Possible Dream Incubation Enhancer: Sleeping/Waking Auditory Cues

[Oneironaut Zero]

Here's an interesting idea... So I just recently read this article, which talks about the discovery that a rat's dreams could be 'incubated' by associating an auditory cue given to the rat, during its daily run through the maze, with the same auditory cue given while the rat is asleep. It was shown that the rat would dream about the sections of the maze it was running through while hearing the cue during the day. What I propose is this: What if a key to successful dream incubation is the introduction of an auditory cue while you're awake, as well as when you are asleep? So often, we talk about playing .mp3 files while we sleep, or focusing on a dream to incubate, while we're still awake. I don't think I've seen the idea of combining the two methods talked about at all, but I'm really interested to see if this works the way it appears it might. I'm going to be trying this (sporadically, of course. I don't keep routines very well), but I'd also like to invite everyone else to give it a shot, too. I intend to focus on something I want to dream about (like a movie scene or something), while listening to a certain auditory cue (sounds/music/etc). Then, I'm going to play that cue back sometime during the night, while I'm sleeping (probably loop it), and see if that increases the chance of incubating a dream. I'm "ok" at incubation, already, so I think I might be able to draw a pretty good conclusion as to whether or not it works for me more than normal. Give it a shot. Tell me what you all think and experience!

[Oneironaut Zero]

A resounding, practically effortless, success! Before bed, I started watching key scenes of The Avengers, while listening to a particular binaural tone. Once the last act came on, I just let that play out until I got too sleepy to stay awake, and I fell asleep. I woke up about 5 hours later with no recalled dreams (which I kind of expected because I went to bed a bit tipsy), and went to the bathroom. When I came back to bed, I put my headphones back on and let that same binaural tone play softly in my ears - this time without the movie. I ended up recalling two dreams within the last couple of hours of my sleep. In one of them, I was Captain America, fighting alongside some of the other Avengers against a small band of villains. One of the villains was a female, and I remember one point where she grabbed my shield and tried to throw it at me, and I just swatted it down with one hand like "BITCH, YOU AIN'T CAPTAIN AMERICA!!" Lol. I also remember throwing the main villain (who I'm not sure was Loki) up against a wall and just unleashing a barrage of punches on him. I noticed that my punches felt rather normal, and not very 'super-powered', which I thought was odd. I began to wonder if that's how I (Cap) am 'supposed' to perceive my own punches, even though I was supposed to have super strength; essentially, I was thinking out of character, but not enough to actually become lucid. There was also a punchline near the end of the dream, where we stuck the main villain - now stripped of his powers - into an enclosure with a wheelchair-bound, mentally handicapped acquaintance of ours, that the villain had once tried to kill for being 'weak/invalid'. We all laughed as we now watched this kid roll around after the villain, who was now running for his own life, scared of what this once-bullied kid might do to him if he ever caught him. It was absolutely hilarious. I'm not quite sure if the 'second dream' was actually a 'second dream', or if it was a part of the first. The setting seemed the same (kind of a school campus of sorts), but I was just my regular self. I remember petting an adorable kitten, being naked in a classroom with nothing but a blanket covering me at my desk (and it seeming perfectly normal), and a bit of interaction with other students. What stands out as significant in this dream, though, is that I was parking my truck in the parking lot, when a cop walked up behind my truck and slapped a ticket on the back (instead of the front?) of it. When I asked him what the ticket was for, he told me it was for parking in a Superhero Parking spot, without actually being a superhero. Lol. I wish I remembered a few more details about the dreams - especially the 'first' one - but I would definitely call that a +1 for the theory! Will definitely be trying this again! Woke up this morning feeling like:

[fennecgirl]

This sounds like a good idea! I'm glad to hear it worked for you, and I plan on trying this myself, too.

[Oneironaut Zero]

Thanks, fennecgirl, and good luck! Let me know if it works for you!

[Oneironaut Zero]

Made some changes to the OP. Now it doesn't quite read like I'd been drinking before typing.

[fennecgirl]

I'd call the first night a moderate success for me. I'd picked Legend of Zelda as my dream topic. At various points throughout the afternoon and evening, I spent a total of perhaps a couple hours or so listening to theta binaural beats at a frequency of 6.0 Hz while playing Zelda games and watching Zelda videos, as well as looking at some fanart before going to bed. While sleeping, I listened to a looping audio track containing five minutes of binaural beats (same frequency, and with a fade in/out to reduce the risk of being woken up by it) followed by twenty-five minutes of silence. I remember one dream clearly from last night. When I woke up, I checked my iPod and saw that the binaural beats had stopped just over a couple minutes beforehand, so there was no doubt they were playing during the dream. In the dream, there was extremely little Zelda influence, but a Nintendo 64 was a key element. At least half of the incubation time yesterday was spent playing Majora's Mask on the N64, so I think my subconscious just misinterpreted my intent a little, giving me the console instead of the game.

[Oneironaut Zero]

Nice! I would definitely label that a moderate success! I gave a piss-poor attempt at it last night, watching about 5 minutes of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm directly before going to bed, while playing a binaural beat. I had wanted to loop a portion of it, with intermittent silence (just as you did), but I got too tired and just ended up crashing and letting the beat play on through my headphones. Went to sleep very late, too, and only ended up getting a little over 5 hours rest. Don't remember much of anything from my dreams at all - definitely not enough to call it a 'hit'. It's the weekend, though, so I'll be able to sleep in and get into my later REM periods. Looking forward to giving it another shot! Also, I spoke with DV member Karlitaki about it, on facebook, and he said that he had success with it on the first night as well. Trying to get him to post his experience in here, too! Lol.

[JadedSapphire]

Very interesting! I will be giving this a shot tonight.

[Oneironaut Zero]

Good luck, DeepBluSurf!! Ended up hanging out last night and didn't get a chance to try again. Nothing to report this morning but a slight hangover and guilt over a late-night snack at McDonald's. There's always tonight!

[JadedSapphire]

Nothing to report here either unfortunately. I ended going to bed way too late last night and crashed before I could do any real incubating. I'll be trying again tonight as well

[fennecgirl]

My recall kinda sucked last night. The only dream I could remember was completely unrelated, but I woke up from that just a couple minutes before the audio began, so it seems almost certain that that dream had occurred completely within the silence.

[Oneironaut Zero]

Horrible recall last night, but I'd put this one in the 'moderate success' category, too. Played some "Batman: Arkham City" while listening to a BB, before bed. I don't remember much at all, aside from two related moments. In one: I was playing the Batman game, and someone (I believe it was my daughter) came in the room and kept trying to get my attention by standing in front of the TV, which was annoying. The other had to do with being in or around a convertible, talking to a woman about Batman, as if he were an actual person in our world and not a fictional character. Unfortunately, that's all I recall. Gonna try 'prepping' a little earlier in the day, and not (just) right before I go to sleep. [Edit: Also, moving thread to "Research", as it seems more fitting.]

[JadedSapphire]

Zero recall for me last night. Had to be up a little earlier than usual this morning so that probably had something to do with it. Gonna try again tonight. Third time's a charm!

[Oneironaut Zero]

A couple of attempts, over the last few nights. Pretty much hovering around the 'moderate successes.' I've had those scenarios that seem lightly related to the experiences I've been trying to induce. I had one erotic-oriented experiment that did result in sex, but ended up turning into a nightmare (kind of explicit, and I won't burden you with the details. Lol.), and then had another one where I was sneaking through a mall, trying to get away from a S.W.A.T.-like organization, being coupled with the audio from the 'Fake-S.H.I.E.L.D. team storming of the Helicarrier in Avengers. Unfortunately, I've also been continuing the trend of really shitty recall. Still trying to get a handle on that. Just checking in for now.

[dutchraptor]

This is a great idea. I always used audio cues to remind me to RC which worked great, which I suppose would also classify as dream incubation. I might start trying this too, lets hope it works .

[fennecgirl]

Well, I've been forgetting to post here (oops), but I've found this to have a near-perfect success rate so far. ...except my recall's been kinda suckish over the past few nights, so dream incubation is getting a little pointless with the state my recall's in. =/

[SpaceCowboyDave]

I'm totally going to try this, I just need to find a suitable tone.

[IAmCoder]

Help yourself to some audio tracks that I cut for this very purpose: In Search of Lucidity.

[Oneironaut Zero]

Been having a few successes with this, lately, though I haven't really been on top of reporting my experiences. I'd say I'm at probably about a 70% hit rate. Most recent success was last night. (Haven't been trying every night, or even every other night, but just here and there.) Watched more of the Avengers, and then played some pre-cut audio from it, while I went to bed. Ended up dreaming about having a hand-to-hand battle against the Hulk, in a warehouse, and then a massive, New York (ish) street war, reminiscent of the final battle in the movie, but including Transformers.