Hey All,
I'm spending a goodly chunk of my weekend culling through data on sleep-learning. I checked out a book at the library called, "Learn While You Sleep" by David Curtis. Definitely written from the "sleep-learning works" perspective. It's a first edition of the book from 1960 -- but it basically deals with the same sleep-learning applications we've been discussing here.
Apparently, researchers began doing experiments as early as 1920. The book details many successful cases -- some based on scientific research; others based on individual experiences -- lots of case histories and testimonials. Many report rapid gains that sound a lot like Brian's initial experience with Personal Genius. The book covers both the 'learning information' angle AND the 'programming yourself with positive suggestions' angle.
I also did a multi-engine search at dogpile.com under "sleep-learning" and came up with links to a few informative sites. If anyone's interested, I'll post some links here. If you want to research this on your own, sleep-learning is also referred to as "hypnopaedia" and "hypnopedia". From what I've looked through so far, I'd say there's a fairly even mix between "it works" and "it doesn't work"-type information.
Here's a link that I've found and skimmed that seems to be the most detailed:
http://www.ulib.org/webRoot/Books/National_Academy_Press_Books/sleep/0000010.htm
