The dream catcher: Scientists reveal 'stunning' invention which can READ people's sleeping minds

The dream catcher is 60 per cent accurate, tests have revealed Likened to film Inception, in which people manipulate peoples dreams Specially programmed computer picked images dreamt about 60% of time
By Fiona Macrae PUBLISHED: 18:00 GMT, 4 April 2013 | UPDATED: 06:34 GMT, 5 April 2013

Scientists have programmed a computer to read peoples dreams. They claim their invention, the dream catcher is 60 per cent accurate. The level of detail is still far from that in the Leonardo DiCaprio film Inception, in which people manipulate peoples dreams and steal their sleeping thoughts.

Scientists have programmed a computer to read people's dreams, and it is 60 per cent accurate. The level of detail is still far from that in the Leonardo DiCaprio film Inception, in which people manipulate peoples dreams and steal their sleeping thoughts

However, experts have described the work, detailed in the respected journal Science, as stunning. They added that just a few years ago such a feat would have been firmly in the realms of Star Trek, at best. The Japanese scientists began by scanning the brains of three volunteers as they slept in an MRI machine. Every six or seven minutes, they were prodded awake and asked to describe any dream theyd been having.

The study has been described as 'stunning in its detail and success'

The process was repeated until each participant had recounted at least 200 dreams. One drowsy man told the researchers: From the sky, I saw something like a bronze statue, a big bronze statue. The bronze statue existed on a small hill. Below the hill, there were houses, streets and trees. Another volunteer said: I hid a key in a place between a chair and a bed and someone took it. The descriptions were analysed and the key themes for each participant placed into twenty categories. Examples of categories include men, women, tools, books and cars. Next, the volunteers, who were by now wide awake, were shown photos corresponding to things from the categories and their brains scanned once more. A computer programme quickly learnt to pick out the brain activity signatures for each category. In the final part of the experiment, the computer put its knowledge to use, by trying to decode the brain scans of the volunteers as they slept once more. Amazingly, the computer identified the sort of images being dreamt about 60 per cent of the time. This is far higher than would occur due to chance alone, says researcher Yukiyasu Kamitani, of ATR

Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto. Some neuroscientists said that the volunteers were sleeping so lightly during the study that they werent technically dreaming.

BRAIN SCANS 'CAN PREDICT IF CRIMINALS WILL REOFFEND'

According to American imaging experts, convicts showing low activity in an area of the brain associated with decision-making and action are more likely to be arrested again. A group of 96 male prisoners underwent MRI scans shortly before they were due to be released, while they were carrying out computer tasks in which subjects had to make quick decisions and inhibit impulsive reactions. The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to focus on activity in a section of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) - a small region in the front of the brain involved in motor control and executive functioning. They then followed the subjects for four years. Among the ex-criminals studied, those who had lower ACC activity during the quick-decision tasks were more likely to be arrested again after getting out of prison. But the researchers believe that the dreaming of deep sleep may be very similar. US neuroscientist and dream expert Dr Robert Stickgold, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, said we are still far from having a machine that can fully read our dreams. But, despite this, he described the study as stunning in its detail and success. He told Science: This is probably the first real demonstration of the brain basis of dream content. Dr Stickgold said the research proved, for the first time, that when people describe their dreams they are at least close to being accurate. Up until this moment, there were no grounds on which to say we don't just make up our dreams when we wake up. He added that in future, the technique could be used to help us remember forgotten dreams. Similar technology has been used in rudimentary mind-reading of people when they are awake.

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Comments (64)
Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all 60%? Wouldnt you get 50% just by guessing? (Was I dreaming about a cat? Guess yes or no. Success rate of guesses = 50%) - Pink kitten , Cheltenham, United Kingdom, 06/4/2013 11:07 Click to rate Report abuse I wouldn't like them seeing some of my dreams! - ReemDean , Birmingham, United Kingdom, 06/4/2013 05:35 Click to rate Report abuse At 60% accuracy I can read dreams! " I see falling, no? Flying!"- It's easy when you know how.. - TedF , Weston super Mare, United Kingdom, 05/4/2013 19:12 Click to rate Rating 9 Rating 3 Rating 3

Report abuse Maybe taken down and used as evidence against you, thought crime, dream crime, where no crime ever existed in history, the last bastion of freedom, your own mind will soon be no longer. - Dave Tring , Tring, 05/4/2013 17:16 Click to rate Report abuse Rubbish. Another example of wasted money. - Texan , Houston, 05/4/2013 16:07 Click to rate Report abuse D*mn!!! Now u can't even sleep in peace!!! - NinaGirl , Montgomery, AL, 05/4/2013 15:27 Click to rate Report abuse Seems exaggerated beyond its achievement to me. There are only twenty categories for the dreams, so the best it can do is predict someone is having a dream about a man, a car, or whatever - and that's after calibrating the computer by having the person look at a photo of a man, a car or whatever. It may be better than chance, but that assumes all 20 are equally likely to occur, when clearly people are more likely to have dreams involving about other people than involving books. - Gary , Southampton, 05/4/2013 15:19 Click to rate Report abuse Google must be behind this. - Missing real ale , Netherlands, 05/4/2013 14:26 Click to rate Report abuse Having brain scanned - if they can find it in some cases - should be a pre-condition of political leadership - Douglas Brough , England, 05/4/2013 12:28 Click to rate Report abuse Please send the results to Obama (1600, Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC, USA) and save us American taxpayers 100 million dollars on another scam of his. Thanks! - mahatchma , stevensville, 05/4/2013 12:07 Click to rate Report abuse The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Rating (0) Rating 6 Rating (0) Rating 2 Rating 3 Rating 4 Rating 3

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