As we fall asleep we forget about the future: A quantitative linguistic analysis of mentation reports from hypnagogia.
We present a quantitative study of mental time travel to the past and future in sleep onset hypnagogia. Three independent, blind judges analysed a total of 150 mentation reports from different intervals prior to and after sleep onset. The linguistic tool for the mentation report analysis grounds on established grammatical and cognitive-semantic theories, and proof of concept has been provided in previous studies. The current results indicate that memory for the future, but not for the past, decreases in sleep onset - thereby supporting preliminary physiological evidence at the level of brain function. While recent memory research emphasizes similarities in the cognitive and physiological processes of mental time travel to the past and future, the current study explores a state of consciousness which may serve to dissociate between the two.
Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Dundee, UK. Electronic address: j.speth@dundee.ac.uk.
Jana
J
Speth
Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Dundee, UK.
Astrid M
AM
Schloerscheidt
Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Dundee, UK.
Clemens
C
Speth
D000328:Adult; D003243:Consciousness / Q000502:physiology*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
Dream; Hallucination; Hypnagogic; Memory for the future; Mental time travel; Non-REM; Phenomenology; REM; Sleep onset; States of consciousness; Subjective experience