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<blockquote data-quote="KJ" data-source="post: 66136" data-attributes="member: 1"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought" target="_blank">Thought</a> processes on the edge of sleep tend to differ radically from those of ordinary wakefulness. For example, something that you agreed with within a state of hypnagogia may seem completely ridiculous to you in an awake state. Hypnagogia may involve a &quot;loosening of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_ego" target="_blank">ego</a> boundaries ... openness, sensitivity, internalization-subjectification of the physical and mental environment (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy" target="_blank">empathy</a>) and diffuse-absorbed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention" target="_blank">attention</a>.&quot;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-18" target="_blank">[18]</a> Hypnagogic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognition" target="_blank">cognition</a>, in comparison with that of normal, alert wakefulness, is characterized by heightened <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suggestibility" target="_blank">suggestibility</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-19" target="_blank">[19]</a> illogic and a fluid association of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idea" target="_blank">ideas</a>. Subjects are more receptive in the hypnagogic state to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suggestion" target="_blank">suggestion</a> from an experimenter than at other times, and readily incorporate external <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulus_(physiology)" target="_blank">stimuli</a> into hypnagogic trains of thought and subsequent dreams. This receptivity has a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiological" target="_blank">physiological</a> parallel; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EEG" target="_blank">EEG</a> readings show elevated responsiveness to sound around the onset of sleep.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-20" target="_blank">[20]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Silberer" target="_blank">Herbert Silberer</a> described a process he called autosymbolism, whereby hypnagogic hallucinations seem to represent, without <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_repression" target="_blank">repression</a> or censorship, whatever one is thinking at the time, turning abstract <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idea" target="_blank">ideas</a> into a concrete <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_image" target="_blank">image</a>, which may be perceived as an apt and succinct representation thereof.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-21" target="_blank">[21]</a>The hypnagogic state can provide <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insight" target="_blank">insight</a> into a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_solving" target="_blank">problem</a>, the best-known example being <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Kekul%C3%A9" target="_blank">August Kekulé</a>’s realization that the structure of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene" target="_blank">benzene</a> was a closed ring while half-asleep in front of a fire and seeing molecules forming into snakes, one of which grabbed its tail in its mouth.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-22" target="_blank">[22]</a> Many other artists, writers, scientists and inventors – including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven" target="_blank">Beethoven</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner" target="_blank">Richard Wagner</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Scott" target="_blank">Walter Scott</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD" target="_blank">Salvador Dalí</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison" target="_blank">Thomas Edison</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla" target="_blank">Nikola Tesla</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton" target="_blank">Isaac Newton</a> – have credited hypnagogia and related states with enhancing their creativity.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-23" target="_blank">[23]</a> A 2001 study by Harvard psychologist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deirdre_Barrett" target="_blank">Deirdre Barrett</a> found that, while problems can also be solved in full-blown dreams from later stages of sleep, hypnagogia was especially likely to solve problems which benefit from hallucinatory images being critically examined while still before the eyes.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-24" target="_blank">[24]</a>A feature that hypnagogia shares with other stages of sleep is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesia" target="_blank">amnesia</a>. But this is a selective forgetfulness, affecting the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocampal" target="_blank">hippocampal</a> memory system, which is responsible for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episodic_memory" target="_blank">episodic</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiographical_memory" target="_blank">autobiographical memory</a>, rather than the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocortical" target="_blank">neocortical</a> memory system, responsible for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_memory" target="_blank">semantic memory</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-transcript-6" target="_blank">[6]</a> It has been suggested that hypnagogia and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REM_sleep" target="_blank">REM sleep</a> help in the consolidation of semantic memory,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-25" target="_blank">[25]</a> but the evidence for this has been disputed.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-26" target="_blank">[26]</a> For example, suppression of REM sleep due to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antidepressant" target="_blank">antidepressants</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesion" target="_blank">lesions</a> to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainstem" target="_blank">brainstem</a> has not been found to produce detrimental effects on cognition.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-27" target="_blank">[27]</a>Hypnagogic phenomena may be interpreted as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucination" target="_blank">visions</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecies" target="_blank">prophecies</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premonitions" target="_blank">premonitions</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparitional_experience" target="_blank">apparitions</a> and inspiration (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artistic_inspiration" target="_blank">artistic</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_inspiration" target="_blank">divine</a>), depending on the experiencers' beliefs and those of their culture.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="KJ, post: 66136, member: 1"] [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought']Thought[/URL] processes on the edge of sleep tend to differ radically from those of ordinary wakefulness. For example, something that you agreed with within a state of hypnagogia may seem completely ridiculous to you in an awake state. [B]Hypnagogia may involve a "loosening of [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_ego']ego[/URL] boundaries ... openness, sensitivity, internalization-subjectification of the physical and mental environment ([URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy']empathy[/URL]) and diffuse-absorbed [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention']attention[/URL]."[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-18'][18][/URL] Hypnagogic [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognition']cognition[/URL], in comparison with that of normal, alert wakefulness, is characterized by heightened [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suggestibility']suggestibility[/URL],[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-19'][19][/URL] illogic and a fluid association of [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idea']ideas[/URL]. Subjects are more receptive in the hypnagogic state to [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suggestion']suggestion[/URL] from an experimenter than at other times, and readily incorporate external [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulus_(physiology)']stimuli[/URL] into hypnagogic trains of thought and subsequent dreams. This receptivity has a [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiological']physiological[/URL] parallel; [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EEG']EEG[/URL] readings show elevated responsiveness to sound around the onset of sleep.[/B][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-20'][B][20][/B][/URL] [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Silberer']Herbert Silberer[/URL] described a process he called [I]autosymbolism[/I], whereby hypnagogic hallucinations seem to represent, without [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_repression']repression[/URL] or censorship, whatever one is thinking at the time, turning abstract [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idea']ideas[/URL] into a concrete [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_image']image[/URL], which may be perceived as an apt and succinct representation thereof.[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-21'][21][/URL] [B]The hypnagogic state can provide [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insight']insight[/URL] into a [/B][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_solving'][B]problem[/B][/URL], the best-known example being [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Kekul%C3%A9']August Kekulé[/URL]’s realization that the structure of [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene']benzene[/URL] was a closed ring while half-asleep in front of a fire and seeing molecules forming into snakes, one of which grabbed its tail in its mouth.[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-22'][22][/URL] Many other artists, writers, scientists and inventors – including [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven']Beethoven[/URL], [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner']Richard Wagner[/URL], [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Scott']Walter Scott[/URL], [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD']Salvador Dalí[/URL], [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison']Thomas Edison[/URL], [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla']Nikola Tesla[/URL] and [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton']Isaac Newton[/URL] – have credited hypnagogia and related states with enhancing their creativity.[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-23'][23][/URL] A 2001 study by Harvard psychologist [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deirdre_Barrett']Deirdre Barrett[/URL] found that, while problems can also be solved in full-blown dreams from later stages of sleep, hypnagogia was especially likely to solve problems which benefit from hallucinatory images being critically examined while still before the eyes.[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-24'][24][/URL] A feature that hypnagogia shares with other stages of sleep is [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesia']amnesia[/URL]. But this is a selective forgetfulness, affecting the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocampal']hippocampal[/URL] memory system, which is responsible for [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episodic_memory']episodic[/URL] or [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiographical_memory']autobiographical memory[/URL], rather than the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocortical']neocortical[/URL] memory system, responsible for [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_memory']semantic memory[/URL].[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-transcript-6'][6][/URL] It has been suggested that hypnagogia and [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REM_sleep']REM sleep[/URL] help in the consolidation of semantic memory,[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-25'][25][/URL] but the evidence for this has been disputed.[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-26'][26][/URL] For example, suppression of REM sleep due to [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antidepressant']antidepressants[/URL] and [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesion']lesions[/URL] to the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainstem']brainstem[/URL] has not been found to produce detrimental effects on cognition.[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia#cite_note-27'][27][/URL] Hypnagogic phenomena may be interpreted as [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucination']visions[/URL], [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecies']prophecies[/URL], [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premonitions']premonitions[/URL], [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparitional_experience']apparitions[/URL] and inspiration ([URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artistic_inspiration']artistic[/URL] or [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_inspiration']divine[/URL]), depending on the experiencers' beliefs and those of their culture. [/QUOTE]

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