101-nights -sleep and dream study night 072

The research project presented aims at putting the personal perception of Nathalie’s dreams through an objective, quantitative analysis using electroencephalography (EEG), in an attempt to establish a linkage between the two dimensions. 

During sleep periods, brain activity is similar to that of an awakened state, yet the thalamus, a phylogenetically ancient structure in the nervous system, isolates us from the environment. But this isolation is not total, and sometimes external stimuli are incorporated into the plot of our dreams. To establish a bridge between the record (EEG) and Nathalie’s dream narrative, we experiment with auditory stimuli as a possible mechanism of interference. 

The 101 nights is a longitudinal dataset. At the core of the study is the concordance of two divergent fields of knowledge to record and represent the dream experience. For 101 nights physiological and behavioral data are continuously paired with the dreamer’s inner life, geared towards a dialogue.

A unique dataset for scientific analyses, methodological developments as well artistic projects, including cognitive science and multiple modalities of art. The unprecedented project allows an internal and external perspective on Nathalie’s dreams, containing extensive data for 101 consecutive nights and days.

the project produced four immediate results:

1. 952 GB of brain data was produced by the registry of 256 sensors over the period of 101 nights in continuity, including her body movement (actimetry and infrared camera).
2. the audio logs of the words triggered by the computer system, each night with their exact time.
3. Nathalie’s daily dream diary entries.
4. day-by-day activity.

本研究项目旨在借助脑电图（electroencephalography, EEG）的客观量化分析，对娜塔莉的梦境个人感知展开系统性研究，以期建立梦境维度与脑活动维度间的关联。

睡眠期间，大脑活动状态与觉醒状态相似，但神经系统中系统发育古老的结构——丘脑（thalamus）会将个体与外界环境隔绝。不过此种隔绝并非完全彻底，部分外界刺激有时会被融入梦境情节之中。为搭建脑电记录与娜塔莉的梦境叙事间的关联桥梁，本研究尝试以听觉刺激作为潜在干扰机制开展实验。

‘101夜’为一项纵向数据集。本研究的核心在于融合两类差异显著的知识领域，以记录并呈现梦境体验：在连续101个夜晚中，生理与行为数据将持续与梦者的内在心理活动进行配对，旨在实现二者的对话式交互。

本数据集是一项兼具科学分析、方法学开发与艺术创作价值的独特资源，可应用于认知科学及多模态艺术等多元领域。这项前所未有的研究项目，从内部与外部双重视角展现了娜塔莉的梦境，涵盖了连续101个昼夜的海量采集数据。

本项目产出四项直接成果：
1. 在连续101个夜晚的采集周期内，256个传感器累计生成了952GB的脑活动数据，同时涵盖受试者的身体运动数据（动作测量（actimetry）与红外摄像采集数据）。
2. 计算机系统每晚触发生成的语音音频日志，每条日志均标注有精确时间戳。
3. 娜塔莉每日撰写的梦境日记条目。
4. 按日记录的日常活动数据。