Adriana Michalak, PhD
banner
dr-adri.bsky.social
Adriana Michalak, PhD
@dr-adri.bsky.social
Cognitive & Sleep Neuroscientist | ESRS Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee Vice-Chair | ESRS Early Career Network Chair & ECN Representative to ESRS Board
Pinned
💤 𝗛𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 💤

🧠 Our findings indicate that 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵 is not solely determined by reduced brain activity. 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 appear to maintain the 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 as 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 naturally declines across the night.
🚨 New preprint 🚨
"Immersive NREM dreaming preserves subjective sleep depth against declining sleep pressure." We analyzed 1,024 awakenings collected across 196 nights with high-density EEG (256 ch.) to explore the relationship between dreaming and subjective sleep depth.

doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Immersive NREM dreaming preserves subjective sleep depth against declining sleep pressure
Perceived sleep depth is a key determinant of subjective sleep quality, traditionally thought to reflect unconsciousness and reduced cortical activation. Here, we combined high-density EEG with a seri...
doi.org
⏰ Only a few days left to take part in our survey ⏰

🗓️ Survey closes 22/11
⏱️ Takes only 10–15 minutes
💬 Your input genuinely matters.
🔗 Link to survey: lnkd.in/dYh8bkwX
November 20, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Reposted by Adriana Michalak, PhD
All the models are back online, and the full paper should be out soon too 😃

huggingface.co/collections/...

#sleeppees #dream
November 17, 2025 at 1:08 PM
🌙 Early-career sleep researchers & clinicians: Share your challenges attending Sleep Europe conferences!

💤 Quick survey by ESRS ECN & EDIC to improve accessibility & networking opportunities.

⏱️ A few minutes
📅 Deadline: Nov 22
🔗 warwick.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management
The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.
warwick.co1.qualtrics.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:38 PM
🆕 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀: A comprehensive analysis examining the phenomenological boundaries between #OutOfBodyExperience and #LucidDreams has been published in our research topic "𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱".

🧠 #ConsciousnessResearch

www.frontiersin.org/journals/psy...
Frontiers | Distinguishing out-of-body experiences from lucid dreaming: a phenomenological analysis
Despite extensive discussions, a consensus is lacking on whether out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and lucid dreams (LDs) should be considered as distinct categ...
www.frontiersin.org
September 15, 2025 at 6:09 AM
💤 𝗛𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 💤

🧠 Our findings indicate that 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵 is not solely determined by reduced brain activity. 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 appear to maintain the 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 as 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 naturally declines across the night.
🚨 New preprint 🚨
"Immersive NREM dreaming preserves subjective sleep depth against declining sleep pressure." We analyzed 1,024 awakenings collected across 196 nights with high-density EEG (256 ch.) to explore the relationship between dreaming and subjective sleep depth.

doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Immersive NREM dreaming preserves subjective sleep depth against declining sleep pressure
Perceived sleep depth is a key determinant of subjective sleep quality, traditionally thought to reflect unconsciousness and reduced cortical activation. Here, we combined high-density EEG with a seri...
doi.org
September 12, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Reposted by Adriana Michalak, PhD
Save the date!! 🗓️

The 2nd edition of the Summer School on the Neuroscience of Dreaming 💤 will take place 4–8 May 2026 in Lucca, Italy, at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca.

📍 The official website will be released soon: stay tuned for updates!
August 1, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Reposted by Adriana Michalak, PhD
🧠🧪 New paper in #NCONSC 🧠🧪

What if people who seem unconscious (e.g., Disorders of Consciousness, DoC) could still dream or experience mind wandering?

We explore this possibility in a new review:
academic.oup.com/nc/article/2...

With Jasmine Walter and Jennifer Windt!

#consciousness #dreaming
Do individuals with disorders of consciousness dream and mind wander? Implications for improving diagnosis and understanding patient wellbeing
Abstract. Fluctuations in the presence, experiential quality and contents of consciousness occur naturally during sleep and wakefulness and are core featur
academic.oup.com
September 7, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Check out our Research Topic:
𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽, where we cover topics from computational linguistics to lesion neuroscience and experiential phenomenology
🧠 💤 🤖

www.frontiersin.org/research-top...

#dreamresearch #sleep #AI
Frontiers | Understanding conscious experiences during sleep
Emerging research suggests that elements of awareness persist throughout various sleep stages, challenging conventional notions of unconsciousness during sle...
www.frontiersin.org
September 5, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Take part in our @esrs-ecn.bsky.social & @esrs-edic.bsky.social survey to break down barriers in #sleepscience

𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 (𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽) 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲
🪑 💤 🪑
𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗦𝗥𝗦 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀: 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀

As an EC, have you ever missed out on a conference because of costs, visa issues, or caregiving responsibilities? 🧵

Take part in our survey & share your experiences warwick.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

⏱️ 10-15 min
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
September 1, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Reposted by Adriana Michalak, PhD
Our lab is starting a new study on dreaming
🚨GREAT NEWS!🚨: YOU may be eligible to participate!

If interested, follow this link to a screening survey: furman.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

#SleepPeeps #psychscisky #cogsci 🧠🟦
August 27, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Second publication from our Research Topic "𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱" is out!
💤 🤖 💤
👋 #sleeppeeps In this new work, we show how multiple LLMs appear to easily process #dreams, and reflect previously observed differences in reports (e.g., male-female, blind-sighted).

We also argue for caution linking dreams and bizarreness when using #LLMs

www.frontiersin.org/journals/sle...
Frontiers | Dreams are more “predictable” than you think
IntroductionA growing body of work has used machine learning and AI tools to analyse dream reports, and compare them to other textual content. Since these to...
www.frontiersin.org
July 23, 2025 at 9:04 AM
First publication from our Research Topic "𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱" is out!
💤 🧠 💤

www.frontiersin.org/journals/sle...
Frontiers | Exploring the biological function of dreaming: lessons learned from recruitment challenges in a pilot study with PCA stroke patients
BackgroundThis methodological report draws conclusions about a study that aimed to investigate the biological function of dreams. The main hypothesis in the ...
www.frontiersin.org
July 22, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Reposted by Adriana Michalak, PhD
Just out: our EDIC Vice‑Chair @dr-adri.bsky.social chats with Dr Claudia Barth and Dr Laura Stankeviciute on why sleep and biological sex matter in Alzheimer’s risk.

👉 esrs.eu/news/sleep-s...
Biological Sex Differences in the Context of Alzheimer's Disease: There's No Time to Sleep on It – the EDIC Take | ESRS
In this Sleep Science Friday interview,  Dr. Adriana Michalak speaks with Dr. Claudia Barth and Dr. Laura Stankeviciute to explore two often underestimated
esrs.eu
July 18, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by Adriana Michalak, PhD
Introducing PreDA (prefix-based dream annotation), a set of generative LLMs tuned to annotate dream reports for 6 Hall & Van De Castle features! The paper will be presented at LOD 25 conference later this year as a long contribution. Models available here huggingface.co/jrc-ai
#sleeppeeps #dream
May 15, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Adriana Michalak, PhD
Big news on #InternationalWomensDay! 🎉
The ESRS Gender Equality Forum is now the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (EDIC), expanding our mission to promote inclusivity across the field of sleep research while keeping gender equality at the forefront.

🌟 Learn more about our mission!
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee | ESRS
The ESRS Forum for Women in Sleep Research was founded by Irene Tobler, Tarja Porkka-Heiskanen, and Myriam Kerkhofs, initially as a discussion group dedicated
esrs.eu
March 7, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Reposted by Adriana Michalak, PhD
A stronger Europe champions equality.

Today, we unveiled a roadmap to continue advancing women's rights across the EU.

Building on our progress, we’ll keep working to empower every woman and girl to reach their full potential, free from violence and discrimination ↓
March 7, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Is there anything better than staying cozy in PJ? Yes, doing it for an important cause!

Today, I’m joining @esrs.bsky.social #SleepAwarnessEurope2025 Pyjama Day initiative to promote the importance of healthy sleeping habits and their impact on overall health and well-being.
💤 👕 💤

#PJDay25ESRS
March 7, 2025 at 7:53 AM
🌙 Join #PJDay25ESRS & Support Better Sleep! 💤

Sleep is essential, yet millions in Europe struggle with poor sleep. Tomorrow, March 7th, wear your PJs to work, school, or meetings to promote #sleephealth! 👕

Better sleep = better health!

#SleepAwarenessEurope25 #BetterSleepBetterFutures
March 6, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Reposted by Adriana Michalak, PhD
🚨 New Paper Alert! 🚨

Excited to share our latest review on Sleep Neuroimaging, now published! Huge thanks to my amazing co-authors for this collaboration - I learned so much along the way! #sleeppeeps
@dondersinst.bsky.social @dresler.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1111/jsr....
<em>Journal of Sleep Research</em> | ESRS Journal | Wiley Online Library
Sleep research has evolved considerably since the first sleep electroencephalography recordings in the 1930s and the discovery of well-distinguishable sleep stages in the 1950s. While electrophysiolo...
doi.org
February 13, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Adriana Michalak, PhD
✨We are excited to announce our new 2024-2026 theme: "Sleep in the Age of Technology" 🎉This year, we will launch several captivating activities related to our theme, so stay tuned for webinars, interviews, and more. Read more about our theme here: esrs.eu/news/sleep-s...
#SleepScience #Tech 😴
Early Career Network Committee 2024-2026: Sleep in the Age of Technology | ESRS
We, the members of the Early Career Network (ECN), are excited to present our 2024-2026 theme, 'Sleep in the Age of Technology'. Our goal is to explore how
esrs.eu
January 17, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Morning coffee = good coffee
☕️
The timing of caffeine intake was shown to be significantly linked to long-term health outcomes.

www.cnn.com/2025/01/07/h...
Limit coffee-drinking to this time window to lower early death risk, study suggests | CNN
The timing of coffee consumption may influence your risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease or any cause, a new study has found.
www.cnn.com
January 13, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Reposted by Adriana Michalak, PhD
Hello Bluesky! We are delighted to join and make it our second official social media channel for communication. You can also find us on LinkedIn: @esrs_ecrn.

Looking forward to engaging with all ESRS early career members and sharing our vision for 2025-2026!! Stay tuned 😊
December 19, 2024 at 9:21 AM
Reposted by Adriana Michalak, PhD
Can dreams help us see memory consolidation as it unfolds in the sleeping brain?

In this new paper, we describe how dreams reactivate multiple memories simultaneously, combining fragments of recent and remote memory in a way that may be adaptive.

1/2

#SleepPeeps #neuroskyence #psychscisky
Memory updating in dreams
Abstract. Robert Stickgold’s research was among the earliest to rigorously quantify the effect of learning on dream content. As a result, we learned that d
academic.oup.com
January 5, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Adriana Michalak, PhD
I co-edited a special issue on dreaming and mind wandering for @phimisci.bsky.social
The first papers are now online. Check them out!

And don't hesitate to follow/read this amazing, free & open access journal!

🔬🧠💤💭
December 19, 2024 at 9:45 PM
💤 As I approach the end of my PostDoc at IMT Lucca, I’m looking for a new job!

🧠 Ideally: Research roles related to sleep/dream/consciousness/cognitive science.

🤖 Open to scientific writing & data analysis, too.

📍 Milan, nearby areas, or Switzerland.

DMs open 💃🏼
December 18, 2024 at 11:13 AM