This past week, the New York Times devoted the entire Science section to sleep and dreams.
Take a look. We're not devoting much time or attention to the sleeping mind in this course, but there are plenty of possible final project topics in this area. The articles in the Times provide a useful introduction into current research and theory of sleep and dreams. If you're interested in following up, I have a lot of material on the topic in my office. (Or, talk to John Rice, he should be an expert by now! Right, John?)
Comments (2)
According to an article I recently saw in the Times, birds have similar sleep patterns to humans but one thing they can do that we can't is have one part of the brain sleeping while the other is awake. I read this with a high school class and we made a case that students function like birds all the time. I certainly agreed with them.
Posted by Valerie | October 29, 2007 6:13 PM
Posted on October 29, 2007 18:13
Hi, Professor Tougaw.
I read the NYTimes article on nightmares. Interesting. I used to have terrible dreams in my 20s--very violent--it disturbed me to think such thoughts were knocking around in my brain. I had a short period of time where I would awake every night, at 3:00 in the morning, scared. I was born at 3:05. Related? Who knows. I also used to have wonderful flying dreams. I mean really cool ones.
As a teenager, sleepwalked (I think for a short time, maybe a few years). Also, until I was 20, I hallucinated every time I had a fever.
I guess the age thing is true. I rarely have nightmares--that I remember anyway--for years.
I still have one recurring bad dream. Sometimes myself, or sometimes me and others, trapped by water. Tsunamis. I dream of the impossibly large oceans--hard to describe--and Tsunamis swallowing everything.
Posted by Maryellen | November 1, 2007 6:35 PM
Posted on November 1, 2007 18:35