Unconscious Memory during Sleep: Is Everything Remembered When You Wake Up?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the nature of memory during sleep, exploring whether individuals are aware of their surroundings and how memory functions in different sleep states. Participants examine concepts related to consciousness, memory retention, sleepwalking, and the processing of sensory information during sleep.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that individuals may have a low level of consciousness during sleep and can perceive their surroundings, but memory retention is not as effective as when awake.
  • There is speculation that memory consolidation is a primary function of sleep, with dreams serving as evidence of memory processing.
  • Questions are raised about the implications of perfect memory during sleep and whether it would interfere with the ability to sleep.
  • Participants discuss the mechanisms of sleepwalking, noting that it occurs during non-REM sleep and involves a low state of consciousness.
  • Some participants inquire about the nature of breathing during sleep, questioning whether it is a conscious or unconscious process.
  • There is a discussion about the misconception that dreaming only occurs in REM sleep, with some asserting that dreaming can happen in all stages of sleep.
  • Participants express uncertainty regarding the levels of consciousness during sleep and the semantic implications of "thinking" in an unconscious state.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the nature of memory and consciousness during sleep, with multiple competing views and ongoing questions about the mechanisms involved.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include varying definitions of consciousness, the complexity of memory processes, and the unclear relationship between sleep stages and cognitive activity.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those exploring cognitive science, psychology, sleep studies, and the neuroscience of memory and consciousness.

  • #31
DaveC426913 said:
Of course you exist. Are you looking you get this thread moved to Philosophy?

No, I'm trying to get answers to my previous questions.
 
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  • #32
candydude357 said:
No, I'm trying to get answers to my previous questions.

Define conscious, unconscious and subconsciousand then you get your answer.
 
  • #33
I think you might do better to pick up a book on the subject. This buckshot approach to questions does not seem to be giving you much satisfaction. Your questions are kind of peppered with preconceptions and vagaries, so attempts to answer them must first sort out misconceptions and meanings.

So does sleep involve COMPLETE unconscioucness?
Examples of lucid dreaming show that the answer is: not always.

Or COMPLETE consciousness?
I do not know why you ask this question. You know the answer. It is the kind of question that causes people to not want to answer, since it makes them wonder what you're up to.

Or partial consciousness/subconsciousness?
Probably. Or more accurately: I do not know the answer. There are authorities that can teach you much more about current research the subject better than anyone here.
 
  • #34
Like if your memory perfectly stored everything that you felt/experienced in sleep and you woke up and remembered, would the memory be different from your memory of what you felt before you were born?
 
  • #35
candydude357 said:
Like if your memory perfectly stored everything that you felt/experienced in sleep and you woke up and remembered, would the memory be different from your memory of what you felt before you were born?

Are you serious Candydude? Before asking question after question why don't you respond to some of the points that have been made?

As for this comment I do remember my dreams but how is that anything to do with before we were born? For most of that time we didn't even have a fully formed brain.

You really should go and study this by buying books on the subject (science books) rather than shotgunning questions at people, especially when those questions are followed by more that have no baring to the answers previously given.
 
  • #36
candydude357 said:
... your memory of what you felt before you were born?

What?


OK. fun's over.
 
  • #37
Candydude is a previously banned crackpot.
 

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