A state of confusion in information processing makes the sleeping brain a dream generator
Main Article Content
Abstract
Dreams, generated by the sleeping brain, are one of the most common and fascinating phenomena of human mind. But the role and mechanism of dreaming remain largely unknown. This paper provided the phenomenon showing that the brain is trying, but always failing, to correctly process information in the sleeping state. We proposed that dreams are the product of the brain retaining partial activity and functioning during sleep, and the bizarre nature of dreams is attributed to the sleeping brain’s confusion in information processing. Hence dreams can be presented as a kind of mental disorder that occurs in healthy brain during sleep. Furthermore, clues suggest that mental states similar to dreams may occur in waking brain, which can result in many kinds of mental illnesses.
Key words: dream; sleep; consciousness; mental disorder
Keywords:
Dream, Sleep, Consciousness, Mental disorder
Article Details
How to Cite
ZHANG, Wenlu; ZHANG, Jinhui.
A state of confusion in information processing makes the sleeping brain a dream generator.
Medical Research Archives, [S.l.], v. 6, n. 1, jan. 2018.
ISSN 2375-1924.
Available at: <https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/1609>. Date accessed: 16 apr. 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v6i1.1609.
Section
Research Articles
The Medical Research Archives grants authors the right to publish and reproduce the unrevised contribution in whole or in part at any time and in any form for any scholarly non-commercial purpose with the condition that all publications of the contribution include a full citation to the journal as published by the Medical Research Archives.
References
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36. Stickgold R, Hobson JA, Fosse R, Fosse M. Sleep, learning, and dreams: Off-line memory reprocessing. Science 2001;294:1052–7.
37. Valli K, Revonsuo A, Palkas O, et al. The threat simulation theory of the evolutionary function of dreaming: Evidence from dreams of traumatized children. Consciousness and Cognition 2005;14:188–218.
38. Frank MG, Benington JH. The role of sleep in memory consolidation and brain plasticity: Dream or reality? Neuroscientist 2006;12:477–88.
39. Franklin MS, Zyphur MJ. The role of dreams in the evolution of the human mind. Evolutionary Psychology 2005;3:59–78.
40. Greenberg R, Pearlman C, Fingar R, Kantrowitz J, Kawliche S. The effects of dream deprivation: Implications for a theory of the psychological function of dreaming. British Journal of Medical Psychology 1970;43:1–11.
41. Nielsen TA, Levin R. Nightmares: A new neurocognitive model. Sleep Medicine Reviews 2007;11:295–310.
42. Maquet P. Functional neuroimaging of normal human sleep by positron emission tomography. J Sleep Res 2000;9:207–31.
43. Foulkes, D. Dream reports from different stages of sleep. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 1962;65:14–25.
2. Hobson JA, McCarley RW. The brain as a dream state generator: an activation-synthesis hypothesis of the dream process. Am. J. Psychiatory 1977;134:1335–48.
3. Domhoff GW. Drawing theoretical implications from descriptive empirical findings on dream content. Dreaming 1999;9:201–10.
4. Domhoff GW. The misinterpretation of dreams. American Scientist 2000;88:175–8.
5. Foulkes D. Children's dreaming and the development of consciousness. London: Harvard University Press; 1999.
6. Foulkes D. Dream research: 1953-1993. Sleep 1996;19:609-24.
7. Atienza M, Cantero JL, Escera C. Auditory information processing during human sleep as revealed by event-related brain potentials. Clinical Neurophysiology 2001;112:2031–45.
8. Dement W, Wolpert EA. The relation of eye movements, body motility, and external stimuli to dream content. J Exp Psychol 1958;55:543–53.
9. Koulack D. Effects of somatosensory stimulation on dream content. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1969;20:718–25.
10. Portas CM, Krakow K, Allen P, et al. Auditory processing across the sleep–wake cycle: Simultaneous EEG and fMRI monitoring in humans. Neuron 2000;28:991–9.
11. Nielsen TA, Stenstrom P. What are the memory sources of dreaming? Nature 2005;437:1286-9.
12. Fosse MJ, Fosse R, Hobson JA, Stickgold RJ. Dreaming and episodic memory: a functional dissociation? J. Cogn. Neurosci 2003;15:1–9.
13. Domhoff GW. Finding Meaning in Dreams: A Quantitative Approach. New York: Plenum Publishing Co; 1996.
14. Howe JB, Blick K. Emotional content of dreams recalled by elderly women. Perceptual and Motor Skills 1983;56:31–4.
15. Lortie-Lussier M, Cote L, Vachon J. The consistency and continuity hypotheses revisited through the dreams of women at two periods of their lives. Dreaming 2000;10:67–76.
16. Zepelin H. Age differences in dreams: I. Men's dreams and thematic apperceptive fantasy. International Journal of Aging and Human Development 1980;12:171–86.
17. Hall C, Van de Castle RI. The Content Analysis of Dreams. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts; 1966.
18. Domhoff GW. The Scientific Study of Dreams: Neural Networks, Cognitive Development, and Content Analysis. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2003.
19. Foulkes D. Dreaming: A Cognitive-Psychological Analysis. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1985.
20. O'Nell C, O'Nell N. A cross-cultural comparison of aggression in dreams: Zapotecs and Americans. International Journal of Social Psychiatry 1977;125:35–41.
21. Hollins M. Styles of mental imagery in blind adults. Neuropsychologia 1985;23:561–6.
22. Buchel C, Price C, Frackowiak RS, Friston K. Different activation patterns in the visual cortex of late and congenitally blindsubjects. Brain 1998;121:409–19.
23. Casey BJ, Tottenham N, Liston C, Durston S. Imaging the developing brain: what have we learned about cognitive development? Trends Cogn Sci 2005;9:104–10.
24. Kerr NH, Foulkes D. Right hemispheric mediation of dream visualization: a case study. Cortex 1981;17:603–9.
25. Solms M. The Neuropsychology of Dreams: A Clinico-Anatomical Study. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1997.
26. Kerr NH, Foulkes D, Jurkovic GJ. Reported absence of visual dream imagery in a normally sighted subject with Turner's syndrome. Journal of Mental Imagery 1978;2:247–64.
27. Schwartz S, Maquet P. Sleep imaging and the neuropsychological assessment of dreams. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2002;6:23-30.
28. Solms M. Dreaming and REM sleep are controlled by different brain mechanisms. Behav Brain Sci 2000;23:843–50.
29. Bridge H, Harrold S, Holmes EA, Stokes M, Kennard C. Vivid visual mental imagery in the absence of the primary visual cortex. J Neurol 2012;259:1062–70.
30. Revonsuo A. The reinterpretation of dreams: An evolutionary hypothesis of the function of dreaming. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2000;23:877–901.
31. Crick F, Mitchison G. The function of dream sleep. Nature 1983;304:111–4.
32. Cipolli C, Fagioli I, Mazzetti M, Tuozzi G. Incorporation of pre-sleep stimuli into dream contents: Evidence for a consolidation effect on declarative knowledge during REM sleep? Journal of Sleep Research 2004;13:317–26.
33. Schwartz S. Life goes on in dreams. Sleep 2010;33:15–16.
34. Wamsley EJ, Tucker M, Payne JD, Benavides JA, Stickgold R. Dreaming of a learning task is associated with enhanced sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Current Biology 2010;20:850–5.
35. Diekelmann S, Born J. The memory function of sleep. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2010;11:114–26.
36. Stickgold R, Hobson JA, Fosse R, Fosse M. Sleep, learning, and dreams: Off-line memory reprocessing. Science 2001;294:1052–7.
37. Valli K, Revonsuo A, Palkas O, et al. The threat simulation theory of the evolutionary function of dreaming: Evidence from dreams of traumatized children. Consciousness and Cognition 2005;14:188–218.
38. Frank MG, Benington JH. The role of sleep in memory consolidation and brain plasticity: Dream or reality? Neuroscientist 2006;12:477–88.
39. Franklin MS, Zyphur MJ. The role of dreams in the evolution of the human mind. Evolutionary Psychology 2005;3:59–78.
40. Greenberg R, Pearlman C, Fingar R, Kantrowitz J, Kawliche S. The effects of dream deprivation: Implications for a theory of the psychological function of dreaming. British Journal of Medical Psychology 1970;43:1–11.
41. Nielsen TA, Levin R. Nightmares: A new neurocognitive model. Sleep Medicine Reviews 2007;11:295–310.
42. Maquet P. Functional neuroimaging of normal human sleep by positron emission tomography. J Sleep Res 2000;9:207–31.
43. Foulkes, D. Dream reports from different stages of sleep. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 1962;65:14–25.