Our laboratory covers a wide range of topics, bringing together contributions from individuals in diverse fields of knowledge. Below, you can explore the laboratory’s research lines.
SLEEP IN SCHOOLS AND THE LITERACY PROCESS
We study the relationship between sleep and learning, particularly post-training sleep as a tool to enhance school learning. In humans, nighttime sleep is already recognized for its role in reorganizing and strengthening memories. Our research aims to develop ecologically valid experimental designs, meaning that they replicate the learning experience as it naturally occurs in schools. This approach allows us to investigate the potential of School Naps as an evidence-based pedagogical tool, further contributing to the understanding of sleep’s role in the overall learning process.
SLEEP, DREAMS, AND OTHER STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
What is human consciousness? To answer this question, we investigate different states of consciousness using questionnaires and EEG, classifying them into: a) physiological – which occur regularly in healthy individuals, such as lucid dreaming, daydreaming, and false awakenings; b) pathological – related to some disease or disorder, such as sleep paralysis, sleepwalking, psychosis, coma, and near-death experiences; and c) altered – induced by cognitive-behavioral or pharmacological interventions, such as meditation, psychedelics, and out-of-body experiences.
ANALYSIS OF SLEEP AND COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF OCTOPUSES
We conduct research on sleep and cognitive processes in octopuses both in laboratory settings and in their natural environment. Using behavioral analyses and computational tools, we have demonstrated for the first time that these animals exhibit an alternation between a quiet sleep state and an active sleep state, analogous to slow-wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep in vertebrates. Additionally, learning tests have revealed the behavioral and cognitive versatility of octopuses. Thus, we aim to improve the understanding of the evolution of sleep and intelligence in cephalopods.
SLEEP, DREAMS, AND VIDEO GAMES
This research line focuses on the use of video games to investigate the adaptive value of sleep and dreams in humans. Within this line, experiments have been conducted using the game F.E.A.R. Combat to simulate a competition between participants assigned the roles of prey or predator, analyzing the adaptive effects of sleep and dreams for the prey. Online studies are also conducted to examine the influence of various aspects of video games in general on sleep and dreams. Additionally, the laboratory has been involved in the development of games designed specifically to simulate situations for studying adaptation in task performance through sleep and dreams.
POLYGENIC RISK FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA IN ANCIENT GENOTYPES
Using machine learning techniques, we aim to model the complex relationships between genetic and temporal variables to predict the risk of schizophrenia throughout history. Our studies investigate how selective pressures and changes in social structures influenced the prevalence of schizophrenia risk alleles from the Paleolithic period (2.5 million to 12,000 years ago) to the Post-Neolithic period (10,000 BCE to approximately 3,000 BCE). Additionally, we analyze the variation of these scores across different continents, highlighting the impact of historical migrations and genetic diversity in the studied populations. The research considers the correlation of risk scores with spatial and temporal variables, allowing for a broader understanding of how environmental and historical factors have influenced the genetic evolution of schizophrenia.
ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY AND MOTOR LEARNING IN HUMANS
Neurophysiology and human motor learning. Objective: To study the influence of practice organization on stress indicators, anxiety, and motor performance in ecological settings, focusing on Capoeira and other modalities. Study variables: Neurophysiological measures, including skin conductance, heart rate, electroencephalography (EEG), and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS); behavioral measures of anxiety (Idate-Trait and Idate-State), motor knowledge base interviews (learning performance), and the reuse of Speech Graph for body discourse analysis.
LSD AND SYNESTHESIA
To be added.
THE POTENTIAL OF IMPROVING DEMENTIA WITH CANNABIS
Using an exploratory quantitative approach, the project aims to evaluate the impact of cannabinoids on cognition, mood, sleep, and quality of life in elderly patients diagnosed with mild to moderate dementia who have not used cannabis for at least one year. During the first consultation, volunteers will undergo a medical evaluation, and the professional will collect relevant information for filling out the medical record, including anamnesis and the recording of complementary exam results. Thus, volunteers and caregivers will be instructed on how to apply the selected assessment scales, which will be collected at the beginning of oil use, 2 and 4 months after the start of treatment. The hypothesis is that treatment with oils will improve the symptoms being evaluated, sleep pattern, mood, cognition, and quality of life. It is also expected that there will be improvement in appetite modulation, motor function, and balance, as well as in other symptoms such as pain, which is common in people in this age group.
THE HAZE OF GREEN DREAMS
We study how the consumption of Cannabis, in its different forms of use and contexts, affects dreams both in formal aspects and in content. The use of substances and their impacts on dream activity are popularly known and documented in the literature, mainly from the perspective of pathological use and withdrawal states. Collecting data online, we aim to delineate this influence comprehensively, correlating the types of use – currently classified as medicinal and adult – with sociodemographic, sleep, and dream characteristics, in an attempt to produce a biopsychosocial perspective to translate this complex interconnection.
DREAMS AND PSYCHEDELICS
In this research line, we investigate how dreams and psychedelic states share neurophenomenological similarities, such as mental imagery, emotional activation, and fear memory extinction. Psychedelic states are more closely related to lucid dreams, a phenomenon that occurs when individuals know they are dreaming and can control dream content. Currently, we are studying how inhaled DMT influences the frequency of lucid dream recall. The research refers to the world’s first clinical study on inhaled DMT, conducted in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, by the Instituto do Cérebro and Hospital Onofre Lopes.
ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF LUCID DREAMS
Neuroscience, sleep, and dreams. Objective: Identify distinct electroencephalographic patterns associated with conscious experience during lucid dreams in different sleep stages (N2 and REM). Study variables: Electrophysiological measurements of electroencephalogram (EEG), electromyography (EMG), electrooculography (EOG), and respiratory measures; subjective measures related to participants’ phenomenological reports on dream content; spectral analysis and neural source estimation with SLORETA.
EFFECTS OF DREAM RECALL ON EMOTIONAL REGULATION
This research aimed to investigate the influence of dream recall frequency on emotional regulation. To this end, it compared the performance of two groups in the emotional regulation experiment (CERT), using the Dream Diary as an intervention to increase the frequency of dream recall. fNIRS, ECG, and GSR were the methods used to measure the physiological emotional response.