The Mystery

The Attention Schema Theory (AST) is a proposed explanation for how people claim to have a subjective consciousness. It proposes that three different phenomena – the control of attention, some aspects of social cognition, and the claim of subjective consciousness – are linked by one mechanism. First, in the theory, attention – the manner in which processing resources are selectively focused – is controlled partly with the help of an internal model of attention. That model is a representation, or a rich set of information, about attention itself. It includes information about the current state of attention and predictive information. Just as the brain constructs an arm schema to describe, predict, and thus help control the arm as it reaches toward objects, so the brain constructs an attention schema to describe, predict, and thus help control attention as it is directed toward items. In that analogy, endogenous or internally directed attention is like the motor system controlling the ar...

Have you ever wanted to take control of your dreams, to explore the vast landscapes of your subconscious mind with full awareness and clarity? Lucid dreaming, the art of becoming conscious within your dreams, has captivated the human imagination for centuries. Today, we will dive into the science behind lucid dreaming, uncovering the fascinating mechanisms that allow us to become conscious within our dreams and explore the ancient wisdom and practical techniques that can help you master this transformative skill.  Science Of Sleep & Dreams To understand lucid dreaming we must first explore the science of sleep and dreams. During sleep our brains cycle through different stages, each characterized by distinct patterns of brain wave activity, eye movements and physiological changes. One of the most fascinating stages is REM sleep , which stands for rapid eye movement, associated with vivid emotionally charged dreams. Research has shown that lucid dreaming often occurs during REM s...

An Encounter With The Other: A Thematic and Content Analysis of DMT Experience From a Naturalistic Field Study Introduction: N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an endogenous serotonergic psychedelic capable of producing radical shifts in conscious experience. Increasing trends in its use, as well as new trials administering DMT to patients, indicate the growing importance of a thorough elucidation of the qualitative content, over and above structure, which the drug occasions. This is particularly in light of the hyper-real, otherworldly, and often ontologically challenging yet potentially transformative, nature of the experience, not least encounters with apparently non-self social agents. Laboratory studies have been limited by clinical setting and lacking qualitative analyses of experiential content, while online surveys’ limitations lie in retrospective design, uncontrolled use, and both of which not guaranteeing ‘breakthrough’ experiences, i.e., producing very strong psychoactive effe...

Seven Surprising Facts About Dreams — Why We Have Them and What They Mean 1. Dreams are not random From dream diaries recorded in ancient Egypt and China to reports from anthropologists in the Amazon, to surveys of modern Americans, evidence shows our dreams have a lot in common. For example, being chased and falling are pretty consistent. “Reports of nightmares and erotic dreams are nearly universal,” Jandial says, while people rarely report dreaming about math. Jandial says the lack of math makes sense because the part of your brain primarily responsible for logic — the prefrontal cortex — is typically not involved in dreaming. 2. Our brains are super active when we dream Jandial learned something fundamental about dreams in the midst of performing brain surgery. It was awake surgery — he’d numbed the scalp and partially opened the skull. (The brain does not feel pain). Jandial was operating on the left temporal lobe, where language is typically located. Working carefully to avoid da...