Dream-shaping Tech from MIT麻省理工學(xué)院的造夢技術(shù)

明迪·魏斯貝格爾 劉莉

MIT scientists have figured out how to manipulate your dreams by combining an app with a sleep-tracking device called Dormio. In their new study， the researchers were able to insert certain topics into a persons dreams， with some pretty bizarre outcomes.

To do so， the researchers at MIT Media Labs Fluid Interfaces—a group that develops wearable systems and interfaces to enhance cognitive skills—used a technique called targeted dream incubation （TDI）.

Prior studies have shown that during a rare dream state known as lucid dreaming， in which a sleeper is aware that a dream is taking place， dreamers can use that awareness to consciously shape aspects of their dreams. TDI takes advantage of an early sleep stage， known as hypnagogia， to achieve a similar result （though not quite “controlling” dreams outright）.

During hypnagogia—a semi-lucid dream state that occurs during the onset of sleep—TDI introduced “targeted information” to a sleeper， “enabling direct incorporation of this information into dream content，” the scientists wrote in a new study， published in the August issue of the journal Consciousness and Cognition. They conducted dream experiments by performing “serial awakenings” during daytime napping sessions in 25 participants.

Subjects first recorded audio prompts in an app， such as， “remember to think of a tree” and “remember to observe your thoughts，” and then prepared for sleep， according to the study.

A hand-worn sleep tracker monitored the subjects heart rate， electrical changes on the skin surface， and the amount their fingers were bent or relaxed， to detect when a sleeper entered hypnagogia and was therefore “open to influence from outside audio cues，” said lead study author Adam Haar Horowitz， a doctoral candidate in MIT Media Labs Fluid Interfaces Group. The Dormio sleep tracker communicated with the app， “which delivers audio at the correct times， and records audio of dream reports” when the subject is awake.

Just as a subject drifted off to sleep and entered hypnagogia， Dormio would coordinate with the app to wake them up with the pre-recorded prompts. This cycle repeated several times， with the sleeper also recording a brief “dream journal” entry into the app when they were awakened.

“Simply put， people tell us whether the prompts appear in their dream，” Haar Horowitz said. “Often， they are transformed—a ‘tree prompt becomes a tree-shaped car—but direct incorporation is easily identified.”

The scientists found that 67% of the subjects dream reports mentioned dreams that incorporated a tree. “I was following the roots with someone and the roots were transporting me to different locations，” one participant recalled. Another mentioned “a tree from my childhood， from my backyard. It never asked for anything.” The same subject， in later awakenings， described “trees splitting into infinite pieces” and “a shaman， sitting under the tree with me， he tells me to go to South America.”

“Dream reports increased in bizarreness and immersion with each awakening，” but the scientists did not develop a universal rating system for the bizarreness of the dreams， the study authors reported.

Dream on

Though some dreaming takes place during hypnagogia， most dreaming happens during rapid eye movement （REM） sleep. Before the brain achieves REM sleep， it passes through three stages of non-REM sleep. First is the transition from wakefulness into sleep， when hypnagogia takes place. This is followed by light sleep， and then， finally， deep sleep， according to the National Institutes of Health （NIH）. Throughout the night， a sleeper will cycle through REM and non-REM sleep several times， the NIH says.

Dreams during REM sleep can be vivid， bizarre or intense， and most of the time， the dreamer will experience them passively. However， sometimes a dreamer may find themselves in a lucid dream， in which they recognize that theyre dreaming. In this unusual state of awareness， the sleeper might be able to manipulate events in their dream， according to the Encyclopedia of Neuroscience.

Such experiences are rare. But by interrupting hypnagogia， the study authors found an alternate route for providing sleepers with the ability to shape their dream content， said Tomás Vega， a former graduate student researcher with MITs Fluid Interfaces Group， and he created the circuit board and software that TDI uses to record different biosignals.

In your wildest dreams

Vega had tested Dormio on his own dreaming brain， using the tech to plant a suggestion about a favorite movie， “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory，” with an audio prompt of the films chocolate factory workers， the Oompa Loompas， singing their signature song.

Singing Oompa Loompas did indeed appear in Vegas dream—but with a twist.

“I started dreaming about being in a chocolate waterfall， surrounded by Oompa Loompas singing ‘Oompa Loompa， doopity doo，” he said. However， Vega， who is lactose intolerant， also noted that the waterfall was made of dark chocolate.

“It was a lactose-free waterfall，” he said. “So， is my lactose-intolerance knowledge in my consciousness or in my subconscious？ I induced this dream content， but there were still some constraints， like， ‘You cannot just dream about milk chocolate because thats going to harm you，” he said.

Creative brainstorming would likely be the most immediate application for targeted dreaming， Haar Horowitz said. But as many of the mechanisms that control sleep and dreaming are not well understood， its too soon to say precisely how nudging a dreams content or achieving a state of awareness while dreaming could directly benefit a sleeper in other ways， he added.

“Every benefit shown to be correlated to dreaming deserves an experiment on whether it can be causally shown to come from dreaming，” Haar Horowitz said. “This ranges from past work on nightmares and PTSD to current work on language learning in sleep， or creativity and eureka moments in dreams.”? ? ? ? ? ? ?■

麻省理工學(xué)院的科學(xué)家將應(yīng)用程序與一款名為Dormio的睡眠追蹤設(shè)備相結(jié)合，借此找到了操縱人的夢境的方法。在他們的新研究中，研究人員能向人的夢境中插入某些主題，造成一些非常奇異的結(jié)果。

為此，麻省理工學(xué)院媒體實(shí)驗(yàn)室“流體界面”小組的研究者使用了一種名為“定向孵夢”（TDI）的技術(shù)。該小組開發(fā)可穿戴系統(tǒng)和界面，以增強(qiáng)認(rèn)知技能。

之前的研究表明，在一種被稱為清醒夢的罕見做夢狀態(tài)中，睡眠者知道夢境正在發(fā)生，做夢者可以利用這種知覺有意識(shí)地塑造其夢境的各個(gè)方面。TDI技術(shù)利用稱為“睡眠臨界態(tài)”的早期睡眠階段來達(dá)到類似效果（雖然不能完全“控制”夢境）。

睡眠臨界態(tài)即一種在睡眠開始時(shí)發(fā)生的半清醒夢狀態(tài)。科學(xué)家在發(fā)表于《意識(shí)與認(rèn)知》8月刊的新研究報(bào)告中寫道，TDI技術(shù)在這個(gè)階段向睡眠者導(dǎo)入“有針對性的信息”，“使這一信息能夠直接融入夢境”。他們對25名參與者進(jìn)行了夢境實(shí)驗(yàn)，在他們白天小睡時(shí)實(shí)施“連續(xù)喚醒”。

在這項(xiàng)研究中，受試者先在應(yīng)用程序中錄制了音頻提示，如“記得想一棵樹”“記得關(guān)注自己的想法”等，然后準(zhǔn)備入睡。

戴在手上的睡眠追蹤器監(jiān)測了受試者的心率、皮膚表面的電流變化以及他們手指彎曲或放松的程度，以檢測睡眠者何時(shí)進(jìn)入睡眠臨界態(tài)，繼而“易受外界音頻提示的影響”，麻省理工學(xué)院媒體實(shí)驗(yàn)室“流體界面”小組的博士生、本次研究報(bào)告的第一作者亞當(dāng)·哈爾·霍羅威茨說道。Dormio睡眠追蹤器與應(yīng)用程序聯(lián)通，后者會(huì)“在正確的時(shí)間發(fā)送音頻”，并在受試者醒來后“錄下夢境報(bào)告的音頻”。

就在受試者昏昏欲睡、進(jìn)入睡眠臨界態(tài)時(shí)，Dormio會(huì)與應(yīng)用程序協(xié)作，用預(yù)先錄制的提示語喚醒他們。這個(gè)循環(huán)重復(fù)了多次，睡眠者被喚醒后還錄制一條簡短的“夢境日志”音頻存到應(yīng)用程序中。

“簡而言之，受試者會(huì)告訴我們提示語是否出現(xiàn)在了他們的夢中?！惫枴せ袅_威茨表示，“通常，提示語會(huì)發(fā)生轉(zhuǎn)變，比如‘樹的提示變成了樹形的汽車，但直接融入很容易被識(shí)別?！?/p>

科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，67%的受試者在夢境報(bào)告中提到有樹出現(xiàn)在夢境中?！拔液湍橙艘黄鸶S樹根，樹根把我?guī)У搅瞬煌牡胤??！币晃粎⑴c者回憶道。另一位則提到了“一棵來自兒時(shí)后院的樹，它從未要求過什么”。同一受試者在后面幾次被叫醒時(shí)描述了“樹木分裂成無數(shù)的碎片”和“一個(gè)薩滿教巫師與我同坐樹下，他讓我去南美洲”。

“每喚醒一次，夢境報(bào)告的詭異性和沉浸感就增加一分。”但研究報(bào)告的幾位作者指出，科學(xué)家并沒有為夢的詭異性制定一個(gè)通用的評級(jí)系統(tǒng)。

繼續(xù)美夢

雖然有些夢境發(fā)生在睡眠臨界態(tài)，但大多數(shù)夢境產(chǎn)生于快速眼動(dòng)（REM）睡眠期間。大腦達(dá)到REM睡眠之前，會(huì)經(jīng)過三個(gè)階段的非REM睡眠。根據(jù)美國國家衛(wèi)生研究院（NIH）的研究，睡眠者首先會(huì)由清醒狀態(tài)過渡到睡眠狀態(tài)，即睡眠臨界態(tài)，隨后進(jìn)入淺睡眠，最后是深睡眠。NIH表示，睡眠者整夜會(huì)在REM和非REM睡眠間循環(huán)多次。

在REM睡眠期間，夢可能是生動(dòng)、詭異或強(qiáng)烈的，做夢者大多數(shù)時(shí)候是被動(dòng)地體驗(yàn)這些夢境。然而，有時(shí)做夢者可能會(huì)處于清醒的夢境中，能意識(shí)到自己在做夢?！渡窠?jīng)科學(xué)百科全書》寫道，在這種不尋常的意識(shí)狀態(tài)下，睡眠者或許能夠操縱夢中的事件。

這樣的經(jīng)歷很罕見。但麻省理工學(xué)院“流體界面”小組的前研究生調(diào)研員托馬斯·維加表示，通過打斷睡眠臨界態(tài)，研究報(bào)告的幾位作者另辟蹊徑，讓睡眠者能夠塑造夢境。維加創(chuàng)建了電路板和軟件供TDI技術(shù)記錄不同的生物信號(hào)。

狂野夢境

維加曾用自己陷入夢境的大腦測試過Dormio。他用TDI技術(shù)植入了一條關(guān)于他最喜歡的電影《歡樂糖果屋》的暗語，并用影片中巧克力工廠工人奧柏倫柏矮人所唱的招牌歌曲作為音頻提示。

唱歌的奧柏倫柏矮人確實(shí)出現(xiàn)在了維加夢中，但有一處不同。

他說：“我一開始?jí)粢娮约荷硖幥煽肆ζ俨贾校車袏W柏倫柏矮人唱著‘奧柏倫柏，嘟吡滴嘟?！钡腥樘遣荒桶Y的維加又注意到，那瀑布是由黑巧克力制成的。

“那是一個(gè)不含乳糖的瀑布?！彼f，“那么，是我的意識(shí)還是潛意識(shí)知道我對乳糖不耐受呢？這個(gè)夢境的內(nèi)容是我誘導(dǎo)的，但還是受到了一些限制，比如‘你就是不能夢到牛奶巧克力，因?yàn)槟菚?huì)傷害你。”

哈爾·霍羅威茨表示，創(chuàng)造性頭腦風(fēng)暴可能是定向孵夢最直接的應(yīng)用。但他補(bǔ)充道，由于人們對許多控制睡眠和做夢的機(jī)制還不十分了解，現(xiàn)在確切地說誘導(dǎo)夢境內(nèi)容或做夢時(shí)意識(shí)清醒如何能在其他方面使睡眠者直接獲益還為時(shí)過早。

“每一個(gè)顯示出與夢境相關(guān)的益處都應(yīng)該有實(shí)驗(yàn)來檢驗(yàn)，看它是否能由做夢產(chǎn)生?！惫枴せ袅_威茨說，“這一研究的范圍可涵蓋過去對噩夢和創(chuàng)傷后應(yīng)激障礙的研究，以及當(dāng)前對睡眠中的語言學(xué)習(xí)研究，抑或?qū)糁械膭?chuàng)造力和頓悟時(shí)刻的研究?！? ? ? ? □

（譯者單位：復(fù)旦大學(xué)）