From: rwinder@PFC.Forestry.CA (Richard Winder)
Subject: Re: "Falling" Asleep
Reply-To: rwinder@PFC.Forestry.CA
Organization: Forestry Canada (Pacific Forestry Centre)
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 18:29:06 GMT

In article <C0EzME.HrB@iat.holonet.net>, ken@iat.holonet.net (Ken Easlon) 
writes:
>
>In article <103655@netnews.upenn.edu> ,
>rowe@pender.ee.upenn.edu (Mickey Rowe) writes:
>
>>In article <BzsJHL.J31@iat.holonet.net> ken@iat.holonet.net 
>>(Ken Easlon) writes: 
>
>>>I think it's associated with the disconnection of gravity sensors in the 
>>>sleep state. 
>
>>>This is offered from a strictly subjective point of view, and may not
>>>have any neuro-biological basis, but when I'm asleep I tend to maintain a
>>>certain amount of body awareness.  For example, if I'm sleeping on my
>>>side with one knee cocked, I am more likely to have dreams about climbing
>>>stairs or some similar activity requiring the same body position. 
> 
>I'm kind of curious as to what you're talking about here.  During REM 
>sleep (when most dreams occur), there is an active inhibition of your 
>motor neurons, but I don't know of any special "disconnection of 
>gravity sensors".  Do you?   
>
>Like I said, I don't know if there has been any research on the topic.  My
>data comes strictly from my own experience in the hypnagogic state and
>dream remberences on awakening.  Since I rarely awake in the middle of a
>sound sleep (during some phase of which REM would presumably occur) my data
>is based on a kind of mental activity that sleep investigators might have a
>name for other than dreams.
>
>Nonetheless, whenever I awake I can almost always remember the most recent
>flash or two of the mental activity that I call dreams.  Over the years
>I've developed a pretty good idea of some of the properties common to these
>dreams, and some of the more interesting include:
>
>     A sense of "down" in the direction of my feet rather than in the
>     direction of the center of the earth.
>
>     A pronounced absence of gravitational sensation, such as:
>          . the sense of effort in maintaining the kind of posture the
>          dream depicted  or
>          . the pressure of the real bed or dream ground pressing itself
>          against my body



	This is not common to all dreams.  I've experienced many with a
pronounced sense of gravity, and many without.  I seems to depend on the
symbolism your mind is working with at the moment, and your physical 
condition.  By gravity, I mean that while I am dreaming, I am occasionally 
aware that I am really lying prone, and aware of which direction `down' 
really is.  It just doesn't affect the dream that much.  At other times, 
I have indeed `imagined' gravity in a direction other than my true orientation.
Particulary when flying... :-)  I suspect what we are really 
talking about is how deep your dominant (L-mode) brain hemisphere is into a 
passive resting state and how active your usually subconscious (R-mode) 
hemisphere is (I'm taking this terminology from "Drawing on the right side of 
the Brain").  Graviperception may be an L-mode task, making it somewhat
voluntary for R-mode perception.
	As I mentioned in a previous post, a scary face can also induce a
myoclonic spasm.  I suspect that R-mode is in charge of coming up with  images
and sensations to soothe the L hemisphere into a resting state, and that it
presents a panic image or sensation when the resting state is not being 
achieved.  It could just be a reaction, or a deliberate attempt to do a
warm `reboot'.  I do partially agree with the theory above in that the
sensation of falling distinctly preceeds the sensation of panic- the panic part
seems to be an involuntary response to total disorentation.  I can't guess 
the full reasons for disruption, since I am not a brain specialist.  I will 
venture the guess that worry, exhaustion, lack of sleep, excitement, and 
other stresses may cause the L hemisphere to lapse into the rest state before 
the R hemisphere is ready.  In my case, staring at a computer screen (like 
I'm doing now...) for prolonged periods may also trigger the spasms.  Perhaps 
there is a relationship to epilepsy?

	Of course you could always believe the New Age explanation (sorry-
can't recall the book).  The gurus claim that when this happens to you, your
soul is temporarily stepping out of your body for refreshment on the astral
plane, and panics when it doesn't remember where it is. ;-)  Getting back to
science, the existence of popular theories seems to suggest that myoclonic
spasms are encountered fairly frequently.  They may not be `for' anything, but
it would be interesting to see just what is going on.
>
>To my (decidedly unscientific) mind this says "gravity disconnect" in
>rather pronounced terms, and I'll be very surprised if the idea doesn't
>show up in the scientific literature sooner or later.
>
>repeating
>>>For example, if I'm sleeping on my side with one knee cocked, I am more
>>>likely to have dreams about climbing stairs or some similar activity
>>>requiring the same body position. 
>
>>I'm really curious as to how you have tested this.  
>
>ibid.
>
>But actually, the point isn't worth debating.  I was trying to explain my
>assumption that my dream feet are in the same direction as my real feet,
>which on reflection is a point that stands on it's own (so to speak).
>
>>>I suspect this gravity disconnect is necessary for dreaming about
>>>activity, otherwise we'd probably only have dreams of lying down. 
> 
>>I also think this is a bit of nonsense.  You're presupposing that 
>>outer events (e.g. body positions) play a strong role in your dream 
>>content.  


Q.v. Ann Faraday's "The Dream Game".  The above statement contradicts what most
research has shown to date.  Body position can play an extreme role in dream
content (or outer events, for that matter).  I would have to say that anyone
who has never experienced this (e.g. incorporating an alarm clock into your
dream so you don't have to wake up) should scrutinize their own dreams a bit
more carefully.  


>
>Again, not a presupposition, rather the result of a rather large body of
>personal experience.   To  reproduce my experience, I would suggest paying
>close attention to things like orientation when making the hypnogogic
>transition between sleep and wakefulness (and back).
>
>Perhaps I'm a totally unique specimen, but I doubt it.  When lying down
>thinking about doing things in the real world I visualize myself erect with
>respect to the earth, and at 90 degrees with respect to my current
>reclining position.  Indeed it's my appreciation of the effort involved in
>getting up and actually performing the imagined act that drives home the
>fact that I am indeed awake and lying down.
>
>When I slip into dreamland, I still imagine myself erect with respect to
>the dream ground, but gone is the sense of effort that connects me to my
>reclining body.  If I pay close attention (as much as can be expected in a
>hypnogogic state) I notice that the dream world is at a ninety degree angle
>with respect to the real world.
>
>This shifting of "world" orientation suggests to me that my dream self is
>sharing body awareness with my sleeping self, since I don't get a sense of
>my body changing orientation in the transition, just the environment.
>
>In any event, this line of exploration is dangerously close to being
>philosophical, and probably doesn't belong in this forum.  I'm merely
>responding to the charge of "nonsense", and defending my implication that
>this would be a good area for sleep researchers to look into.
>
>
>--
>Ken Easlon                | "...somebody spoke and I went into a dream..."
>ken@holonet.net           |    -Paul McCartney
>Pleasantly Unaffiliated   |
>

Sweet Dreams  -R.S.W.



  RICHARD WINDER                    Title: Visiting Fellow
  Forestry Canada                   Phone: (604) 363-0600
  Victoria, B.C.                    Internet: RWINDER@A1.PFC.Forestry.CA