Dreams take us to an imaginary world that seems to us as reality at the time, and we may think that the sleeping person - during the dream stage - may not realize any questions directed to him, let alone provide answers to them.

However, a new study - published in the journal Current Biology on February 18th - showed that sleepy people - those in conscious sleep or deep sleep - can follow instructions and answer simple questions with yes or no, as they can. Solve simple mathematical problems.

Scientists have called this phenomenon "interactive sleep."

Sleep stages

Based on the wave patterns that oscillate in the brain when we begin to yawn until we fall into deep lethargy, the stages of sleep are divided into two main stages: the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) stage, which is divided into 4 sections, and the rapid eye movement stage (Rapid eye movement -REM).

The cycle for these two stages takes approximately 90 minutes, and then the cycles alternate during the overall sleep period.

Dreams are known to occur during the rapid eye movement phase, which takes the last third of each cycle.

There are still many mysteries associated with the mechanism of sleep, especially REM.

Hence, getting immediate reactions from the sleeper will benefit in understanding what is happening in their brains during a dream.

According to the press release - published by "Scimex" - says Ken Paller, a psychologist at Northwestern University in the United States and a senior researcher for the study;

They noticed that sleepers could interact and engage in real-time communication during REM.

The statement adds that "our results showed that people in the dream stage are able to understand questions, perform operations on the temporary memory and provide answers to those questions."

Dreams occur during rapid eye movement (KConcoli - Foreign Press)

A new approach

Although the dream is a regular thing, scientists have not studied it adequately, as the narration of dreams is usually fraught with distortions and forgotten details.

So Palier and his companions attempted to communicate with people during lucid dreams.

It is a type of dream in which a person realizes that he is dreaming.

The team tested 36 people who were in a state of conscious dreaming, and these people were divided into 4 groups, and each was tested independently of the other using different methods.

The four groups were divided between Northwestern University, Sorbonne University in France, Osnabrück University in Germany, and the latter at the Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands.

The scientists communicated with the people tested during the deep stages of sleep while monitoring the electrical signals of the brain, as this communication was made through sound, bright light or physical touch.

Sometimes they were asked to answer simple math questions.

Like counting flashes of light or counting physical touches, or answering basic questions like: "Can you speak Spanish?"

The team monitored electrical signals in the brain during the experiment (Uric Alert-C Mazuric)

Annie continues

Commenting on that methodology, first author of the study, Karen Concoli, says:

They combined the results obtained from 4 different laboratories together.

Despite the different research methodologies in the four studies, they all demonstrate two-way communication.

Although the tested persons differed between individuals who know the meaning of conscious dreaming and individuals who have not previously known it, and another individual suffers from the nervous disease "narcolepsy", whose owner loses the ability to regulate the cycles of wakefulness and sleep

They all showed one form or another of the interactive dream phenomenon.

As they were able to follow the instructions, do simple calculations, or answer yes or no, as well as know the difference between the different sensory stimuli, and some of them responded by eye movement or by contracting the facial muscles.

Thus, the instantaneous response of the sleepers makes this study a new approach that may be useful in future studies of dreams and memory, and it may also help in knowing the importance of sleep in strengthening memory, and in treating sleep disorders.