ScienceAlert
A new study has found that certain soundscapes produce pleasant dreams – except around the time of a full moon, when most people dream weird things.
For two years researchers at the University of Hertfordshire collected data from thousands of people who downloaded the iPhone app Dream:ON. The app monitors sleeping patterns and plays different soundscapes that evoke pleasant scenarios.
Most Dream:ON users submitted a description of their dreams, giving researchers unprecedented access to dreams and dream manipulation.
The researchers found that certain soundscapes produced more pleasant dreams, revealing how to create perfect dreams for specific users. In a news release they explained:
“Having positive dreams helps people wake-up in a good mood, and boosts their productivity. We have now discovered a way of giving people sweet dreams, and this may also form the basis for a new type of therapy to help those suffering from certain psychological problems, such as depression.”
But they also found something somewhat unexpected: the full moon causes some extremely bizarre dreams:
“In 2013, neuroscientists from the University of Basel discovered that people experience more disturbed sleeping patterns around the time of a full moon. We have seen a similar pattern with more bizarre dreams being associated with a full moon,” remarked Richard Wiseman, leader of the study.
So next time you dream of flying elephants, blame it on the Moon