Thread: University of Bern finds that dreamers take 50% longer to complete their tasks compared to waking

Ha!
The very opposite of this supposed time-dilation a la Inception is the reality then?
Wow - very interesting! Nice detail about the inability to self-tickle by DC-proxy in the BBC article...

Thanks for posting!
I hope it creates some discussion.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison just found the neurological difference between fantasy and reality - information flows through our brains in opposite directions when we’re imagining something compared to really doing it: Imagination, reality flow in opposite directions in the brain -- ScienceDaily.

During imagination, the researchers found an increase in the flow of information from the parietal lobe of the brain to the occipital lobe -- from a higher-order region that combines inputs from several of the senses out to a lower-order region.
In contrast, visual information taken in by the eyes tends to flow from the occipital lobe -- which makes up much of the brain's visual cortex -- "up" to the parietal lobe.

That might explain why it takes longer to complete tasks while dreaming!

Interesting research! From personal experience of getting a lot done in a few mins of dreaming, I expected to see the opposite of what they found in the study.

Your proposed explanation makes some sense though. Also, I am wondering if particular tasks may be more time consuming to perform in dreams than others. Perhaps counting takes longer as our higher cognitive functions are less active during sleep?

Edit: Hmm. Very intriguing indeed. I think this is the original study.

http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journ...013.01013/full

They give a number of examples for task completion. It seems logical that the dreamers were actually taking a little time (a second or two) to recall to do the tasks and also not to forget to begin to start with eye movements before or after the tasks. This may have added a few extra seconds for time completion. I could relate this to not having instant access to all of brain's facilities, like for instance prospective memory. As we know, it can be really difficult at times to recall what task you wanted to do, even if lucid.