Psychologists Chase Down Sleep Demons

The Nightmare by John Henry Fuseli

via Penn State Daily Newswire
“What do Moby Dick, the Salem witch trials and alien abductions all have in common? They all circle back to sleep paralysis. Less than 8 percent of the general population experiences sleep paralysis, but it is more frequent in two groups -- students and psychiatric patients -- according to a new study by psychologists at Penn State and the University of Pennsylvania. Sleep paralysis is defined as "a discrete period of time during which voluntary muscle movement is inhibited, yet ocular and respiratory movements are intact," the researchers state in the current issue of Sleep Medicine Reviews. Hallucinations may also be present in these transitions to or from sleep...”
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Sleep May Restore Color Perception

via colourlovers
“Color perception drifts away from neutrality during wakefulness and is restored during sleep, suggests a research abstract presented in at SLEEP 2010, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC. Results indicate that prior wakefulness caused the color gray to be classified as having a slightly but significantly greenish tint. Overnight sleep restored perception to achromatic equilibrium so that gray was perceived as gray...”
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Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 2.0, ‘Sleep’

“The 2011 Virtual Choir video features 2052 performances of 'Sleep' from 1752 singers in 58 countries, individually recorded and uploaded to YouTube between September 2010 and January 2011.”


Watch and listen the entire video here.

Sleeping Protects Memories From Corruption

via wired
“Replaying memories while people are awake leaves their memories subject to tinkering. But reactivating memories during sleep protects them from interference.”

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