title: A template model of embodiment while dreaming: Proposal of a mini-me.
abstract: Dreams are usually centered around a dream self capable of tasks generally impossible in waking, e.g. flying or walking through walls. Moreover, the bodily dream self appears relatively stable and insensitive to changes of the embodied wake self, raising the question of whether and to what extent the dream self is embodied. To further explore its determinants, we tested whether the dream self would be affected by either pre-sleep focused attention to a body part or by its experimental alteration during the day. Choosing a repeated-measures design, we analyzed how often key words reflecting the experimental manipulations appeared in the dream reports. Results suggest that the dream self is not affected by these manipulations, strengthening the hypothesis that, in the majority of dreams, the dream self is only weakly embodied, utilizing a standard template of embodiment akin to a prototype of self operating independently from the physical waking self.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Germany. Electronic address: j.koppehele@uni-bonn.de.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koppehele-Gossel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Germany; Department of Psychiatric Neurophysiology, VITOS Hochtaunus Klinik, Germany.
authors.forename: Ansgar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klimke
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schermelleh-Engel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatric Neurophysiology, VITOS Hochtaunus Klinik, Germany; Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Voss
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D004325:Dreams / Q000502:physiology*; D004532:Ego; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Discontinuity; Dream self; Dreaming; Embodiment; Protoconsciousness