TIME spotlights Anesthesiology journal study on impact of dreaming while under anesthesia

The study, published in Anesthesiology, found dreaming while under anesthesia was common and most patients reported calming, positive dreams that were associated with a better overall surgical experience. The researchers hope to use their protocol – designed to enable dreaming during emergence from general anesthesia – in future studies that explore dreams in patients with stress disorders. “The frontier is seeing how far this goes – if you can induce these dreamlike states and really make for transformative events in people's lives,” study coauthor Dr. Boris Heifets told TIME Magazine.