Metacognition night and day: lucid dreaming, mind wandering and mindfulness
12-14 July 2019, Donders Institute, Nijmegen
A characteristic human attribute is our ability to reflect on our own mental processes – a phenomenon known as metacognition. Rather than actively engaging in self-reflections constantly, however, metacognition is restricted or absent during extended periods of our lifes: we are often occupied with rather automatic and mindless activities, let our minds wander freely, or are submerged in dreams without conscious control or insight into our current state of mind.
In this symposium, we aim to elucidate metacognitive processing during different states of mind: lucid dreaming, mind wandering and mindfulness. In contrast to metacognitive impairments experienced during normal dreaming, the rare phenomenon of lucid dreaming allows for full metacognitive capacity during ongoing sleep. Also mind wandering – or daydreaming – during wakefulness is characterized by strong metacognitive fluctuations, whereas states of mindfulness involve strong metacognitive features.
International experts on lucid dreaming, mind wandering and mindfulness will shed light on each of these phenomena, their psychological and neurobiological mechanisms, and explore their commonalities and mutual relationships.
Program
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Friday, 12 July 2019
19:00 Stephen LaBerge (Lucidity Institute): Lucid dreaming
20:30 Welcome reception
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Saturday, 13 July 2019
9:30 Jennifer Windt (Monash University): Mental autonomy in dreaming and mind wandering
10:10 Peter Fazekas (Antwerp University): Stimulus-independent experiences and metacognitive awareness
10:50 Coffee
11:10 Myrthe Faber (Donders Institute): Neuroscience of mind wandering
11:50 Marieke van Vugt (Groningen University): Mind wandering and mindfulness
12:30 Lunch
13:30 Tadas Stumbrys (Vilnius University): Lucid dreaming and mindfulness
14:10 Benjamin Baird (University of Wisconsin): Lucid dreaming, mind wandering and mindfulness
14:50 Corina Greven (Donders Institute): Mindfulness-based interventions for ADHD
Coffee
16:00 Ursula Voss (Frankfurt University): Dissociation and insight in altered states
16:40 Nirit Soffer-Dudek (Ben-Gurion University): Positive and negative aspects of lucid dreaming
17:20 Panel discussion: Associations between lucid dreaming, mind wandering, mindfulness
18:00 BBQ
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Sunday, 14 July 2019
9:30 Michael Schredl (Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim): Measurement of dream lucidity
10:10 Michelle Carr (Swansea University) / Martin Dresler (Donders Institute): Lucid dream induction
11:00 Coffee
11:30 Kristoffer Appel (Osnabrück University), Karen Konkoly/Ken Paller (Northwestern University): Two-way communication during lucid dreaming
12:20 Delphine Oudiette (Inserm, Paris): Lucid dreamers with narcolepsy as undercover agents in the dream world
13:00 Panel discussion: The future of lucid dream research
14:00 Snack, farewell, small-group discussions