The Science of Dreams
A dream is a display, usually visual, that occurs during the night while we sleep in
order to deal with and asses the things that we have dealt with during the day. A dream is
a remembered residue in the form of creatively assembled visual metaphors(Guiley).
In 1900 Sigmund Freud wrote in the The Interpretation of Dreams that dreams are
disguised wishes arising from ones unconscious mind. Having been suppressed by the
conscious mind, the wishes sneak into the sleeping brain in the form of dreams. Due to
electoencephalograph machine that recorded the rapid eye movement during sleep and
research into the physical nature of dreaming, Freud's theory has been for the most part
proven wrong.
There is no definitive answer as to what a dream is. There is a raging debate over
the neuroscientific point of view and the psychoanalytical point of view about what it is
that actually causes dreams. In the next few paragraphs I will look at the proposed
answers from both the neuroscientific and psychoanalytical
The process of dreaming starts in the brain stem and is controlled by two
neurotransmitters that in affect turn the dreams on and of. The one that turns the dreams
on uses acetylcholine to begin the dream, and the part that turns the dream off uses
norepinephrine and serotonin to end the dream sequence.When the norepinephrine and
serotonin are suppressed, the other chemical, acetylcholine allows electrical signals to the
cortex.
Norepinephrine and serotonin are necessary to imprint the dreams into your long
term memory. This may explain why we forget the majority of our dreams. Since the two
chemicals are suppressed during the dreaming ...
... middle of paper ...
...e that people that are blind from
birth see in their dreams, but their is evidence that rapid eye movement is present. People
who have lost their vision after birth have reported having sight in their dreams. The
dreams of the blind also have a better sense of senses like touch and sound.
In conclusion I think that with dreams we would lead very boring lives and would
have many more problems to deal with. Without dreams to deal with some of our more
major problems I believe that we would fall apart as people and would not be able to go
through life every day.
Bibliography:
Works Cited
Ackroyd, Eric. A Dictionary of Dream Symbols. Blankford Publishing, London.
Copyright 1993.
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The Encyclopedia of Dreams. Crossroads Publishing Co,
New York. Copyright 1993
This book is a collection of information about dreams, ranging from folklore and ancient beliefs to current scientific research. The thoughts of dozens, perhaps even hundreds of philosophers, researchers, and other dreamers are briefly summarized in chronological order, from Plato to Artemidorus, from Erik Erikson to Calvin
dream real in our minds. The pleasure turns to control us, because without it we
... R.W. (1977). The brain as a dream state generator: An activation-synthesis hypothesis of the dream process. The American Journal of Phychiatry, 134, 1335-1348.
The first question that is going to be addressed in this paper is “Why do you dream?” There are many reasons why people dream. There are many reasons why people dream. One theory as to why people dream is that “dreams help us sort and place the day’s experiences into our memories. Deep, slow-wave REM sleep stabilizes our memories and experiences, converting them into long-term learning” (Baird p.96). Another theory is that your brain is always firing neurons; even when you are unconscious. The neurons that are being fired are the ones that are responsible for creating images and the limbic system (emotions). This results in your brain weaving these signals together. Therefore creating dreams. The last theory is that dreams play a main part in cognitive development. According to Baird “The brain activity associated with dreaming may help to develop and preserve neural pathways… The way dreams change over time also seems to indicate a developmental role.” (Baird p.97) The older you are the more your dreams change. When you are an adult your dreams t...
However one criticism of this theory is that the supporting research which was done for this was in a laboratory where participants slept and this however differs significantly from sleep in more natural settings. This theory is in good in explaining why smells and taste rarely or never appear in our dreams because only those parts in vision and hearing are activated. This theory also accounts for why we often find our dreams hard to understand as it stated that dreams are not functioning effectively and due to random activity.
There are many theories on why we dream. Some of them fall into the religious aspect of
The human psyche has a vital role in psychology, including the way humans interpret dreams and their sequence. Humans do not want to remember the truth of reality so we try and hide it in order to forget about it through the process of dreaming. Except, while trying to forget about the past, it leads to
All over the world different people, scientists, and civilizations have different dream theories. For instance, the Senoi tribe in Malaysia has a fascinating tradition of dream telling. Every morning the people of the tribe begin their day by discussing and interpreting their dreams with each other. The children, as they grow older, actually learn to control their dreams by simply wishing bad dreams into positive ones. It is observed that, by paying tribute their dreams, the people of the Senoi tribe learn to have faith in themselves. Also, they have very few, if any, mental problems “could working constructively with dreams be part of the answer” to mental issues? (Peirce)
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.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, dream is defined by a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring involuntarily in a person’s mind during certain stages of sleep. Dreams have fascinated humans since the beginning of time. The recorded history of dream interpretation dates back to 3000-4000 B.C. with the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. They documented their dreams on clay tablets. People back then saw the dream world as an extension of reality, but that it was a more powerful realm. Furthermore, they believed that when they dream, their souls would leave their body during sleep and travel to the dream world.
The Forum is fortunate to have an expert on the psychophysiology of sleep and dreaming, Hans Van Dongen, as the Topic Director for 2004–2005.... ... middle of paper ... ... "The difference is likely due to an imbalance in brain chemicals, including too much acetylcholine and too little adrenaline," Sutton explains.
One moment the distorted images of meeting a celebrity or being in that place you have been wishing to visit someday, comes to feel unrealistically real, resulting in just a dream. People who are tired of dealing with life and some of their problems, seem to find a temporary solution by falling asleep. Dreams come and go, changing in an instant while sleeping, many may try to find explanations for them but never be sure of why the unconsciousness has created this certain image in their sleep. Dreams might be those nightmares that people wake up to at night or the happy dreams wishing were true. Although dreams may be seen as a part of the sleeping system, it is also something that you have wanted very much to do, be, or have for a long time.
For example your brain is fed millions of details every day, things like the color of passing cars, which is a minor sensory detail and the presentation you're putting together for work, which are more complex sensory details. During sleep your brain works to decide which information is worth keeping and which your brain can get rid of. Many philosophers feel that dreams play a large roll in this process of brain decluttering. Everyone dreams however, the amount of dreams remembered varies from person to person. People are more likely to remember their dreams if they occur during the REM sleep cycle.
Dreams are the way people live out their unconscious desires and wishes. According to Singh, every single person on earth has a dream. Dreams are a language of their own; Singh also reiterated that dreams do not have definitive meanings. People have dreams about being
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?