Tag Archives: Yale University

Inception becomes reality: People can teach themselves new skills in dreams

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The idea of the surreal Hollywood blockbuster Inception, where people travel through someone’s dreams to ‘plant’ an idea in his head may not be so out-there after all.

Researchers at Yale have found that ‘lucid dreamers’ – dreamers who have ‘waking dreams’ that they control – are able to learn new skills in their dreams.

A team is now experimenting with the idea of ‘training’ people by telling them what to dream about.

While the idea of 'walking through' someone's dreams, as in the hit movie Inception is fictional - and likely to remain so - dreams are good for more than just entertainment, say researchers
While the idea of ‘walking through’ someone’s dreams, as in the hit movie Inception is fictional – and likely to remain so – dreams are good for more than just entertainment, say researchers

‘We know that by engaging circuits in the brain we can change its architecture,’ says Yale’s Peter Morgan

People who can control their dreams can use the unusual ability to experience a sense of euphoria, as if they have accomplished something.

But new research hints that people can actually ‘use’ dreaming as a tool to learn.

Being in command of dreams opens up opportunities to manipulate them for learning and training – although it may not be quite as precise as learning to play the violin while asleep.

Instead, ‘lucid dreamers’ can control areas of their brain to open up and ‘learn’ while they sleep. What’s more, it seems that merely being a lucid dreamer seems to give you an advantage.

Researchers from Yale University found that lucid dreamers perform better in a gambling task, designed to test a part of the brain important to emotional decision-making and social interactions, said a report in New Scientist this week.

Peter Morgan at Yale University and colleagues think that this region can be trained. 

Morgan and his team are working on how to train people using dreams.

Morgan hopes to be able to improve a person’s social control and decision-making abilities.

‘We know that by engaging circuits in the brain we can change its architecture,’ he says.

It’s already been proven that people who practice tasks in dreams can be better at them in real life.

One Swiss study, led by Daniel Erlacher of the University of Bern, showed that lucid dreamers who ‘practiced throwing a coin into a cup were better at the real thing when they woke up.

- Daily mail

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4 Indians Among MIT’s Top 35 Innovators

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Two Indians and two persons of Indian origin figure among Top 35 Innovators under 35 in the latest list of Massachusetts Institute of Technology‘s (MIT) Technology Review, the world’s oldest Technology Magazine established in 1899.Ajit Narayanan, Invention Labs, Chennai and Aishwarya Ratan, Yale University, who were part of TR35 India Winners announced in March 2011, have made it to the annual list of people who exemplify the spirit of innovation in business and technology.

Ajit Narayanan:

Ajit Narayan MIT, USA

There is an estimation of around 10 million people in India to suffer from speech impediments. Ajit Narayanan’s device can benefit such people. His innovation AVAZ is a portable and battery operated communication device for people with speaking disorders who suffer from cerebral palsy, autism, mental retardation, and aphasia. This device converts the limited muscle movements like head and finger moves into speech. This tech innovation of Ajit comes under the category of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) technologies. Narayanan wants to bring out an affordable device with cuts the cost of the device to one tenth of the original price. He wants to make it widely available in India and in different languages.

Aishwarya Ratan:

Aishwarya Ratan, MIT, USA

She has developed an electronic ballpoint pen to write in ledgers placed on a slate furnished with software which identifies the handwritten numbers. Finally the feedback about the total record completion and legibility is given by the late. The storage of these feedbacks is also possible. The feedback is given on the screen and also verbally in local language. The database can be shared with the nongovernmental organizations and banks that support the co-operatives. She is a partnering with an NGO and is doing studies on improving the technologies that can help the poor people monetarily. In June she became the director of Microsavings and payments innovation initiative at Yale University.

Bhaskar Krishnamachari:

Bhaskar Krishnamachari

Bhaskar Krishnamachari aspires to simplify the increasing digital congestion of air waves and welcome new applications for wireless communications. So he created a smarter wireless networks that would handle the mobile devices and intervening more efficiently than Wi-Fi‘s and cellular networks. So his innovation is about opening an additional bandwidth which will for free of cost.

Piya Sorcar:

piya sorcar

Piya Sorcar the founder and CEO of TechAIDS developed interactive software that educated the children about HIV that’s sensitive to the Indian tradition. Sorcar made the decision to develop this device when she realized that the way of awareness spread among the children and adults in India is not that effective. The reason is the cultural back ground which doesn’t allow people to be open minded or out spoken to discuss on these topics detailed way. Now her software has been approved and is dispensed among the Indian states where other sex education is banned. In Botswana, a country located in southern Africa has approved for this software to be distributed in every school. Sorcar is expecting to distribute this software to all countries within 5 years.

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