Falling asleep, we find ourselves in a wonderful world - the world of dreams. It does not obey the laws of reality, and even in the 21st century it is fraught with many mysteries. One of them is a waking dream.
How hallucinations are born
This phenomenon has other names - hypnagogic hallucinations, or Lermitt's peduncular hallucinosis syndrome. Hypnagogic - that is, those that visit when falling asleep, when the brain is still awake, and the body is no longer subject to it. There are also hypnopompic ones, they come on awakening. However, sometimes they are also called hypnagogic, since at this time a person is also half asleep. But before talking about half-sleep, let's try to figure out what a dream is …
It has long been thought to be essential for brain relaxation. When scientists learned how to register the activity of neurons in the cerebral cortex, they were able to prove that neurons work even more actively during sleep than during wakefulness. Only if during the day they analyze the signals received from the senses, then what they are doing at night is unknown.
There are several versions. One says that at night the brain analyzes the information received during the day. This is where dreams come from. There is also another theory. According to her, at night, brain neurons check the state of our internal organs. Then another question arises: if in a dream the brain analyzes the performance of internal organs, how are dreams born?
Scientists believe that the most powerful signals are able to slip through the barriers set up by the brain and enter the area responsible for conscious actions during the day. Therefore, most often people dream of the events of the past day, the problems that they thought about the day before.
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Food for thought
Elena Korabelnikova, Professor of the Department of Nervous Diseases of the First Moscow State Medical University named after I. M. Sechenova, believes that even the shortest sleep carries important information for a person. For example, this is how the body warns of impending diseases. Neuropsychologist Vasily Kasatkin proved that every disease has its own symptoms. For example, people who suffer from respiratory diseases often dream of choking scenes. And for those who have problems with the digestive system, spoiled foods. But dreams are not given only to report impending ailments. History knows many prophetic dreams. Another supposed function of dreams is to reproduce situations that excite a person.
Journey Through Past Lives
When it comes to sleep, there are more questions than answers. Hypnagogic hallucinations are another mystery. This type of hallucination was first described by French neurologist Jean Lermitte in 1922. Hence one of the names of this phenomenon. It is well described in the novel "Straightjacket" by Jack London. Sentenced to death, professor of agronomy Darrell Standing is regularly tortured with a straitjacket, with which he learns to travel through past lives. Mechanically straining his will and mentally mortifying his body, the hero plunges into a drowsy state, lying on the border of sleep and wakefulness, and sees hypnagogic hallucinations.
Scientists investigate these borderline states, collect evidence and conduct experiments. Here is what Denis P tells about his feelings:
“At first, visions were rare. But then it began to happen more and more often. I even revealed a certain pattern: they always visited me on days when I was tired both mentally and physically. I was amazed that I saw events, phenomena, things that I could not know about. Once I saw a certain deity in a chariot. When I woke up the next day, I thought it must be something from Indian mythology. I started searching on the Internet, and soon I came across an image of Surya, the sun god in Hinduism. It was he. Another time I saw a terrible flood that happened in an unfamiliar place. In the morning I looked at the news and realized that it was Saint-Martin.
Images of aliens appeared especially often. Waking dreams disappeared when Denis P. started taking vitamins.
Yulia Skopich
