To find out exactly what part of the sleep cycle was important, the student volunteers were monitored in a sleep laboratory. The study showed that students performed best only when allowed to have both during the course of a night. Professor Stickgold believes his research provides more proof that the brain is tracing out memories as we sleep, strengthening them overnight. Although the research is far from complete, there are many who believe the findings hold important clues to the role of sleep. Theosophy has always asserted that the states of consciousness during sleep are an extension of the waking state.
Consciousness continues to function in the dream state and in the dreamless state.
Freed from the trammels of the senses and organs, the consciousness assimilates the experiences of the waking state and gains the benefits and knowledge of Sushupti or deep sleep. Scientists are so preoccupied with the theory that it is certain structures in the brain that are reactivated during sleep, that the nature and function of real sleep activity remains terra incognita to them. The dim recollection we might have of experiences of this inner man during the hours of sleep becomes more or less distorted by our physical memory at the moment of awakening. Research into the relationship between sight and sound is continuing apace. A new study shows that sound can help direct visual attention.