When the ancient Egyptians sought an encounter with Bes, the god of fertility and childbirth, they painted an image of the god on their hands, wrapped his hands and neck with a black cloth, and then calmed down to sleep. This custom is described in a papyrus from around 1350 BC. oldest documented example The use of sensory stimuli to try to influence the content of dreams.
Three thousand years later, neuroscientists and psychologists are making this ancient idea more scientific. Overturning long-held preconceptions about the disconnect between brain and body during sleep, these ‘dream engineers’ use sound, smell, touch and even body movement to influence the content of people’s dreams. In doing so, they achieved amazing results, from improved sleep quality and mood to increased learning and creativity.
Even better, dream engineers are currently developing a dream-inducing device that anyone can use at home. This increases the likelihood that we will all soon be able to use our sleep time to our advantage. However, given the power these technologies have on the resting mind, some people, particularly researchers themselves, have become concerned about the potential for misuse. “I have no doubt that dream engineering will open many people’s hearts, help others heal, and help us understand each other more clearly,” he says. adam haar horowitz at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It can also be an advertising gimmick. We have to proceed with compassion and vigilance.”
Dream engineering is different from lucid dreaming.
Source: www.newscientist.com
