The dream between neuroscience and psychoanalysis. In rats, heart rate is clearly accelerated during the periods of oniric activity, expressed as rostrum+vibrissae, eye, head, ear and limb movements. 90. Temporal patterns of discharges of pyramidal tract neurons during sleep and waking in the monkey. Mirmiran M, Van Someren E. The importance of REM sleep for brain maturation. These findings do not necessarily mean that such areas are involved in generating dreaming. Gassel MM, Marchiafava PL, Pompeiano O. Roffwarg et al. Pontine cholinergic neurons show fos-like immunoreactivity associated with cholinergically induced REM sleep. Arch Ital Biol 1969;107:175-216. J Neurophysiol 1946;9:165-71. Jouvet (12,119), one of the most important researchers on sleep, suggests that dreaming is "a guardian and programmer of the hereditary part of our personality" and as such it plays a role in our general behavior. Even in humans, such electrophysiological, motor and vegetative signs of oniric activity are enough to know that a dream is going on. In 1999, Ribeiro et al., assaying zif-268 expression in control rats and in rats subjected to a rich environment training, found that in control animals this gene protein generally decreased, mainly in the cerebral cortex, from wakefulness to synchronized sleep and from synchronized to desynchronized sleep (109). Crick F, Mitchison G. The function of dream sleep. Science 1953;118:273-4. An analysis of the supraspinal influences acting on motoneurons during sleep in the unrestrained cat. Maquet P, Pters J, Aerts J, Delfiore G, Degueldre C, Luxen A, Franck G. Nature. Recordings of the electrical activity of the brain, which we will refer to as electro-oscillograms, reveal specific patterns that express the phases of sleep in several central regions of the brain, including the phase during which most oniric activity takes place, the desynchronized or paradoxical sleep. 55. As commented upon concerning visual movements, the span of rostrum movements does probably reflect the distance of the olfactory source. 13. 87. Progr Neurobiol 1984;22:241-88. Around 80 per cent of such motor activity was found to occur during desynchronized sleep, what points to its participation in dreaming activity. In: Baust, W. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. This author "thus proposes a psychoanalytical model of dreaming, in which dreams constitute a way of representing the individual's inner world with internal objects related with one another and with the self" (135). Vertes RB, Eastman KE. Such electrophysiological studies demonstrate that the abovementioned sites in the central nervous system are involved in the oniric movements but they do not prove that such structures generate them. Erlbaum, 1992. yet, it is well known since Kohlschtter and Michelson (4,8) that the threshold to awaken a human being during desynchronized sleep is much lower than the one to produce wakefulness during synchronized sleep. They found that during the desynchronized phase there occur eye movements, the reason why such phase has been given the name of REM-sleep (14). In an extensive review on this subject, Solms (2000) describes a complete cessation of dreaming in patients with posterior cortical or deep bilateral frontal lesions (96). The narrower is the angle of rotation, the lower is the recorded potential, which happens when attention is being directed to a very small part of the object or when the object is very near. Electrical stimulation of the nucleus reticularis pontis oralis evokes bilateral muscle atonia in decerebrate cats (52). 52. Narcolepsy. World Fed Sleep Res Soc Newsletter 1997;5:22-3. John Wiley and Sons, New york 1982. 96. Sleep 1999;22:409-18. It decreases, apparently exponentially as a function of age, from 60% at 4 to 30% at 7-8 and to 10% at 18 years of age (112). 41. Neurosci Conscious. The motor components are usually weak and poorly expressed movements during a dream, mainly if it occurs during desynchronized sleep; when a dream takes place during synchronized sleep phase I, near wakefulness, not only movements are more faithful to the dream content but also the latter is much more logic. Electrophysiologically, it has been shown that the same type of hippocampal cells that are activated during training in a radial maze are also endogenously reactivated during sleep, which accounts for memory consolidation and for a close correlation between dreams and events preceding sleep (87). During REM sleep, several physiological changes also take place. Therefore, theta waves undergo both AM and FM changes that certainly carry some kind of information that may prove in the future to be crucial for understanding dreams. Christy B, Nathans D. DNA binding site of the growth factor-inducible protein Zif268. In cats, during movements related to dreams such hyperpolarization is reinforced by presynaptic inhibition of afferents to motoneurons. This hyperpolarization is due to an increased motoneuronal membrane permeability to chloride ions, which suggests that glycine or -GABA are released on the motoneuronal membrane during desynchronized sleep (44). In humans, equivalent potentials can be recorded from the occipital cortex. & Ajmone-Marsan, C. 133. WebDream theories developed by Freud suggest that dreams are psychological, revealing hidden urges, for example. In 1896 Weed & Halam (4) published the first quantification of dreams content. Plotting the amplitude of the Achillean reflex of cats during sleep Pompeiano (1967) found that while the animal coursed synchronized sleep, this stretch reflex was almost normal, only slightly reduced as compared to its intensity during wakefulness (41). Baldissera F, Cesa-Bianchi MG, Mancia M. Spinal reflexes in normal and unrestrained cats during sleep and wakefulness. 126. Figure 6 shows an increase in heart rate from 150 bpm to 180 bpm (the latter is the normal heart rate during resting wakefulness in this species), coinciding with the peak of eye movements. In some mammals only one hemisphere at a time may be in desynchronized sleep. To what degree, and in what way, implications can be drawn from these findings for the psychology of dreaming is controversial. 61. 2009 Nov;10(11):803-13. doi: 10.1038/nrn2716. Although it has not been shown that the alpha-coeruleus nuclei are lesioned in these patients, it is tempting to consider that their lesion underlies such sleep disturbance. Brain 1997;120:1173-97. Behav Brain Sci 2000;23:1008-9. Fortunately, thanks to this peculiar incomplete motoneuron inhibition we are able to record movements occurring in both humans and non-human animals and thus infer the presence of dreams. WebThis theory also implies that dreams are not independently functional but rather a coproduct of the sleeping brain, reflecting the dreamers physiological and psychological Eye movements in humans predominate because vision is our main sensory channel and our visual memory is overwhelmingly predominant, resulting in preponderance of visual dreams. WebExplanation of Physiological function theory This may be true, but it does not explain why we experience meaningful dreams Critical considerations of Physiological function 40. Foulkes (1982) considered that dreams are so easily forgotten because the brain in desynchronized sleep is in a "reflective state". WebPhysiological function Theory regular brain stimulation from REM sleep may help develop and preserve neural pathways. Xerxes, in fact, had discovered an important aspect of dreams but his oracle discarded such an explanation, in favor of the mystic one. Such hypothesis is grounded on the following steps. Doneshka & Kehaiyov (1978) reported dreams with striking vestibular sensations. Santos LM, Valle AC, Sameshima K, Silva MTP, Timo-Iaria C. A linear relationship between theta waves frequency and the speed of learning in rats. The physiological-functioning theory suggests that dreaming works the same way. In decerebrate cats eye movements do occur and are integrated below the midbrain (67,95). 8. Sleep patterns during rearing under different environmental conditions in juveline rats. Lovblad KO, Thomas R, Jakod PM, Scammel T, Bassetti C, Griswold M, et al. Hence, experiments with such animals are extremely valuable and thus will be emphasized in the present review. One is that dreams are generated by the activation of neural activity in the brainstem and its signal transmission to the cortex. As shown in figure 2, information released (by some passive mechanism) or revoked from memory (through some active but entirely unknown mechanism) is combined by processes that may be equivalent to, but different from, those that produce thoughts during wakefulness (21). 74. Desynchronization is the rule, during this phase, in all cortical electro-oscillograms in humans and other primates. Plenum Press, 1990. The Williams & Wilkins Company, Baltimore, 1967;45:352-423. Webanalyzing dreams. Brain Res 2002, submitted. Since memorized information is the basic material to build up dreams, it is understandable that many (but not all) dreams are threatening and emotionally highly charged (111). 37. The very essence of dreams is, certainly, memorized information. Desseilles M, Dang-Vu TT, Sterpenich V, Schwartz S. Conscious Cogn. sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal Often eye movements are preceded in the electroencephalogram by small sawthoot-waves that superimpose on desynchronized potentials (figure 3). (1999) (126,127,129,130). Nikolaev E, Kaminska B, Tischmeyer W, Matthies E, Kaczmarek L. Induction of expression of genes encoding transcription factors in the rat brain elicited by behavioral training. 30. Despite several demonstrations that this hypothesis is correct, a few argue against such a view. Vertes RP, Kocsis B. Brainstem-diencephalo-septohippocampal systems controlling the theta rhythm of the hippocampus. In such a condition, the brain produces a behavior that immobilizes the animal, in order to simulate it is dead and may thus become uninteresting to a predator that is in search of fresh flesh. When they sleep, fishes keep quiet, with no apparent movements, and then they can be easily fished with a hand.". 108. Phenomenal dream content, however, is not as disorganized as such views imply. Although it may happen in any sleep phase, it prevails during the desynchronized phase. 106. 122. Another hypothesis to account for desynchronized sleep function is that this phase of sleep is programmed to occur when central temperature is low and that it has a thermoregulatory function. eCollection 2020. J Ment Nerv Dis 1966;141:623-50. 56. J Neurosci 1991;11:2804-11. 123. Roldan E, Weiss TT. 21. Brain Res 1990;517:224-8. Sleep research: pictures from the early years. J Cerebr Blood Flow Metab 1991;11:502-7. Expt Neurol 1976;53:328-38. Desynchronized sleep has been identified in many mammals and birds (16) but below the birds only in crocodiles brief periods of an equivalent phase (eye movements, low voltage electro-oscillograms and cervical hypotonia) seem to occur (17). Hansotia P, Broste S, Ruggles K, Wall R, Friske M. Eye movement patterns in REM sleep. During wakefulness such periods in rats are concomitant with short but complete immobilization, which is well known to occur when a high degree of attention is being directed to some external object. Stimulus response theory of dream: The stimulus response theory which existed prior to Freud is based upon the associationistic stimulus response view. This theory stresses the relationship between brain changes during sleep and changes in perceptual efficiency. Some disturbing stimuli force activity into one portion of the cerebral cortex. Researchers working on dream usually do not believe that dreaming may occur in non-human animals, probably due to religious and philosophical reasons but also to a great mistake, i.e., that dreaming is a high level mental activity, such as doing mathematics, but it is not. However, during desynchronized sleep it was drastically reduced, being entirely inhibited for most of the time. Brainstem mechanisms of slow-wave sleep and REM sleep. Exploring the neural correlates of dream phenomenology and altered states of consciousness during sleep. J Physiol (London) 1993;461:549-63. Baldissera F, Broggi G. An analysis of potential changes in the spinal cord during desynchronized sleep. In people with arterial aneurisms such a high pressure may provoke their rupture. Thus, any study of dreaming also lends itself to psychological scrutiny and clinical application. Rostrum movements in desynchronized sleep as a prevalent manifestation of dreaming activity in Wistar rats. In humans it has been shown that not only EEG desynchronization but also increase in vegetative functions, such as heart rate and ventilation (27), accompany mental activity. 47. Brain Develop 1994;16:81-91. Selective deactivation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex has been found in desynchronized sleep. Despite such discrepancies, however, during synchronized sleep PRT studies reveal a decrease in global cerebral energy metabolism relative to both waking and desynchronized sleep. Electroencephal Clin Neurophysiol 1987;66:383-90. 34. The heart rate and breathing quickens, and blood pressure rises. The case against memory consolidation in REM sleep. Fratelli Bocca Editori, Torino 1899. Some of his statements, hereby reproduced in a simplified form from his book on sleep and dreams, briefly illustrate his contribution to the study of this subject: "All creatures that have four limbs and are sanguine (mammals) display signs that they dream while asleep. 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