Sleep 101 — The Importance of Dreams

Sleep can be roughly grouped into two categories, Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, and Slow Wave Sleep (SWS). Both of these types of sleep provide different benefits to the human organism. Slow Wave Sleep is dreamless and fosters bodily and systemic recovery.   REM is the dreaming sleep, and plays the vital role of helping the mind process the mental clutter and store the data that has accumulated throughout the day. Studies have shown that without adequate REM sleep, people will literally crash like a computer unable to reboot after accumulating too much software.

Conversely, strong creativity has been linked to strong REM sleep.  Documented stories of composers creating entire symphonies, and authors envisioning the entirety of a published work while dreaming are commonplace.  For the creative and active mind, REM sleep is a crucial component, and recent research has indicated that the mechanism by which the body controls REM is closely linked to the release of Acetylcholine.

Acetylcholine Is the Key to Strong REM Sleep

Put quite simply, Acetlycholine release is greater during REM sleep than the Non-REM sleep or Slow Wave Sleep. The greater the levels of Acetylcholine released, the more persistent and intense the REM sleep.

This has been studied by watching the function of memory consolidation in correlation to acetylcholine. In scientific terms, “It is thought that the release of acetylcholine in the neocortex controls the flow of information from the hippocampus to the neocortex…which suggests that procedural memory consolidation may depend more on REM sleep. It is proposed that REM sleep with high level of acetylcholine enhance synaptic plasticity and memory consolidation.” Guis, S & Born 2004 in Power A.E. 2004.

Now whether dreaming is a causitive part of this memory consolidation process or a byproduct of it is not exactly clear, but the correlation is widely accepted. So to sum all this up: More Acetylcholine = More REM sleep = More powerful dreaming.

Lucid Dreams: The (Attainable) Holy Grail of Dreaming

Have you ever had a dream in which you became aware that you were dreaming while you were still in the dream? If so, what did you do? Did you fly? Did you explore sexual fantasies? Did you turn a nightmare around by kicking a whole lot of ass and waking up feeling like Bruce Willis? That is the world of possibility open to the lucid dreamer, and a quick example of why it is such a highly sought after state.

Deirdre Barrett, in her 1992 study on lucid dreaming described four “corollaries” of lucidity: knowing that one dreams, that objects will disappear after waking, that physical laws need not apply, and having clear memory of the waking world. A true lucid dream has at least one, if not all of these categories to qualify.

An early recorded lucid dreamer was the philosopher and physician Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682). Browne was fascinated by the world of dreams and described his own ability to lucid dream in his Religio Medici: “…yet in one dream I can compose a whole Comedy, behold the action, apprehend the jests and laugh my self awake at the conceits thereof.”

A study on memory, testing the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor commonly known as Galantamine reported Lucid Dreams as a side effect of the drug, indicating the correlation between increased levels of Acetylcholine and the possibility of more lucid dreams. It only makes sense. If you have more time in the REM dream state, more intensity of your dream state, why wouldn’t you have more of an opportunity to make them lucid?  Because of the inclusion of both raw Alpha GPC and an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor Alpha Brain™ is likely a more effective acetylcholine booster than galantamine.

Alpha Brain™: The best naturally derived Acetylcholine booster in the world?

Why is Alpha Brain™ such an effective Acetylcholine booster? There are two main reasons. First, we use the best quality, most bio-available, and not coincidentally the most expensive variety of Choline, the raw source of Acetylcholine. Alpha GPC (Glyceryl Phorsphoryl Choline) is unrivaled for potentiality and generally accepted as the strongest raw choline source, dwarfing the efficacy of choline bitrartate.

Second, we include the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor Huperzia Serrata, with standardized levels of Huperzine A.  What does this mean so far?  It means that not only will you have more raw materials to build acetylcholine (Alpha GPC), your body will also be assisted in actively preventing the destruction of acetylcholine by acetylcholinesterase.  By using full spectrum Huperzia Serrata instead of Huperzine A, you also get the benefits of Huperzine B and myriad other supporting alkaloids. 

Next, consider the philosophy of our nootropic formula.  Not only are we helping your body boost Acetlylcholine, we are also using nutrient precursors to help your body raise levels of L-Dopa, and including GABA related nutrients as well to make a well rounded and balanced brain formula.  This in itself is designed to combat unnecessary hyperactivity associated with higher levels of Acetlycholine, but we go even farther by offering an active dose of the trusted anti-stress herb Oat Straw in a 10x formlation.  This allows us to turn the mental power quotient up higher than other formulas, giving an effective acetylcholine charge, without the jittery or anxious downside.

Finally let us consider our other active ingredients.  AC-11®, the proprietary extract from the rainforest herb cat’s claw is powerful enough that it has been shown to repair DNA. In our formula this acts as a potent antioxidant, assisting the body with the eradication of free radicals that clog the neural pathways and create mental fog.  Pterostilbene and Bacopa are powerful cognitive enhancers in their own right and Vinpocetine is a cerebral vasodilator that helps the body bring nutrients into the brain. 

All of this may seem complicated but it can be summed up like this.  More acetylcholine gives you stronger REM sleep, and stronger REM sleep gives you more vivid dreams, and the opportunity to turn those dreams to lucid dreams.  Alpha Brain™ is designed to be a highly effective acetylcholine boosting supplement, and thereby a highly effective dream supplement.+