The Experiment of Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page A

difficult for doctors to make an initial diagnosis. Information on aura migraines was sparse when Ben was a child.
    Ben’s parents, and then foster parents, took him to specialist after specialist—each doctor trying to determine the cause and trigger for these strange headaches. Some doctors believed they were strokes, the symptoms being similar, although not nearly as severe. Other doctors believed they were purely diet related. Some even suggested they were not neurological whatsoever, but caused by torn retinas in his eyes. Ben went on restricted diets, endured CAT scans, MRI’s, vision exams, and hearing tests.
    As he grew older, the aura migraines became less frequent—attacks occurred maybe once a year, sometimes the respite lasting as long as two to three years. The trigger for these migraines was never determined, with all the initial tests done in vain.
    An acquaintance referred Ben and his foster family to Dr. Stuart Wright when Ben was barely a teenager. The then forty-something-year-old doctor was making a name for himself in the field of Neurology with a particular fascination in sleep related sciences. Dr. Wright was the first doctor to diagnose Ben’s condition as aura migraines, ruling out the possibility of strokes or a diet related allergy. This was a huge relief for Ben and his foster parents. Now they had a name for his condition.
    Dr. Wright worked with Ben to make the tests as stress free as possible. He believed the constant transition from specialist-to-specialist and test-to-test was compounding the stress on Ben’s mind, further fueling his condition. Dr. Wright explained to Ben in a friendly and factual manner the science behind his condition: it was a chemical and electrical response between nerves in his brain, made worse by a sudden onslaught of blood throughout his head.
    Ben was finally able to understand what was happening as it happened and not panic, which normally compounded the effects. He could feel and identify the areas in his head where the blood was congesting as the aura migraine was twinkling before his eyes. The pressure started at the base of his neck, where his spine and skull met, and worked its way up to the crown of his head. It felt like small bubbles inflating against his skull, ready to burst, then suddenly deflating.
    It was during these initial tests, after talking to Ben about his sleep patterns and irregularities, that Dr. Wright had told Ben that he had much more going on in his head than just aura migraines. These peculiar observations further fueled Dr. Wright’s own research, and grew to consume the majority of his professional career.
    Ben’s dreams were vivid experiences. He could remember his dreams in full detail, hours after waking. He was aware he was sleeping while he was sleeping, and eventually, with plenty of practice and understanding, he could control some or all aspects of his dreams down to the smallest detail.
    Dr. Wright had been familiar with similar studies done on lucid dreaming prior to meeting Ben. The subjects in those studies reported the experience being just as realistic in touch, taste, smell, and clarity as when conscious. Ben told the doctor that the environments he experienced around him while dreaming lucidly were brighter and entirely more vivid than they were in real life—somehow more realistic. His senses were heightened and extremely sensitive. Experiences came straight from the brain, bypassing the physical body and world. Ben felt textures: grass under foot, bumpy brick walls, and sunlight on his skin throughout his body in a stimulating rapture. Sexual intimacies were full-body, euphoric experiences and highly addictive, especially when Ben was a teenage boy.
    After some initial tests, Dr. Wright deduced that Benjamin’s brain reached the REM phase of sleep faster than normal, and the activity in his brain during REM was much more active and alive than any person previously recorded.
    With this knowledge, the working