nightmares+-+rachel

1. What does it mean to be "gainfully" employed (line 3)? have a job with paying income 2. Look up the word "Damoclesian". What does it mean that the knife dangled with "Damoclesian contempt"? the knife was threatening "imminent harm" (dictionary.com) 3. What did the patient fear at night (2 things)? swinging blades and frozen fear 4. How did Dr. Leving help this man? taught him to "reframe" the dreams and act out "alternative" outcomes 5. When is the last time you had a nightmare you remember? Do you mind sharing it? If not, please do so here... I don't know. I usually just black out. 6. What does she mean when she calls nightmares a "sensorily rich nocturnal roundhouse staffed with characters so persuasive you want to ... strangle them, before they can strangle you."? (paragraph 4) dreams seem very real, posing what feel like true threats 7. What percentage of dreams are bad dreams? about 25% 8. What is REM sleep? (You may need to look this up.) What does it stand for? What happens during REM sleep? How much REM sleep do we get in a typical night's sleep? Rapid eye movement sleep is a combination of brain excitement and muscular immobility. During REM sleep brain waves increase and the body becomes paralyzed. Adults need about 7 to 8 hours 20% of this sleep is usually occupied by REM sleep. 9. How much time do we spend dreaming each night? 60-70% 10. How does the frequency of nightmares change as we age? (Be specific with ages and number of nightmares) childhood - increase adolescence - peak adulthood - decrease 11. Which parts of the brain are active during dreaming (Be specific, name the parts and their function)? limbic system - emotions secondary visual cortex - processes and interprets signals 12. What is the possible function of bad dreams? And why are nightmares disfunctional? bad dreams that do not awake you are functional by resolving problems and intense emotions gathered throughout the day; nightmares are dysfunctional because they awake you are examples of failed "fear extinction system."
 * A NYT article on Nightmares by my favorite author, Natalie Angier**