The Neurophysiology of Sleep and Dreams
The ancient Babylonians thought dreams were messages from supernatural beings, and that the good dreams came from gods and that bad dreams came from demons. (1) Since then people have sought many different explanations for the occurrence and importance of dreams. Before beginning to understand the function or significance of sleep and dreams, it is important to look at when, what, where, and how dreaming and sleeping occur.
Adult humans sleep, or should sleep, for about eight hours a day. People's necessary time spent sleeping changes over time. Newborns spend about twice as long sleeping. (2) Circadian rhythms, [the term originates from the Latin, "circa diem," which means about "about a day" (3)] determine when people fall asleep. The circadian rhythm, actually twenty-five hours long, is reset by light. (4) In 1953 scientists discovered REM (rapid-eye movement) sleep. The physiological state of REM occurs periodically with NREM (non-rapid-eye movement) about every ninety minutes (5), and lasts for about 20-30 minutes (6).
Differences between NREM and REM can be measured using an electroencephalogram (EEG), electrooptogram (EOG), and electromyelogram (EMG), which measure brainwaves, eye-movement, and muscle tone, respectively. REM is categorized by high-frequency, low-amplitude, more irregular waves in EEG, rapid, coordinated movement in EOG, and weak EMG. During this type of sleep, brain activation heightens, breathing and heart rates increase, and body movement is paralyzed. Because the person is highly aroused, like in waking, but also very asleep, REM sleep is also called paradoxical sleep (6).
Although dreams and REM are not synonymous, most dreaming occurs during ...
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Sources Cited:
1)The Association for the Study of Dreams
http://www.asdreams.org/
2)Harvard Undergraduate Society for Neuroscience
http://hcs.harvard.edu/~husn/BRAIN/vol1/sleep.html
3)Silent Partners Organization
http://www.silentpartners.org/sleep/sinfo/s101/physio1.htm
4)Talk About Sleep
http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/basics/Sleep_Understanding_NINDS.htm
5)The American Psychoanalytic Association
http://www.apsa.org/pubinfo/remqa.htm
6)California State University student essay
http://www.csun.edu/~vcpsy00h/students/sleep.htm
7)"Neurophysiology of dreams"
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro03/web1/www.wcu.edu/ceap/psychology/journal/pdf/barbee-c-5-00.pdf%20/
8)Slides on Physiology of Sleep and Dreaming
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro03/web1/www.fiu.edu/orgs/psych/psb_4003/lectures/Slides/Lecture10.PDF
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