radin's results with group consciousness affecting RNG patterns: Physical effects of collective attention at Burning Man 2013
Hope you found this article interesting, you have nothing to lose by learning new things about yourself and the best part is... this life learned bit of wisdom is free so just take it and run with it.

If you've had any success with Law-of-attraction, or have precognitive dreams, or have tried my strict casino system and it worked I would love to hear from you. Just e-mail me at: ianwilson27@hotmail.com or visit my website at http://www.youaredreaming.org/

Here is a video where I discuss precognition.

The Book of Paul Trailer 1

Could Physical Reality really be a Dream?

Could Physical Reality really be a Dream?

Are you having a dream that lasts a lifetime?  Can reality be universal dream of a cosmic mind?  What if the answer is yes?

If this reality was some type of dream, then there should be some evidence which shows a relationship between the dream world and the waking world.  The first red-flag that comes to mind is directly connected to something known as "Precognitive Dreaming".  The idea of precognition spans the written record and Aristotle in 350B.C.E wrote a paper entitled, "On Prophesying by Dreams" http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/prophesying.html where he debated the notion that people in his time were describing having these types of dreams.

Edit: Here is an excellent paper written by Timothy Conway that details historical accounts where people through-out the ages have come to this realization: "This is all a Dream [PDF]"

Deja Vu which is a very common type experience which most people have, is a feeling that comes with a type of deja vu aura where new settings, events and circumstances bring a strong sense of familiarity as if you had been there before.  What is not so widely known about the deja phenomena is many people link the source of memory which brings about the familiarity to something they dreamed about in the past.  For a comprehensive list of precognitive dream types and examples and evidence I recommend reading my paper, "Theory of Precognitive Dreams" which is open source and freely available on-line.  Read: Theory of Precognitive Dreams [PDF]

Frequency studies as mentioned in that paper predict statistically that you could already be one of those types of people who already have first-person experiences with dreams that come true.  If science can finally answer this age old phenomena of precognitive dreams; then we will see the first use-case where dreams and reality have a relationship which will help reveal this covert relationship between dreams and this reality.

The next red-flag comes from experiments in quantum mechanics which show that our reality is not exactly as physical as we believe it to be.  When physicists first discovered particle/wave duality, this caused quite a stir in the physics community.  What this means is sub-atomic particles could behave like a wave, or like a particle based on certain conditions.

When an electron is not being measured or observed it creates an interference pattern which is like a ripple in water that creates the wave pattern or interference pattern.  When observed it behaves as physical particles.

"Quantum Theory Demonstrated: Observation Affects Reality"

"In a study reported in the February 26 issue of Nature (Vol. 391, pp. 871-874), researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now conducted a highly controlled experiment demonstrating how a beam of electrons is affected by the act of being observed. The experiment revealed that the greater the amount of "watching," the greater the observer's influence on what actually takes place."
Read More: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/02/980227055013.htm

If you thought it was just the sub-atomic particle that behaved this way, an entire molecule of Carbon atoms which form the Carbon-60 molecule known as a buckyball also shows interference patterns.

"Wave-particle duality seen in carbon-60 molecules"

"The Vienna team sent a collimated beam of carbon-60 molecules through a slit made of silicon nitride and detected the interference pattern by ionizing the molecules with a laser and then counting the ions."

Read More: http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/1999/oct/15/wave-particle-duality-seen-in-carbon-60-molecules

What determines when a particle or atom should be have as a wave-form or a solid state is one of the mind-boggling questions for Physics.  One of the answers to this new problem comes from Physicist Tom Campbell who worked for Nasa and the Department of Defence.  He describes the collapse of wave-function as a requirement only when the larger-system renders the particle because we exist in a Virtual Reality.  His theory which is extensive and covers more than just the virtual reality theory  describes that in a virtual reality, the computer doesn't need to render all the data on the hard-drive so to speak, just the data that is being observed.  This means when we are observing a moment in time/space only the information required to render out the experience is being rendered into particles.  To bring you up to speed on this theory here is a link to his youtube channel and videos. http://www.youtube.com/user/twcjr44

The idea that we are living in a virtual reality is also described by many other mathematicians and physicists such as Nick Bolstrom, Brian Whitworth and Mark Wheeler to name a few.  This has spawned a new branch of physics called digital physics and a theory called simulation theory.

For more details I have written an article which covers this in some greater detail called, "Time and space are not what you think." http://you-are-dreaming.blogspot.ca/2013/09/time-and-space-are-not-what-you-think.html

If reality is simply information that is accessed by an observer which in turn a computer-like system then renders that data into particles; were lies the relationship between the observer and the observed in this equation?  This brings us back to what dreams are, and how they fit in to this reality system as a whole.

The first idea that must be addressed is the flow of information from the server to the client in a virtual reality.  This information is what we call a datastream which is simply information.  It is up to the client to process this information and render the data into some meaningful view.  If we look at objective reality as information; then this information represents the physical datastream which through our physical senses we download the data, process the data and render a final product of the data in a meaningful view.

This relationship between objective data and our selves as the client observing this data is already self-evident.  We may not recognize as the observer how important the mechanics of perception and information processing by the brain is; nor see how fundamental the final rendered product of this information actually is.  It's importance in my opinion is beyond the scope of just physical reality and deeply connects to the dreamstate and any other state we may find ourselves in where information is being rendered into a view from any caveat of consciousness in it's many altered states.

Why is it self-evident that you are rendering data from the objective world using your physical senses as the inputs that download this information?  If you want to see this in action, close your eyes and the final-product of the mind rendering visual information will stop.  Open them again and you will continue to render visual information.  Where are you rendering this information is important to understanding this fundamental this final-product of information processing and rendering by the brain actually is.

Unlike a computer which uses a computer screen that provides the feedback of what binary information looks like at the information level, our body does not have a physical computer screen whereby it renders our perception of reality.  The brain which is simply a neural network of neurons has to simulate the computer screen in a virtual way. 

It's worth mentioning how through the ages philosophers tackled this relationship between what the mind generates and what the observer observes dates back to Plato's Cave analogy.  Rene Descartes recognized that the brain preformed some type of pre-processing on sensory input and projected this into some kind of internal screen where a "little man" the homunculus sat in the seat of the soul which resided in the pineal gland, and this has become known as "The Cartesian Theatre".  Anthony Peake a British Author further expands this idea into what he calls the "Bohmian IMAX".

In many ways, this internal theatre acts like a holodeck like we see in Star Trek as it simulates 3d space, time and every sensory quality of perception in a meaningful way.  This doesn't mean however that every detail exactly represents what is out there in the objective datastream.  Our senses are very limited and the brain does fill in the blanks as is evident by this simple optical illusion provided in this link: http://gifs.gifbin.com/052012/1337880361_ugly_celebrities_optical_illusion.gif

These subjective differences in how the brain processes sensory information is evident in how a colour blind person perceives the objective data which would appear different to a person who is not colour blind.  These subjective qualities are also recognized as something called, "Qualia" or the experience of reality but does not imply what the experience is as having total objectivity.  This is likely why some people prefer chocolate ice-cream and others vanilla.  Why some like country music and others prefer classical rock.  How we perceive our reality is filtered and rendered subjectively; what that implies is that we only see is our experience of reality in a filtered down little-world view.

That doesn't mean it completely omits what is out there in the objective datastream; our brain does an amazing job of putting all that information together in a very close approximation. If it didn't we would likely never be able to drive cars en mass as everyone would be crashing and causing all sorts of mayhem.  We wouldn't have accurate measurements down to the micron because what we do have in terms of resolution and is a very close approximation of that objective data.

Again, if you feel that you are not simply observing an experience of reality in this Cartesian Theatre simply close your eyes and it will become very apparent that what you are experiencing is a mind-generated rendering, a final product based on information processing and data inputs through the physical body.  Thus we see the client (you and your body) and the server (objective reality) in terms of a metaphorical relationship.

How does dreaming stack up in terms of datastreams and information processing?  Is there a relationship between the Cartesian Theatre and how our dream content is rendered?  The answer in my opinion is again self-evident that when we are asleep and dreaming, the content of the dream is also rendering on the same Cartesian Theatre that our sensory-perceptions when we are awake are rendering on.

What is interesting to note with dreams however is the dream datastream.  What is programming and encoding this datastream?  What are the inputs downloading that data?  We already know where that data is being rendered so we need to look closer at the first two questions.

Dream content is mind-generated meaning many unconscious processes are involved directly linked to you, and your own consciousness whereby what you think during a dream; renders out into a view on the Cartesian Theatre.  Dreams themselves when we are actively having them often appear as real as our waking life.  For most people, they do not realize they were actually in a dream until they wake up.

This is not an uncommon occurrence for most people.  Dreams can translate into spectacular virtual reality simulations rich with both content and sensory feedback.  They can appear physical and solid.  You can simulate sight, hearing, touch and even taste and smell during a dream.  Hot/Cold and pain can also be experienced during a dream depending on how sensory aware you are during them. 

Like cheat-codes in computer games, lucid dreamers can experience "God" mode where the dream content doesn't hurt them, or "no-clipping" mode where they can pass through walls and objects in the dream state.  Just an interesting observation and fun to note for you gamers out there.

For a more comprehensive look at dreaming, I've also written a free e-book entitled, "You Are Dreaming" which you can freely download here: You Are Dreaming Free eBook [PDF]

In understanding that a dream reality is a virtual reality created by a system of consciousness, it is also important to note that you are that system of consciousness that is creating your dream content.  It's prudent to dismiss yourself as the director of your dream content assuming you lack the aptitude to control your dreams.  It's more important to note that you may just be in the passenger's seat of your unconscious processes rather in the driver's seat which is why lucid dreaming becomes vital for better dream control and exploration.

What we do know about dreams is the fact they can be very real when we have them, and the reasons for that can be directly linked to how information is processed and rendered on this Cartesian Theatre.  Both dreams and reality render there, and both offer unique experiences directly related to you, the observer.

If we examine dreams, there is another self-evident fact regarding what programs the dream and also what the dream content is rendered as.  We know that every detail from light, colour, sound and objects including 3d space itself in a dream is the final rendering of information processing.  Unlike atoms and Boson's dreams content is made up of a more fundamental rudimentary "bit", and that "bit" is thought.  Thought is the programming language of dreams and is the most fundamental component of that system.  If physical reality is simply a much larger dream at a Universal scale then it would also hold true that thought programs the objective datastream as well. 

Which makes thought very important for both objective reality and dreams so raising some conjecture regarding this topic is very important to understanding some deep underlying mechanics of reality as a whole.  Fortunately, there are some simple self-evident exercises that can help you see thought in action as to how it programs the Cartesian Theatre and how the Theatre simply responds to thought in the most profound way.

When we often think of thought, we associate it to the inner-voice which represents our inner-monologue which is a sub-vocalization in our conditioned language.  When you read this text you should have a faint auditory sound of your voice reading out each word.  This is thought in the form of sound providing feedback on your Cartesian Theatre.

When you imagine an apple for example with your eyes closed.  The visual image of an apple will appear on this canvas in a faint way.  The more you relax and focus on this visual form of thinking, the more contrast and resolution will occur and the image can become much more vivid and crisp.

This ability to think in sensory forms is not limited to just sound and thought.  You can apply the same attention-focusing techniques to taste, touch and smell.  This is most evident when you are falling asleep and the dream starts to take shape.  Dreams simply perfect in action how our thoughts form complex sensory feedback on the Cartesian Theatre.  This is very self-evident for lucid dreamers or people who pay attention to their thoughts when falling asleep.

This more advance sensory-form of thinking is a type of language.  A form of non-verbal communication between aspects of yourself.  Sigmund Freud recognized that our consciousness was compartmentalized and composed of what he felt was the id, ego, super-ego and unconscious.  How these parts communicate amongst themselves is related to these variances in verbal and non-verbal communication.  You already see in action how these systems work to produce very elaborate dreams during sleep.

What if this network of consciousness of which we are a part of extends to the Universe itself?  Some kind of cosmic mind whereby we are all individual parts; yet still connected?  How would this larger part communicate to it's smaller parts?  How would the smaller parts interpret that language and communication? 

Through precognitive dreams for those of you who have them, you are already seeing in action how a dream, which is composed entirely of thought represents a future event.  When the dream actualizes the dream seems to materialize as an event in objective reality.  For those of you who do not, well that missing ingredient is very helpful in understanding this covert relationship between thought and the reality it creates.

This possibility that physical reality could also be derived from dreaming or thought is not a new idea.  The question really remains if it's true, how do you see this within your own experiences?  And if you can accept that possibility... what next?   

Many of these ideas are either touched on or expanded on in the following abstract and book:

Abstract: Theory of Precognitive Dreams [PDF]

Book: You Are Dreaming [PDF]