John S. Antrobus

CUNY Graduate Center | CUNY · Program in Psychology

Recognition of every word is accomplished by close collaboration of bottom-up sub-word and word recognition neural networks with top-down cognitive word context expectations. The utility of this context appropriate collaboration is substantial savings in recognition time, accuracy and cortical neural processing resources. Repetition priming, the si...

The neurocognitive study of sleep mentation began in 1953 when Eugene Aserinsky, in the first all-night electroencephalograph (EEG) study of sleep, observed periodic intervals of rapid eye movements (REMs) associated with reports of long, visually vivid, and sometimes bizarre dreams. REMs occur during periods of EEG so similar to waking that Europe...

Although mind-wandering and dreaming often appear as trivial or distracting cognitive processes, we suggest that they may also contribute to the evaluation, sorting and saving of representations of recent events of future value to an individual. But 50 years after spontaneous imagery – night dreaming – was first compared to concurrent cortical EEG...

One challenge for theories of both waking imaginal processes and dreaming has been to account for how novel images and imaged sequences and meanings are created. The author, together with J. L. Singer and others, described a simple theory of how imaginal thought should vary under specific experimental conditions, and of how Ss' reports should vary...

Allan’s new paper, Dream Consciousness, represents the ideal function of theory, particularly in a new field such as the cognitive neuroscience of dreaming. A theory is not a belief. It is, rather, an abstract representation of what we know and might reasonably assume about the phenomena under consideration. A good theory is one that provokes enoug...

The likelihood of recalling dreaming and other cognition from sleep varies as a function of both the rapid eye movement (REM)/non-REM (NREM) cycles and the changes in cortical activation across the night. These processes determine cortical and subcortical patterns of regional activation in REM and NREM sleep, as well as the inhibition of afferent a...

Research in animals has demonstrated that patterns of neural activity first seen during waking experience are later “replayed” during sleep, in hippocampal and cortical networks. The characteristics of memory reactivation during human sleep, however, have not yet been fully described. Meanwhile, the possible relationship of dreaming to this “replay...

It has long been known that dream recall, along with various other features of dreaming, changes as a function of time of night. Yet the processes which might account for these time-dependent variations remain obscure. Here we assess the contribution of homeostatic and circadian factors to the generation of NREM mentation across the diurnal cycle....

The dual rhythm model of dreaming states that, under high sensory thresholds, heightened general cortical activation common to both REM/NREM and circadian-driven activation cycles sums to produce the main characteristics of dreaming. In addition, the unique pattern of regional brain activation characteristic of REM sleep amplifies the emotional int...

Although the emotional and motivational characteristics of dreaming have figured prominently in folk and psychoanalytic conceptions of dream production, emotions have rarely been systematically studied, and motivation, never. Because emotions during sleep lack the somatic components of waking emotions, and they change as the sleeper awakens, their...

Recent work on functional brain architecture during dreaming provides invaluable clues for an understanding of dreaming, but identifying active brain regions during dreaming, together with their waking cognitive and cognitive functions, informs a model that accounts for only the grossest characteristics of dreaming. Improved dreaming models require...

A decrement in the strength of the meaning of a word after rapid repetition of that word has been called "semantic satiation." This study asked whether this "satiation" might be produced by presemantic acoustic adaptation. Category words were utilized to prime the meaning of target words. The adaptation or "satiation" procedure, 30 rapid repetition...

Based on the findings of our previously published positron emission tomography study, we proposed that recorded eye movements during REM sleep are visually targeted saccades. In the present study, we examined the correlation between the number of eye movements in REM sleep (EM) and visual imagery in dreaming (V) and provided further support for our...

A set of automatic algorithms expresses the acoustic vowel signal as the ratio series, log(f j /F 02/3), where f j are the first 32 integer multiples of F 0, plus an additional 32 log(f j /F 02/3) delta terms that represent vowel trajectories. F 0 is measured on a window‐by‐window basis by an algorithm that eliminates all smearing due to convention...

Using successive nonoverlapping 22.5?ms windows, 16?kHz sampling, no filtering, an automatic algorithm locates five successive windows of minimum spectral velocity, describes a subwindow equal to some multiple of the natural period of F 0, and maps the subwindow onto the unit circle, the interval 0, 2?. Consequently, the Fourier analysis is perform...

Transients in speech and other acoustic signals are usually irregular and very difficult to analyze because of their short and nondeterministic duration. Therefore the traditional Fourier analysis technique does not give satisfying results. The classical Gabor technique uses a Gaussian waveform window. However, it is not numerically stable and it h...

Since the discovery that the characteristics of dreaming sleep are far stronger in Stage 1 rapid eye movement (REM) sleep than in any other biological state, investigators have attempted to determine the relative responsibility of the tonic versus the phasic properties of REM sleep for the different characteristics of dreaming--features such as the...

Discusses the function, the instrumental value to the individual, and necessity of dreaming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

The concepts of nonlocal, or distributed, cortical and cognitive activation are examined for their usefulness in describing the relations between sleep and waking neurocognitive processes. Changes in the pattern of distributed activation and inhibition of selected portions of sensory, cognitive, and motor decision modules account for the difference...

This chapter reviews evidence in support of the position that the pontine-geniculate-occipital (PGO)-eye movement (EM) link is part of a feedforward system for the control of waking saccades. Although waking saccades may be elicited by either visual or auditory input, the executive decision to emit a saccade during waking and REM sleep appears to b...

This article describes and evaluates neurocognitive models that attempt to account for the contribution of the right (RH) and left (LH) cerebral hemispheres to the production of dreaming and other classes of sleep mentation. The review finds no support for early proposals that the RH is the primary location for dream production. A dream is much mor...

Cognitive variables and cortical arousal levels were examined in order to determine whether differences in cortical arousal levels within REM and waking could account for different aspects of mentation derived from the two states. Cognitive variables were derived from mentation reports collected from 30 subjects in both the waking state and after b...

This article describes and evaluates neurocognitive models that attempt to account for the contribution of the right (RH) and left (LH) cerebral hemispheres to the production of dreaming and other classes of sleep mentation. The review finds no support for early proposals that the RH is the primary location for dream production. A dream is much mor...

This article describes some of the variables that distinguish waking and sleeping (REM) thought. Mentation reports from the waking state, as described here, tend to have more topic shifts than those from the REM state, which often have a single-theme storylike quality. It is assumed that heightened response thresholds to sensory stimuli, in conjunc...

Proposes that (1) cortical activation and heightened sensory thresholds are sufficient to account for the particular characteristics of the Stage 1 REM dream report, (2) these 2 variables modify certain characteristics of normal waking thought to produce dreamlike mentation, and (3) no additional special cognitive operations are required to account...

Describes 2 experiments with 26 graduate and undergraduate students that examined the relationship between external auditory nonspecific stimulation and disruption of the thematic sequencing of spontaneous thought and imagery. The experiments simulated the long thematic sequences of dreaming in the waking state by comparing the disruptive effects o...

The hypothesis that dreaming is mediated by the right hemisphere was evaluated by monitoring EEG power asymmetry during REM and NREM sleep, and obtaining mentation reports when short-term temporal shifts in the EEG indicated relative left- or right-hemispheric dominance. Content analyses provided no support for the right-hemisphere hypothesis; inde...

Mentation reports were elicited from NREM and REM sleep in 18 normal elderly females. Transcribed reports were analyzed for word count, visual and auditory imagery, intention, and affect. Comparison with similarly analyzed data from 23 young adult women revealed no differences between young and elderly in narrative length (either REM or NREM). Both...

The difference between Sleep Stages 1 REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non REM) in reported dreaming is compared to several word frequency measures of characteristics of sleep mentation reports. Total Recall Frequency (total word frequency minus pauses, fillers, corrections, repetitions and commentary) discriminated REM from NREM with approximate...

Presents a history and critical examination of sleep mentation research since the onset of electrographic laboratory methods. New, empirical sleep studies are included. Although the focus is on data, several chapters relate new research to clinical utilization of dreams and to the field of cognitive psychology. Topics explored include methodologica...

The sleep onset EEG (night 1), behavior and subjective reports (night 2) of 10 insomniacs and 8 good sleepers, aged 17-23, were compared. EEG was a poor indicator of subjective sleep, with agreements as low as .44 prior to subjective sleep onset for both groups. Compared to good sleepers, insomniacs' subjective reports were more negatively toned in...

Presents a model that suggests that many dream events are constructed, in part, from the attributes of events that have been perceived and stored during an earlier waking interval. The model emphasizes the effect of context on perception: Seen in different contexts, the same attribute, or attribute set, will result in vastly different perceptions....

Obtained 74 mentation reports immediately after NREM associated sleep utterance or "silent" sleep from 23 adult chronic sleep talkers during 1 experimental night. Content analysis and mean total word count of reports from the 2 conditions revealed no significant differences, except that reports after sleep utterance were much more likely to contain...

consider certain issues regarding the subject's report of the sleep experience, particularly the method of eliciting the sleeper's report, the optimum number of reports to obtain, order effects in the sleep report, memory and attention during sleep, and postawakening biases in the report consider methods for improving judgments based upon sleep r...

the first question . . . was whether sleep mentation can be reliably and systematically modified by external stimulation / the second question, in our judgment, is: can we take these observations beyond a set of interesting curiosities and use them to further our understanding about how the dream is constructed we will develop the topic as it has...

show how the sometimes peculiar symbolic and metaphorical features of dream imagery might be lawful products of ANN systems (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Thesis--Columbia University. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-93). Typescript.

Rapid eye movements (REMs) are recorded separately in the horizontal and vertical plane during 40 emergent Stage 1 EEG periods. 40% of all REMs are recorded exclusively in the horizontal plane; 32%, exclusively in the vertical. But vertical REMs tend to precede horizontal at the onset of Stage 1 and to follow horizontal REMs at the offset. Correlat...

Measured the production of stimulus-independent thought (e.g., fantasy and imagery) as a function of the rate at which information was presented to 50 undergraduates. Information in the form of simple tones was presented at rates from .2-6 bits/sec. The linear regression of reported stimulus-independent thought on information rate accounted for 83%...

Explored the effects of REMP deprivation on sleep-talking and on NREM mentation in 12 Ss. REMP deprivation was produced by administering pentobarbital (100 mgms) and dextroamphetamine (15 mgm spansule) for 2 successive nights at home prior to a laboratory recovery night. Results were compared to pre- and postbase-line nights with respect to frequen...

SS REPRESENTING EXTREMES ON QUESTIONNAIRES OF PRIOR DISPOSITION TO DAYDREAMING FREQUENCY AND THOUGHTFULNESS ALSO DIFFERED IN REPORTS OF TASK-IRRELEVANT IMAGERY DURING RAPID-RATE AUDITORY SIGNAL-DETECTION SESSIONS. WHILE HIGH DAYDREAMERS SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT PERFORMANCE DECREMENT OVER TIME IN GENERAL, THEY DID NOT SHOW SIGNIFICANTLY MORE DETECTION E...

Three adult females were awakened from EEG stage 1 REM and stage 2 of sleep and instructed to guess the stage of sleep from which they had been aroused. One subject obtained 27 correct discriminations (guesses) out of 29 awakenings after 84 training trials (awakenings). A second subject gave no indication of learning the discrimination in 65 trials...

A MODEL IS PROPOSED FOR RELATING PRODUCTION OF SPONTANEOUS COGNITIVE EVENTS SUCH AS DAYDREAMS TO THE ORGANISM'S CONTINUOUS RESPONSE TO EXTERNAL STIMULI. EMPLOYING A SIMPLE SIGNAL-DETECTION TASK UNDER CONDITIONS OF PARTIAL SENSORY DEPRIVATION, A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS WERE CARRIED OUT TO TEST SPECIFIC PREDICTIONS FROM THE MODEL. IN 1 EXPERIMENT INCRE...

2 experiments compare signal detection (brightness discrimination) during 2 concurrent cognitive tasks, varied talking and repetitive counting. 24 Ss served 2 2-hr. sessions under each talking condition. Reported drowsiness (p <.001) and sleeping were higher during counting sessions and detections correlated between -.39 and -.64 with drowsiness. H...

Relationship between oculometer activity during the waking state and internally produced cognitive processes such as daydreaming and visual imagery were studied by means of continuous electro-oculograms. 24 female college students served as Ss. Eye movements and blinks were more frequent following instructions to engage in active rather than passiv...

This report summarizes a study of the factorial composition of a series of measures of the structure and content of daydreaming behavior. The relationships of fantasy to measures of divergent thought productivity, attention, curiosity, and personality measures are examined.