Dream incubation
A pre-sleep technique to influence dream content.
Dream incubation is a thought technique in which a person focuses attention on a specific topic before sleep, with the aim of dreaming about that subject. It can be used for recreation or to attempt to solve a problem. The practice involves giving oneself a pre-sleep suggestion rather than seeking to control the dream itself.
Quick Facts
- Study location
- Harvard Medical School
- Researcher
- Dr. Deirdre Barrett
- Participants with problem-addressing dre
- two-thirds
Facts from the source article.
History
Long before modern psychology, people in ancient Greece and Rome would sleep at holy sites hoping for healing or messages from the gods in their dreams. Aristotle even wrote about a Sardinian custom of sleeping "beside the heroes." Fast forward to a Harvard Medical School study led by Dr. Deirdre Barrett. She asked her students to think about a specific problem, like an unfinished homework assignment, each night before bed for a week. The results showed that two-thirds of participants had dreams related to their problem, and one-third actually found a solution within the dream. Other research has shown this same bedtime technique works for more personal, subjective issues. In her book The Committee of Sleep, Barrett looked at famous artists and scientists who get ideas from dreams. Most of these dreams happened on their own, but a few people had figured out their own version of dream incubation. They would give themselves pre-sleep suggestions for things like seeing a finished painting, developing a story's plot or characters, or solving computer and engineering problems. A 2010 Scientific American article quoted Barrett outlining these incubation methods.
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