Reading in Sleep: Exploring the Mysterious Phenomenon

[Werg22]

Sometimes, usually early in the morning when I'm half awake/half asleep I dream of reading out of a book. The words appear very clearly and the image remains fixed, and I read from left to right, just like with a real book. Sometimes the words do not exist, it's gibberish, sometimes its fully in English, and others a mix of the two. Unfortunately I don't really remember what kind of information is being conveyed. Just that it's usually using a somewhat complicated vocabulary. But I think as far as grammar goes, when the words actually exist, it's well formed.

I want to know if this sort of thing is studied (I'm sure it is) and if so would like to know where I can learn more about it. I think it's interesting because it's as if I don't get to understand the meaning of what's 'written' before reading it through, although the image already exists in my mind - the mind generates something with meaning without necessarily knowing the said meaning!

 

[zoobyshoe]

I don't know if it's been studied but apparently it's a common experience as the number of replies to this thread on another forum attests:

http://ask.metafilter.com/24325/Reading-in-dreams

 

[symbolipoint]

Similar here; that it happens with me, too. Usually when I had been studying something difficult for a few days, impressions of studying, reading, problem solving (attempts) enter into dreams while asleep. By my own account, this would happen from other activities too, not just reading or studying, but any sustained, damanding activity.

 

[Evo]

Similar here; that it happens with me, too. Usually when I had been studying something difficult for a few days, impressions of studying, reading, problem solving (attempts) enter into dreams while asleep. By my own account, this would happen from other activities too, not just reading or studying, but any sustained, damanding activity.

Absolutely, it has no significance other than it's dreaming about something in your life. Two nights ago I dreamt that I had put together a 10 page report for a client. it was grueling, I dreamt every litle detail, from the research to making a 10 page presentation, glossy, with pictures, and then presenting to a commitee for approval before presenting it to a client. I woke up stressed out and mentally exhausted. I often do detailed work in my sleep, only to wake up and find that it was all lost because it was a dream.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Oh man... I wish I could read while I sleep. That would save so much time...

 

[Bob S]

I had a friend in high school who had a photographic memory, and he recalled the images and read them in his sleep. It saved him a lot of time. He was very good in English and History, but not so bright in Algebra, because he could recall the images, but not reason with them.

 

[turbo]

I sometimes play guitar in my sleep. When I wake up, it I can recall what I was trying to accomplish, I can sometimes get something useful out of it.

 

[dx]

Sometimes, when I'm working on something intensively, I think about the problem in my sleep. I won't be aware of it, but in the morning, when I'm half awake/half asleep (it's called hypnagogia) I 'notice' that I had been thinking about it before, and can vaguely recall the mental images and manipulations that I had been doing.

 

[Ms Music]

Absolutely, it has no significance other than it's dreaming about something in your life. Two nights ago I dreamt that I had put together a 10 page report for a client. it was grueling, I dreamt every litle detail, from the research to making a 10 page presentation, glossy, with pictures, and then presenting to a commitee for approval before presenting it to a client. I woke up stressed out and mentally exhausted. I often do detailed work in my sleep, only to wake up and find that it was all lost because it was a dream.

I absolutely HATE those dreams!

I sometimes read books in my dreams. I also sometimes can speak spanish in my dreams, although when I am awake I definitely can NOT remember enough to be even close to conversational. Let alone conjugate verbs...

 

[turbo]

I absolutely HATE those dreams!

I sometimes read books in my dreams. I also sometimes can speak spanish in my dreams, although when I am awake I definitely can NOT remember enough to be even close to conversational. Let alone conjugate verbs...

My worst ones are dreams in which I am working up semi-annual sales projections, figuring out the minimum unit costs needed to meet budget, plugging fixed and variable costs into spreadsheet, etc, all under a crushing deadline, no less. I had one of those last week when I had a raging head-cold, got up to go to the bathroom and was relieved to realize it was just a dream. BUT, when I fell back asleep, I somehow went back to the same grinding stressful dream. Break's over! Back to work! Blah!