New research suggests people can communicate and practice skills while dreaming
.jpeg&w=800)
Recent research indicates that people can communicate and practice skills while dreaming, particularly during lucid dreaming states. Scientists have revisited the concept of sleep learning, using modern techniques to verify unconscious processing during sleep. While early studies were discredited due to flawed methodologies, new experiments with lucid dreamers suggest potential for cognitive engagement during sleep.
- ▪In a recent study, lucid dreamers were able to work on complex puzzles while asleep, demonstrating cognitive engagement during dreams.
- ▪Early 20th-century attempts at sleep learning were discredited because researchers could not confirm participants were truly asleep.
- ▪Modern sleep research uses brain monitoring to verify sleep stages and has reignited interest in the possibility of learning during sleep.
- ▪Historically, figures like Saliger promoted devices claiming to reprogram the unconscious mind during sleep, though these lacked scientific validation.
- ▪Scientists like Ken Paller argue that past skepticism halted research on sleep learning for decades, but new evidence is challenging old assumptions.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Annals of InquiryIt’s Possible to Learn in Our Sleep. Should We?New research suggests that people can communicate and even practice skills while dreaming.By Shayla LoveMay 1, 2026Illustration by Simon BaillySave this storySave this storySave this storySave this storyIn 1932, the inventor Alois Benjamin Saliger patented the Psycho-phone, a phonograph hooked up to a timer which could play recordings while a person was asleep. The audio could be heard at his dimly lit office on Lafayette Street, in Lower Manhattan. In one recording, titled “Prosperity,” Saliger intoned, “I have complete confidence in the Psycho-phone. It lulls me to sleep, but my unconscious mind hears and is deeply impressed by these affirmations.
…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Hacker News: Front Page.
Discussion
0 commentsMore from Hacker News: Front Page
