
Fresh Air A Sleep Scientist Excavates The World Of Dreams
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Nov 20, 2025 Michelle Carr, a dream scientist at the University of Montreal and author of 'Nightmare Obscura,' delves into the fascinating realm of dreams and nightmares. She shares insights on dream engineering, revealing how sensory inputs can influence dreams. Carr discusses the connection between nightmares and heightened sensitivity, creativity, and adverse early experiences. She also provides techniques for improving dream recall and rescripting nightmares, offering hope for reducing their occurrence. Plus, she highlights the health implications of frequent nightmares.
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Dreaming As Overnight Emotional Processing
- Dreams help process recent emotional memories and form associations to adapt for future situations.
- Nightmares occur when intense emotional memories disrupt sleep and jolt us into wakefulness.
Lucid Dream Sparked A Career
- Michelle Carr experienced sleep paralysis in college and chose to relax instead of forcing wakefulness.
- That decision led to a vivid lucid dream that inspired her career in dream science.
How Dream Labs Capture Dreams
- Sleep labs mimic comfortable bedrooms while recording brain, eye, muscle, heart, and breathing signals.
- Researchers watch subjects remotely and wake them to collect immediate dream reports.



