Papers by Umberto Barcaro
Dreaming
Ernest Hartmann observed a close similarity between the central image in dreams (an image that ca... more Ernest Hartmann observed a close similarity between the central image in dreams (an image that can effectively represent the emotional content of a dream) and the objective correlative (defined by T.S. Eliot as "a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion"). This article argues that Hartmann's equation between central image and objective correlative is amply valid and can shed new light on the relationship between the esthetic experience and the dreaming experience. For this purpose, 3 points are underlined. First, the objective correlative is characterized by its multifaceted dream-like basis. Second, in light of the central role that Eliot attributed to the Italian medieval poets of the "Dolce Stil Nuovo," the historical significance of a dream reported by Dante is discussed. Third, Hartmann's equation can assume different aspects, especially regarding the either explicit or implicit (or partly implicit) relationship between objective correlative and dreaming. Among the numerous instances offered by cultures that are widely separated by space and time, the article considers examples taken from T.S. Eliot's "Ash Wednesday", Guido Cavalcanti's Sonnet XVIII, Dante's "Vita Nova", the Book of Genesis, Lucretius's "De Rerum Natura", a waka on the theme "Spring" by Fujiwara no Teika, and the lyrics of a song by Franco Battiato. The validity of Hartmann's equation suggests that the reference to dreaming, being common to both the art creator and the art receiver, plays a latent but basic role in the esthetic experience.
Journal of Sleep Research, 2023
Mentation reports were collected after spontaneous awakenings from morning naps in 18 healthy par... more Mentation reports were collected after spontaneous awakenings from morning naps in 18 healthy participants, and associations between sleep stages duration and complexity of recalled mentation were investigated. Participants were continuously recorded with polysomnography and allowed to sleep for a maximum of 2 hr. Mentation reports were classified according to both their complexity (1–6 scale) and their perceived timing of occurrence (Recent or Previous Mentation with respect to the final awakening). The results showed a good level of mentation recall, including different types of mentation with lab-related stimuli. N1 + N2 duration was positively related to the complexity of Previous Mentation recall, while rapid eye movement sleep duration was negatively related. This suggests that the recall of complex mentation, such as dreaming with a plot, occurring far from awakening may depend on the length of N1 + N2. However, the duration of sleep stages did not predict the complexity
of Recent Mentation recall. Nevertheless, 80% of participants who recalled
Recent Mentation had a rapid eye movement sleep episode. Half of the participants reported incorporating lab-related stimuli in their mentation, which positively correlated with both N1 + N2 and rapid eye movement duration. In conclusion, nap sleep architecture is informative about the complexity of dreams perceived as having occurred early during the sleep episode, but not about those perceived as recent.
International Journal of Dream Research, 2023
The research aimed at a quantitative description of the changes in REM sleep microstructure throu... more The research aimed at a quantitative description of the changes in REM sleep microstructure throughout the night. For this purpose, sleep recordings available on the public “PhysioNet” website were analyzed from a chronobiological perspective. This approach was suggested by the fact that two important properties of REM sleep determine its microstructure: the alternation between phasic and tonic microstates, and the presence of Slow Eye Movements in addition to Rapid Eye Movements. Although the examined recordings did not include data about dreams, a significant result of our analyses was the close similarity between the observed highly statistically significant changes in the microstructure and changes in basic dream features that are amply reported in the literature, including recall, word count, vividness and emotional content.
Dreaming, 2023
Ernest Hartmann observed a close similarity between the central image in dreams (an image that ca... more Ernest Hartmann observed a close similarity between the central image in dreams (an image that can effectively represent the emotional content of a dream) and the objective correlative (defined by T.S. Eliot as "a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion"). This article argues that Hartmann's equation between central image and objective correlative is amply valid and can shed new light on the relationship between the esthetic experience and the dreaming experience. For this purpose, 3 points are underlined. First, the objective correlative is characterized by its multifaceted dream-like basis. Second, in light of the central role that Eliot attributed to the Italian medieval poets of the "Dolce Stil Nuovo," the historical significance of a dream reported by Dante is discussed. Third, Hartmann's equation can assume different aspects, especially regarding the either explicit or implicit (or partly implicit) relationship between objective correlative and dreaming. Among the numerous instances offered by cultures that are widely separated by space and time, the article considers examples taken from T.S. Eliot's "Ash Wednesday", Guido Cavalcanti's Sonnet XVIII, Dante's "Vita Nova", the Book of Genesis, Lucretius's "De Rerum Natura", a waka on the theme "Spring" by Fujiwara no Teika, and the lyrics of a song by Franco Battiato. The validity of Hartmann's equation suggests that the reference to dreaming, being common to both the art creator and the art receiver, plays a latent but basic role in the esthetic experience.
International Journal of Dream Research, 2022
The article describes a model of how our brain constructs a dream and what functions are involved... more The article describes a model of how our brain constructs a dream and what functions are involved in this construction. The model is based on phenomenological data, reported in the literature, obtained by experimental research focused on the relationship between the dream experience and events in the dreamer's waking life. The Dream-Building System is described as a cascade of two subsystems. The first (the Retrieving SubSystem) performs the function of retrieving, from among the memory contents in the dreamer's mind, those specific memories that are appropriate for the construction of a dream. The output of this subsystem , i.e., a Cluster of Dream Sources, is the input of the Plot-Building SubSystem, which creates the serial plot of the Dream Experience by transforming its distributed input (i.e., the output of the Retrieving SubSystem) into a serial output. Both subsystems perform complex functions that require a high level of creative unconscious "intelligence". Issues regarding typical dreams, underlying emotions, symbolism, condensation, creativity, and bizarreness are discussed in the light of the proposed model.
Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Physiological Computing Systems, 2016
In the last years, the complexity paradigm is gaining momentum in many research fields where larg... more In the last years, the complexity paradigm is gaining momentum in many research fields where large multidimensional datasets are made available by the advancements in instrumental technology. A complex system is a multi-component system with a large number of units characterized by cooperative behavior and, consequently, emergence of well-defined self-organized structures, such as communities in a complex network. The self-organizing behavior of the brain neural network is probably the most important prototype of complexity and is studied by means of physiological signals such as the ElectroEncephaloGram (EEG). Physiological signals are typically intermittent, i.e., display non-smooth rapid variations or crucial events (e.g., cusps or abrupt jumps) that occur randomly in time, or whose frequency changes randomly. In this work, we introduce a complexity-based approach to the analysis and modeling of physiological data that is focused on the characterization of intermittent events. Recent findings about self-similar or fractal intermittency in human EEG are reviewed. The definition of brain event is a crucial aspect of this approach that is discussed in the last part of the paper, where we also propose and discuss a first version of a general-purpose event detection algorithm for EEG signals.
Creation of tension, followed by tension resolution is one of the fundamental features of music; ... more Creation of tension, followed by tension resolution is one of the fundamental features of music; a similar cognitive and emotive pattern characterizes the psychological experience of dreaming. A theoretical study of this similarity item between music and dreaming, two universal human activities, can be interesting from two viewpoints: first, it can shed light on both music psychology and dreaming psychology; second, it provides an example of how our mind can exhibit similar ways of working for different functions. The tensionresolution pattern shared by music and dreaming is related to the basic emotional significance of both these experiences and, more generally, to a multifaceted complex set of similarity items between music and dreaming.
The biblical narration of Jacob's dream is analyzed in the light of current significant i... more The biblical narration of Jacob's dream is analyzed in the light of current significant issues of dream research, specifically: the usefulness of historical data for the study of dreaming; the continuity theory; the phenomenological relationship between the dream experience and its sources; the relationship between music and dreaming; the latent role of archetypes in the construction of dreams; the significance of dreams for the cognitive study of religions; and the multiple levels of analysis of historically important dreams. Dream-evocative features in the biblical narration are also described, which are given by word-root recurrences and by the use of a "hapax legomenon" to indicate Jacob's vision. This analysis based on current dream research provides insights into Jacob's dream. In addition, Jacob's dream in itself is useful for dream research, because it highlights basic universal aspects of the dreaming experience.
International Journal of Dream Research, 2020
In several famous musical compositions a maintained melodic shift to higher pitches has been over... more In several famous musical compositions a maintained melodic shift to higher pitches has been overtly exploited to represent the dreaming experience. This kind of shift also plays the artistic role of dream evocation in musical compositions that, although not overtly, are however implicitly related to dreaming. This psychoesthetic effect can be accounted for by two psychological phenomena that at first sight do not seem to be related to each other: the perception of higher pitches as being located in higher space, and the archetypical idea, amply highlighted by anthropological research, of dreaming as the wandering of the soul over celestial territories. This paper describes the rationale underlying the connection between these phenomena. The implications are then discussed in terms of the general relationship between music and dreaming, the connection between the dreaming experience and the artistic experience, the continuity theory between dreaming and waking life, and the role of ...
International Journal of Dream Research, 2018
Vast research in the last decades has shed interesting light on a variety of heterogeneous system... more Vast research in the last decades has shed interesting light on a variety of heterogeneous systems, including the human brain, by studying their network properties. Our investigation aimed to see whether the system of dream sources and of the semantic links between them shares the network properties of the brain. The investigation was carried out by means of an appropriate graph representation of data obtained according to a protocol oriented to eliciting episodic dream sources. The main results were the following: most dream sources belonged to compact clusters; important hubs, i.e. sources very closely connected to numerous other sources, were present; the vertex-degree distribution presented two significant peaks; small-world properties were valid for most pairs of sources; forms of self-similarity or of partial self-similarity at different scales were observed; the graphs of dreams sources exhibited a very high level of integration between overlapping clusters.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2015
This paper, which is limited to the art of painting, aims to support the idea that a substantial ... more This paper, which is limited to the art of painting, aims to support the idea that a substantial insertion of concepts and methods drawn on dream psychology and dream neuroscience can contribute to the advancements of Neuroesthetics. The historical and scientific reasons are discussed that have determined the so far poor role played by the dream phenomenon in the developments of Neuroesthetics. In the light of recent advancements in psychophysiological research, a method of analyzing artistic products is proposed that is based on the recognition of precise features proper of the dreaming experience. Four examples are given for application of this method, regarding works by Giorgione, Leonardo da Vinci, Vermeer, and Millais, respectively.
Dreaming, 2005
... Palombo (1978) advanced a general theory based on the idea that, during dreaming, recent memo... more ... Palombo (1978) advanced a general theory based on the idea that, during dreaming, recent memories are matched with long-term memories from the ... Sophia, who had always enjoyed eating burritos, had a nightmare at age two and a half about being attacked by an evil tortilla ...
International Journal of Psychophysiology, 2012
BIOPATTERN …, 2006
... It may be viewed as an extension of the method introduced by Navona et al.[1] for the analysi... more ... It may be viewed as an extension of the method introduced by Navona et al.[1] for the analysis of the Cyclic Alternating Pattern of human ... than Θ1 at least at one instant. The computation of the variance of ν (t) provided a measure of what we might informally name a tendency to ...
2007 29th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2007
This paper describes a data-driven Decision Support System for Electroencephalography (EEG) signa... more This paper describes a data-driven Decision Support System for Electroencephalography (EEG) signals acquisition, and parallel elaboration based on the integration of an Ambient Intelligent (AmI) [1] platform and a GRID enabled Infrastructure. The paper explores the analysis and design of the environment, the real-time data acquisition, the integration of the acquired data in dedicated EHR, and the EEG processing through parallel analysis algorithm available on the GRID infrastructure. After an overview of background concepts, the paper presents a brief description of the environment architecture, and a detailed analysis of the EEG algorithm. The challenge of the work presented is to effectively show how medical data can be shared and processed by exploiting the resources and capabilities of both the AmI platform and the GRID infrastructure. This particular Decision Support System, shows how it is possible to improve patient safety, quality of care, and efficiency in healthcare delivery.
Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology. Supplement, 1999
... [22] Büchner, H., Adams, L., Müller, A., Ludwig, I., Knepper, A., Thron, A., Niemann, K. and ... more ... [22] Büchner, H., Adams, L., Müller, A., Ludwig, I., Knepper, A., Thron, A., Niemann, K. and ... [24] Valeriani, M„ Restuccia, D., Di Lazzaro, V„ Le Pera, D. and Tonuli, P. The pathophysiology of giant SEPs in cortical myoclonus: a scalp topography and dipolar source modelling study. ...
A research project is briefly described aiming at the introduction and application of mathematica... more A research project is briefly described aiming at the introduction and application of mathematical and automatic methods to the study of the different levels of consciousness in the human brain. The first part of this communication includes a short review of two approaches recently proposed in the field of neurosciences. The second part summarizes three data analysis methods that appear as possibly powerful tools for the investigation. These methods regard onedimensional signals, images, and textual data, respectively.
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Papers by Umberto Barcaro
of Recent Mentation recall. Nevertheless, 80% of participants who recalled
Recent Mentation had a rapid eye movement sleep episode. Half of the participants reported incorporating lab-related stimuli in their mentation, which positively correlated with both N1 + N2 and rapid eye movement duration. In conclusion, nap sleep architecture is informative about the complexity of dreams perceived as having occurred early during the sleep episode, but not about those perceived as recent.
of Recent Mentation recall. Nevertheless, 80% of participants who recalled
Recent Mentation had a rapid eye movement sleep episode. Half of the participants reported incorporating lab-related stimuli in their mentation, which positively correlated with both N1 + N2 and rapid eye movement duration. In conclusion, nap sleep architecture is informative about the complexity of dreams perceived as having occurred early during the sleep episode, but not about those perceived as recent.