The idea for this blog came to me the other day when I woke from a vivid dream. I had dozed off listening to the audio version of Anthony Trollope's autobiography. The dream stayed with me. It involved two friends from a writing group that has been disbanded for years.
The three of us walked together (in my dream) on a dark street and one of my friends was describing her success in publishing short stories. As the list of her successes lengthened, my sense of failure grew. I was happy for her, but realized that my success could not compare with hers. As we walked, the environment grew more ominous. There were no lights. Eventually there were no people. I felt alone and threatened.
With that I shook myself awake. The audio tape was still going and Trollope was cataloguing the books he had written and published. The relationship between my dream and what I had heard on the recording was inescapable. So I began to read (don't I always?) about dreaming and hearing. Today I share a little bit of what I learned.
The template picture for the (75th round of the LMAC Collage contest) that served as a basis for my collage today is quite beautiful. I modified the picture, but hope I did not destroy its magic.
Template Photo by 
Hearing in a Dream State
I'll start off this discussion with a quote from the journal, Sleep:
...it has been shown that the sleeping brain is still able to process external information and even detect the pertinence of its content
The data that forms the basis of this article was obtained from PET and fMRI brain scans performed on subjects who were sleeping. The subjects' responses to the external stimuli varied according to the different stages of sleep. Activity was greatest, (predictably) during REM sleep.
Sleep During REM Stage REM
Credit: Nascared. Image obtained with screenshot of PSG [polysomnography) scan of someone's brain during sleep. Used under 3.0 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
The Sleep article explains that more imaging studies are necessary in order to better understand how the brain processes external stimuli during sleep and how the brain consolidates that information with already present information (memory).
A 2019 article in the Journal Nature (Sleepers Track Informative Speech in a Multitalker Environment) describes a sleeping brain that is very much tuned into external stimuli. A quote:
the sleeping brain continues generating neural responses to external events5,6, revealing the preservation of cognitive processes ranging from the recognition of familiar stimuli to the formation of new memory representations
Patient Wired up for a Sleep Study Performed by the U. S. Military
Credit: U. S. Army. (From the caption under the picture)Sleep technician checks sensor connections during a sleep study at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., Nov. 22, 2013. Image used under Public Domain license.
One bit of information I found intriguing in this study was that the sleeping brain actually prioritizes information. The restorative function of sleep is essential, so that continues in the background while there is maintained an awareness of "meaningful speech compared to irrelevant signals." In other words, we tune out what we don't want to know and 'hear' what is essential.
This finding corresponds to the findings of a 1998 study I came across.
Sleeping Mother With Her Baby
Credit:Christian Krohg (1883). Kode Art Museum and composer homes--current location. Public domain.
In the 1998 study, published in Science Daily, an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University implanted electrodes directly onto the brain (!!!!) of the sleeping subject. From her readings, the student believed she could detect exactly where the active part of the brain (discerning significant sounds during sleep) was located.
The student hypothesized that the prefrontal lobe served the function of being 'vigilant' during sleep, while also allowing the sleeper to rest. The system, "rouses a mother when her baby cries but lets the woman sleep when a truck rumbles by."
So, what happened during my dream? Apparently the information provided by Anthony Trollop in his autobiography was significant to my life. In my dream state, I created a 'reality' that doesn't exist. My dear friend has never, to my knowledge, had a story published commercially. She has self-published a book, but she did that with my help.
In the future, perhaps I should listen to music when going to sleep, instead of a book. I wonder how my brain will process that?
My Collage
This one was fun. I took my time and added elements intuitively. I couldn't find a suitable sleeping woman on a public domain site, so I took someone who was sitting and manipulated her body to make it look as though she was lying down.
I took the distant mountain from the template and made that into the two islands. Also, I added it to the whales' backs, so they would be more dramatic in appearance.
Here are a few pictures of my progress:
At this point I had added all the elements I wanted. I just needed a little 'dream' filter from Lunapic to give the picture the final 'dreamy' look I wanted.
I owe a debt to my LMAC colleagues who contributed pictures to the LMAC Gallery of Images, LIL.
Ox
@yaziris
@redheadpei
@mitag2398
@hernleon74
@cetb2008A Few I contributed to LIL:
Fish under water
Seahorse
Sparkly fish
I also would like to thank the following photographers from public domain sources for their photos:
Paola Ocaranza, Unsplash
Whales
susannp4, Pixabay
Bed
mohamed-hasan
Music notes
https://pixabay.com/es/vectors/silueta-musical-clave-bajo-3309171/
mysticsartdesign
Unicorn
https://pixabay.com/es/illustrations/unicornio-paisaje-la-atm%C3%B3sfera-1737897/
ckl-free-vector-images
Pillow
https://pixabay.com/es/vectors/habitaci%C3%B3n-dormido-cama-muebles-294591/
Tim Stagge
Woman
https://unsplash.com/photos/M_INGBXweog
LMAC and LIL
Every week I learn something when I write a blog for this community. This week I learned a lot about brain activity during sleep. I hope my readers find that information as interesting as I did. And every week I have a wonderful time tapping my creative resources as I design a collage.
Please check out the LMAC curation feed to learn how creative insight offered unique perspectives on this week's template.
Selecting finalists for the ultimate part of the contest is never easy. Everyone who competes is a winner (I don't compete), but the Hive community selects the official winners. This week's roster of winners may be viewed here. Would the winner have been your choice? All of Hive can vote in the contest.
Tomorrow a new template will be published. Make a collage and join in the fun.
You can see that LIL, the LMAC Image Library, was an essential part of my collage creating process this week. Everyone on Hive can contribute to the library and everyone can borrow from the library. Learn about the procedure here.
I wish all my readers peace and health.
Thank you for reading my blog