The subconscious speaks to blind people using all other sensory modalities such as hearing, taste, touch, and smell. Instead of seeing things blind people will hear or smell things in their dreams. Helen Keller talked of "seeing" in her dreams much as she saw when she was awake (let it be stated that Helen Keller was blind). .
The subconscious is usually the right side of the brain or the opposite side of persons writing hand. Within the subconscious lie different types of things such as suppressed emotions, creativity, and basic human instinct (Ullman and Zimmerman 1979). The conscious part of the mind works when people are awake and are the part of the mind that handles things that people can understand. No one truly knows why a person cannot interact with the subconscious while awake, however studies show that dreams are a way in which people can better comprehend its behavior. The condition of the body during dreaming is interesting because the brain shuts off all sensory receptors thus, canceling all somatic impulses (Ullman and Zimmerman 1979). This puts the body in an almost paraplegic state. The brain however continues to control all autonomic functions such as blood flow, heart pulsation, and lung inflation. During the sleep, homeostasis will fluctuate because sleep occurs on four stages (Davidmann, 1998). The individual goes from awake to stage 1, then to 2, 3, and finally 4, the deepest stage of sleep. After spending about twenty minutes in stage 4, they return to stage 1 and progress back to stage 4. The individual will continue to make these cycles throughout their sleep. Most individuals will experience about 4 to 5 cycles a night (Davidmann, 1998). This is why humans are more apt to wake up at specific times in the night and not sporadically (most people do not notice this however). During stage 1, the individual will experience what has been named REM (Rapid Eye Movement); I will make further elaboration on REM shortly.
