Incense? Will it induce?

[Sand-Man]

I have a big pack of incense. I am wondering if I could use it to induce a lucid dream. If so...how?

[frozen_joth]

Yes they can help you induce a lucid dream. You just have to KNOW (not think) that it will help you. Just light one and go to bed. It's probaly not the safest thing to do but where would we be if we never took risks? Anything can help you induce a lucid dream, you just have to know it will instead of just thinking it will.

[Sand-Man]

I sure would not have fun setting myself on fire... Anyway im going to try it tonight.

[Joseph_Stalin]

If it helps you focus and concentrate, go for it. However, if you're risking personal safety by lighting this without a glass cover or such, I wouldn't. Also, confidence helps in this too.

[frozen_joth]

So how did it go? Did it help you? C'mon now keep us updated. Just remember to know it will work.

[O'nus]

Olfactory reception during sleep is inhibited - you cannot smell during sleep. If there is sensory reception from the olfactory system (considering olfaction does not need to pass through thalamus) then it cannot be received or interpreted because of the inhibition of monoamine neurotransmitter reproduction. No sensory input is received due to a process called descending inhibition. The actual routine in which descending inhibition initiates is still under scientific research. Therefore, smells will not have any influence on you while you are dreaming. However, smells before dreaming will help. Armoatherapy does help with concentration and focus. Since I am rather bored, I will explain the process of smell. First, the sense of smell is facilitated by a system known as the olfactory system. The olfactory system is situated on the roof of the nasal cavity. As an individual inhales, the scent reaches up into the air passage and is received by the olfactory receptors. Huamsn can differ between 10 000 odors which are each recognized by a specific olfactory receptor with the appropriate gene. Once the olfactory receptor recognizes the smell, the axons pass through the cribiform plate to synapse with the mitral cells of the olfactory bulb. The mitral cell is an olfactory neuron which synapses with a web of axons and dendrites in an area (similar to a synaptic cleft) called the glomerulus. The olfactory bulb then sends the message via mitral axons to cortex. What happens after that is not entirely understand yet. However, it is proven and obvious that olfaction has a significant impact on our moods and lives. Quite simply, when it comes to smell and sleep - it's like having a message but no messenger. I hope I have been enlightening.

[sh2dak]

I squeezed an orange under my brothers nose when he slept, when he woke up he said that he'd smelt orange while he slept. explain that...

[Joseph_Stalin]

Well, perhaps the sense was felt at a point before he arose from sleep--at a point where his senses were begginning to return to normal.

[O'nus]

Originally posted by sh2dak I squeezed an orange under my brothers nose when he slept, when he woke up he said that he'd smelt orange while he slept. explain that... Residiual smell remains on olfactory receptors till awakening and then cortex can acknowledge the smell. Saying that he smelt it during his slept could be argued as hindsight cognition. This means that during his sleep there was actually no external smell reception, but when he awoke, the smell of the orange \"must\" have been what he smelt in the dream. Originally posted by Diana Weedman Molavi@ PhD at the Washington University School of Medicine During sleep, we are essentially cut off from the sensory world. We do not hear, feel, taste, or smell, and we would not see if our eyes were pulled open. Everyone has different thresholds during sleep, though; enough of any stimulus will wake us. How does the brain manage to cut off sensory input, yet still let in the really important (or insistent) stimuli? The answer lies in the thalamus. Remember, no sensory information gets up to the cerebral cortex without first passing through the thalamus. If the gate of the thalamus is closed, then the cortex can shut out the world and go into sleep-mode. However, this doesn't say that olfactory receptors cease to receive smells during sleep. It is simply impossible to register to cortex during sleep - otherwise, you would be conscious. There is a big difference between dreaming of a smell and actually smelling something from the external milieu. Hindsight cognition is aslo very common reason why people believe you can smell from the external during sleep. You brain will automatically match together the dream and the residual olfactory reception left during sleep once the ascending reticular activation system (ARAS) wakes you up. Journal articles related to olfactory reception during sleep: - Precisely Synchronized Oscillatory Firing Patterns Require Electroencephalographic Activation, Suzana Herculano-Houzel, Matthias H. J. Munk, Sergio Neuenschwander, and Wolf Singer. - Ketamine-Xylazine-Induced Slow (< 1.5 Hz) Oscillations in the Rat Piriform (Olfactory) Cortex Are Functionally Correlated with Respiration, Alfredo Fontanini,1,2 PierFranco Spano,2 and James M. Bower3 ~

[TheUnknown]

O'nus, I'm no expert.. but if you have no olfactory reception during sleep.. then why does smelling salts work to wake a person up? I dunno though, it might have to do with another sense, its just an observation I made.

[O'nus]

Originally posted by TheUnknown During sleep, we are essentially cut off from the sensory world. We do not hear, feel, taste, or smell, and we would not see if our eyes were pulled open. Everyone has different thresholds during sleep, though; enough of any stimulus will wake us. How does the brain manage to cut off sensory input, yet still let in the really important (or insistent) stimuli? The answer lies in the thalamus. Remember, no sensory information gets up to the cerebral cortex without first passing through the thalamus. If the gate of the thalamus is closed, then the cortex can shut out the world and go into sleep-mode. In general, you cannot smell. But an abundance of certain stimulus' may awake someone. This doesn't happen as often as we may lead ourselves to believe (once a year?).

[Joseph_Stalin]

This is generally like when a loud noise, or abundance of noise occurs next to you while you are sleeping, but with a smell instead (If that relation can be made).

[lucid_wonderer]

hey, I use incense last night, and I have a clearer dream (although not vivid)..

[Sand-Man]

Sorry I thought the topic would die lol. I tryed it and the next night I had my first lucid in 1 month! So I guess that's great.

[Joseph_Stalin]

Nice job, man. Keep up the good work

[O'nus]

I should note that I am not saying smells have no influence on dreaming. I am saying that smells during your sleep have no influence unless in a mass abundance. However, smells before falling asleep will as they influence the psychological onset before resting. Much like how saying, "I will lucid dream" or "I will remember my dream" works. ~