Precise psychophysiological correlations were made possible by participants marking the exact moments of initiation of lucidity and the initiation and completion of the tracking tasks with volitional left–right–left–right (LRLR) eye movement signals 7. Participants were selected for excellent dream recall and high reported frequency of lucid dreams with demonstrated ability to have lucid dreams in the sleep laboratory. In order to directly compare visual eye movement tracking in REM sleep dreaming, waking perception and visuomotor imagination, we designed tracking tasks that could be carried out analogously in all three states. Together, this evidence suggests that there are multiple sources of eye movements in REM sleep, a subset of which include correspondence between dreamed gaze direction and eye movements. Furthermore, as during waking perception, REMs are associated with transient modulation of spiking activity in the medial temporal lobe associated with visual-mnemonic processes 8. Furthermore, REMs precisely track saccadic eye movement signals in lucid dreams 7 and goal-directed actions in dreams of patients with REM sleep behavior disorder 3. For instance, the pattern of REMs has been found to be related to the visual imagery and reported gaze direction of REM sleep dreams 6. However, equally substantial evidence indicates that, in other circumstances, there is a close link between the direction of subjective gaze during dreaming and objective eye movements 4, 5. For example, REMs are observed in fetuses, neonates, pontine cats and congenitally blind subjects despite their lack of sight 3. Substantial evidence has shown that the strong version of the scanning hypothesis, which suggests that all REMs are due to tracking dream imagery, is untenable. Since the discovery of REM sleep in the 1950s, dreams have been believed to be vivid enough to suppose that the REMs that give the state its name are caused by the dreamer scanning the dream scene. Since SPEMs elicited during visual tracking are known to depend on visual motion signals, they may be used as an objective assessment of visual imagery during REM sleep. Humans are typically unable to smoothly track slowly an imagined object in a sustained fashion, exhibiting instead saccadic eye movements 2. Here we perform an objective test of this question by determining the extent to which smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEMs) are observed when an individual tracks a slow-moving visual target during lucid rapid eye movement (REM) sleep dreaming. Please join our mailing list to be notified when new programs become available.īusinesses that meet eligibility requirements can apply for the microgrant (up to $10,000) by working with a designated training partner, such as the LA SBDC, to meet the Dream Fund’s qualifications.Is the visual imagery of dreams more like perception or imagination? This question has been asked at least since Aristotle but until now has lacked empirical data 1.
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