Understanding REM Sleep: Dreams and Brain Activation

606 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of sleep deprivation thesis

Since the beginning of time we have used the function of sleep to digest the previous day’s events but At a University in Chicago, in 1952 Eugene Aserinsky, Nathaniel Kleitman, and William C. Dement, discovered phases of rapid eye movement during sleep and classed a difference between what is now known as REM sleep and NON REM sleep. Recent discoveries have concluded that REM sleep occurs during the dream phase of sleep and NON REM covers all other periods.
Many associate sleeping with peace and quiet, but actually our brains are found to be more active during sleep than at any other time of the day. After reading the title to my essay many would put this paper down and claim that they have never experienced REM sleep, but that’s not entirely true, we all dream, every time we sleep, yet only 40% of people can recall they had one and only 32% will be able to recall some content with a smaller percentage being able to recall the dream in detail. ‘There's a time limit to how much you can remember about your dream’ . …show more content…

When deciphering the importance of dreams on behaviour, the study itself has to come to a universal definition to fit the term ‘dreaming’. The University of California Santa Cruz defines dreams as ‘a form of thinking that occurs when there is certain yet minimal brain activity going on’. However some do ‘argue that dreams themselves are just our day’s thoughts running wild’ . Nevertheless, there is a steady increase in the number of people growing an interest into Oneirology. The confusing picture behind the lack of knowledge in this area is due to the lack of equipment that can be used to study the brain mid sleep. ‘However this is an issue that is improving and scientists are making further developments every day to finding the

Show More
Related

  • How Does Sleep Affect Memory Consolidation?

    1684 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rasch, B., & Born, J. (2008). Reactivation and consolidation of memory during sleep. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 188-192. doi: 10.1111/j.14678721.2008.00572.x

    Read More

  • Sleeping Disorders and the I-Function

    1463 Words  | 3 Pages

    As we all know, sleep is an important part of our lives. Without the proper amounts and type of sleep, fatigue and other problems can arise. Generally, we can clearly distinguish between a sleeping person and a person that is awake. With sleeping disorders, the distinction between an awake person and a sleeping person becomes more intriguing. What is the difference, how does it relate to the I-function and consciousness? Each sleeping disorder has its own unique answer to this question. It is essential to understand sleep to fully appreciate it. However, many aspects of it remain a mystery. We do have some degree of understanding of sleep. Within our sleep cycle a type of unusual sleep occurs, REM sleep. During this cycle the periods of REM sleep are interspersed with slow wave sleep in alternation. Each period of REM sleep (there are usually 4 or 5 periods a night) lasts for approximately 5 to 30 minutes. During these periods a sleep paradox occurs. An enormous amount of brain activity takes place; this is sometimes even more activity then when awake. This clearly indicates that sleep is not simply to rest our mind and not to think. So, during this period our brains are extremely active, yet there is usually no input or output. During this period, along with the random eye movement (REM), there is a complete loss of muscle tone. Essentially, at this point, the motor system is paralyzed (normally the body inhibits any movement). The autonomic nervous system also alters its behavior. The regulation of body temperature is lost and the blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rates shows increased variability. REM sleep can be detected by measuring the electrical activity of the brain with an electroencephalogram. At this point, the EEG will show the same pattern of activity as when the brain is awake.

    Read More

  • Sleep Physiology And Chronobiology Essay

    1611 Words  | 4 Pages

    We live our entire life in two states, sleep and awake1. These two states are characterized by two distinct behaviors. For instance, the brain demonstrates a well-defined activity during non-REM sleep (nREM) that is different when we are awake. In the study of sleep by Huber et. al., the authors stated that sleep is in fact a global state2. It is unclear whether this statement means that sleep is a state of global behavioural inactivity or the state of the global nervous system. The notion that sleep is a global state of the nervous system served as basis for sleep researchers to search for a sleep switch. The discovery of the sleep switch, in return, provided evidence and enhanced the notion that sleep is a global state of the nervous system. The switch hypothesis developed from the fact that sleep can be initiated without fatigue and it is reversible1. It was hypothesized that there is something in the brain that has the ability to control the whole brain and initiate sleep. Studies have found a good candidate that demonstrated this ability3. They found a group of neurons in the Ventrolateral Preoptic (VLPO) nucleus. It was a good candidate because it was active during sleep, has neuronal output that can influence the wakefulness pathway, and lesion in the area followed reduce sleep3. The idea that there is something that can control the whole brain and result sleep state supports the idea that sleep is a global state of the nervous system.

    Read More

  • Sleep, Dreams and REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    The discovery of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep suggested that sleep was not, as it was thought to be, a dormant state but rather a mentally dynamic one. Your brain is, in fact, very active in this state, almost to the level at which it is when a person is awake. Yet during this active stage in which most dreams occur, the movements of the rest of the body are completely stilled. To imagine this paralysis during dreams not occurring is a frightful image, since in many cases dreams are violent and active. When the neurotransmitters that control the movement of the body do not work properly the person develops REM sleep behavioral disorder (RBD).

    Read More

  • Exploringn a Neurobiological Theory of Dreaming

    487 Words  | 1 Pages

    Exploringn a Neurobiological Theory of Dreaming Neurobiological theory of dreaming focuses on the brain and the nervous system. The activation synthesis theory which is one of the theories put forward by Hobson and Mcarley (1998) said sleep is controlled by mechanism in the brainstem. When activated this inhibits activity in the skeletal muscles and increases activity in the forebrain. This theory seems dreaming as an automatic part of the sleep process that may have no significance beyond the need to organize the material into coherent forms. Hobson points out that injection of a drug that increases the action of acetylcholine both increases REM sleep and dreaming.

    Read More

  • Dream Interpretation: Sigmund Freud

    1522 Words  | 4 Pages

    Dreams have been thought to contain significant messages throughout many cultures. A dream is an unfolding sequence of perceptions, thoughts, and emotions that is experienced as a series of real-life events during sleep. The definitions of dreams are different among studies, which can also lead to quite different results. Perhaps, the dream interpretation has becoming increasingly popular. In this paper, I will talk about what I have learned about three different views of dream interpretations. One theory made by Sigmund Freud who believed that dreams are triggered by unacceptable repressed wishes, often of a sexual nature. He argued that because dreams we experience are merely disguised versions of people real dreams. The other theory called activation–synthesis theory, made by Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley, based on the observation that during REM sleep, many brain-stem circuits become active and bombard the cerebral cortex with neural signals. The last theory, proposed by William Domhoff, is called the neurocognitive theory of dreaming, which demonstrates that dream content in general is continuous with waking conceptions and emotional preoccupations. Thus, dreaming is best understood as a developmental cognitive achievement that depends upon the maintenance of a specific network of forebrain structures. While each theory has different belief system and approach method, it is a great opportunity to know how former psychologists contributed to the field of dream interpretation.

    Read More

  • Theories About Dreams

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this paper I hope to open a window to the vast and mysterious world of dreaming. To most people, information about dreams isn’t common knowledge. In researching this subject though, I found that everybody has and reacts to dreams, which are vital to your mental health. You will also find how you can affect your dreams and how they affect you.

    Read More

  • Oswald's Restoration Theory of Sleep

    505 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many studies of the role of sleep are partial or total sleep deprivation studies which support Oswold’s restoration theory. One of these supporting studies was Dement’s. He deprived participants of REM sleep and consequently found that they increased their number of attempted REM stages from 12 to 26 over 4-7 nights. During their first uninterrupted night, participants increased their REM sleep by 10% which is known as REM rebound. This suggests the importance of REM and the possibility that the purpose of sleep is to get into REM sleep. The participants reported anxiety, irritability and difficulty concentrating which shows that REM sleep is needed to avoid these affects and enable brain recovery which corresponds with Oswold’s theory. Even so, Dement’s study has low ecological validity, it has low population validity because there were only 8 participants and they were a self-selected sample. Participants would probably have shown demand characteristics because the experiment took place in a lab. It also has low mundane realism because people would not usually sleep in a lab and be interrupted repeatedly.

    Read More

  • What Do Dreams Mean?

    1212 Words  | 3 Pages

    The nurture of dreaming is REM, rapid eye movement, is where most of the dreaming occurs. During REM sleep the brain remains active, the eyes move back and forth rapidly under the lids, and the large muscles of the body are relaxed. Laboratory studies have shown that we experience our most vivid dreams during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. REM sleep occurs every 90 to 100 minutes, 3 to 4 times a night, and lasts longer as the night progresses. The most common experience is when one lays their head down and next thing they know, they are in the motion of free falling and are awaken by the sudden movement of a twitch. Human beings spend roughly about 6 years dreaming in their lifetime. Dreaming is an activity we all partake in whether we like it or not. We all sleep. Wonder what one dreams may mean and be able to take and grow from it. Not many people know that we all share similar dreams, as dreams are found common.

    Read More

  • Sleep Deprivation Among College Students

    2230 Words  | 5 Pages

    Sleeping is something that is an essential part of human nature and is a must in order for one to be a functional human being. Sleep is an idea that is accompanied by many wives’ tales, including the idea that one needs seven to eight hours of sleep each night and alcohol helps one fall asleep and sleep more soundly. One myth about sleep is that during sleep, one is in a state of nothingness. In truth, however, it has been discovered that during sleep the brain is active, variations in heartbeat and breathing occur, and the eyes and ears are active throughout the time of sleep. These activities during a person’s sleep are important because they help that person be more aware, awake, and alert during sleep.

    Read More

  • Parasomnia

    1529 Words  | 4 Pages

    Cartwright, R.D. (1978) A primer on Sleep and Dreaming. Massachusetts : Addison - Wesley, Publishing, Company

    Read More

  • The Meaning Of Dreams

    1517 Words  | 4 Pages

    What is a dream? Why do we have dreams? Do dreams have deeper meaning in our lives? The answers to these questions have eluded and intrigued many psychologists throughout history and have sparked my interest as well. As an avid and vivid dreamer I have often found myself wondering what the true meanings to my dreams were. So what are dreams? “Strictly speaking, dreams are images and imagery, thoughts, sounds and voices, and subjective sensations experienced when we sleep.”1 Even after thousands of years of research, psychologists have still not come to an agreed answer on why we dream. There are as many opinions out there as there are individual dreams. Some psychologists believe dreaming is simply the minds way of distracting itself from outside information during sleep to allow people to get deep rest. Others such as Dr. Eric Hartman suggest dreams serve almost as a psychotherapy in which the brain can make connections between different emotions and thoughts in a safe protected environment. Do dreams have any direct correlation to everyday events and experiences? Are they meant to aid individuals in understanding and interpreting their world around them?

    Read More

  • Sleep Aging Research Paper

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sleep is defined as a universal need; it provides relaxation and comfort and plays an important role to the brain and to the body equilibrium. [1] Human sleep was described as a sequence of five recurring stages by Rechtschaffen and Kale (R&K) in 1968. This consisted of the four non-rapid eye movement (NREM) stages split into light (stages I and II) and deep sleep (stages III and IV) and the rapid eye movement (REM) stage, during which dreams happen [2]. Although updated and replaced in 2007 by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), most of the guidelines, remained unchanged, with efforts made only to simplify and clarify transitions between stages. [3] Since the introduction of the report by Rechtschaffen and Kale, sleep staging is

    Read More

  • Dreams and Sleep

    1701 Words  | 4 Pages

    Most people think of sleep as a passive and relatively still and unchanging process; however, sleep is a very active state of consciousness. While asleep, we also have thoughts, visions, and feelings otherwise known as dreams. This assessment on sleep and dreams points out the alterations in the sleep cycle while focusing on REM sleep. It will also examine the history behind dream analysis, as well as introduce lucid dreams.

    Read More

  • Sleeping and Dreaming

    4847 Words  | 10 Pages

    In this Forum on Sleep and Dreams, we will see how the diversity of academic disciplines can help to answer important questions about sleep and dreaming—questions that may touch the basis of human intellect. The Forum is fortunate in...

    Read More

More about Understanding REM Sleep: Dreams and Brain Activation

Open Document