Frequent or recurring nightmares, if left unchecked, can not only negatively impact sleep but also individuals’ daily lives. The method researchers used could boost the effectiveness of an already-existing therapeutic treatment for sufferers of chronic nightmares, who often have comorbidities such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
Researchers at the University of Geneva in Switzerland have adapted targeted memory reactivation (TMR), which has the potential to influence the course of memory formation through the application of cues during sleep, to help people manage their debilitating nightmares, according to a recently peer-reviewed study.
The study builds off of image rehearsal therapy (IRT), a cognitive behavioral technique often employed in the service of reducing the number and intensity of nightmares that weakens nightmares by giving them context through conversation.
Patients are asked to think back on their nightmares and edit them to imagine positive endings to them. The idea behind the practice is to let the mental exercises, which can rewrite dream narratives, bleed into the patients’ dream worlds – resulting in higher-quality sleep unfettered by the stress that normally accompanies nightmares.
However, much of the research suggests that as little as 30% of people who try IRT respond positively to it, and researchers learned that the odds of therapeutic success were increased when IRT was paired with TMR.
“There is a relationship between the types of emotions experienced in dreams and our emotional well-being,” says senior author Lampros Perogamvros, a psychiatrist at the Sleep Laboratory of the Geneva University Hospitals.
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The European Commission has announced plans to “strengthen” the borders of nine member states
The European Commission unveiled a strategy on Wednesday to reinforce nine EU member states bordering Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, by means of the ‘European Drone Defense Initiative’. Previously dubbed the ‘drone wall’, the plan has faced criticism over its feasibility.
Russia has repeatedly dismissed Western claims of being a threat to NATO or EU nations, calling the narrative “nonsense” and “fearmongering” meant to justify inflated military budgets.
Announced by the commission’s executive vice president, Raffaele Fitto, the plan includes Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Brussels says that these nations are facing reduced investment, demographic pressure, and “hybrid” threats linked to the Ukraine conflict.
The new strategy includes a €28 billion ($33 billion) loan program, as well as commitments to implement ...
Washington’s initiative seeks to secure a supply chain for AI, semiconductors, and critical minerals
India has joined the US-led Pax Silica alliance, which aims to secure a supply chain for artificial intelligence, chips, and critical minerals.
The Pax Silica declaration was signed on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit currently underway in New Delhi.
Australia, Greece, Israel, Japan, Qatar, South Korea, Singapore, the UAE, and the UK are the other signatories of the declaration, according to the US State Department.
Canada, the European Union (EU), the Netherlands, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Taiwan are non-signatory participants.....more below
