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Neurophysiology of Dreams: Sics/understanding - Sleep - HTM

The document discusses the neurophysiology of dreams. It explores when dreaming occurs, which is during REM sleep when certain areas of the brain are activated and others deactivated. This allows for visual and auditory processing that forms narratives from random neural signals. There are different theories on the purpose of dreams, such as Freud's view that they express unconscious desires, versus the idea that they are meaningless products of random brain activity during sleep. Lucid dreaming involves recognizing that one is dreaming and manipulating the dream.

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25 views1 page

Neurophysiology of Dreams: Sics/understanding - Sleep - HTM

The document discusses the neurophysiology of dreams. It explores when dreaming occurs, which is during REM sleep when certain areas of the brain are activated and others deactivated. This allows for visual and auditory processing that forms narratives from random neural signals. There are different theories on the purpose of dreams, such as Freud's view that they express unconscious desires, versus the idea that they are meaningless products of random brain activity during sleep. Lucid dreaming involves recognizing that one is dreaming and manipulating the dream.

Uploaded by

Manay
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Neurophysiology of Dreams

Minori Keefe – Biomedical Engineering – University of Rhode Island

The reason behind dreaming has dreams. This is a case where a dreamer
been an intriguing research topic for becomes aware that he or she is dreaming
numbers of years. Even with the modern and can actively participate and manipulate
technology that exists in this generation, the dream. This dream recognition takes
there are still many questions that have yet place in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of
to be answered. Is dreaming a psychological the brain, which is one of the few areas
happening or merely a physiological deactivated during REM sleep. This is also
response from the brain? What part of the the area in the brain where working memory
brain is activated during dreaming? Does occurs. When this area is activated, the
that dream you had about your dreamer has to be cautious to
dog taking over the world allow the dream to continue, but
really have a deeper meaning? still be conscious enough to
To begin to explore recognize the dreaming. This
possible answers to these kind of maintaining balance
questions, it is useful to learn needs the pons and the parieto-
about when the body begins to occipital junction to stay active
physically become capable of and the amygdala and
forming dreams. Dreaming can parahippocampal cortex to be less
only occur during REM (rapid intensely activated.
eye movement) sleep, which One of the most
consists of about 20-25% of an mysterious things about dreams is
adult’s night’s sleep. It is the purpose of them. Freud’s
characterized by a rapid, low theory is that our dreams are
voltage EEG, irregular heart unconscious or repressed desires
rate, breathing rate and body temperature. that are expressed when asleep, meaning
The release of certain neurotransmitters is they are psychological. However, a scientist
completely shut down during REM, causing named Allan Hobson recently proposed a
low muscle tone. REM is essential to our new dream theory stating that dreams are
health, and is especially important to the purely a random physiological occurrence.
developing brain because it provides neural He claims that during REM, the brain stem
stimulation necessary for newborns to form sends random signals to parts of the
mature neural connections. It also helps in forebrain that control emotions, movement,
CNS development. During REM sleep, it is vision and hearing and the higher brain cells
said that memories are “filtered”, meaning work to form a story from the electrical
relevant memories are strengthened and input. In other words, we only dream
“weaker” memories are disregarded. This because our brains are still activated when
state where the muscles do not move we sleep and they are essentially
because the motor neurons are not “meaningless”.
stimulated is referred to as REM atonia and
if lacking in this, can cause REM Behavior References
Disorder. This condition causes the sufferers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream
to physically act out the movements during http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_ba
dreams. sics/understanding_sleep.htm
Though there has yet to be a http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminforma
universal biological definition of dreams, it tion/dreamtheory/freud.htm
has been scientifically proven that brain
activity is most like wakefulness. One
intriguing topic in dream research is lucid

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