Unromancing the Dream Elizabeth and Syrr

Theories 1970s- Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley- Dreams are an attempt to interpret random electrical impulses produced automatically in your brain. Results in how the brain and mind work during sleep. Brain activation is compared to stored memories in order to synthesize the activation into some dream content.

Method One- They studied and reviewed previous work by other researchers. Able to cite 37 references that pertain to their hypothesis. Two- Research of animals’ sleep and dreams. Mammals experience stages of sleep similar to those in humans. They didn’t claim that nonhuman animals dream.

Results and Discussion Sensory input and motor output are blocked when asleep. Brain is able to send motor signals, the body is not able to express them. Exception to the blocking of motor responses is in the eyes which may be why visual images are triggered during dreaming.

Results and Discussion The brain enters REM sleep at regular intervals that remains in that state for specific lengths of time – nothing random. Dreaming sleep (D State) appeared to be a preprogrammed event in the brain that functions almost like a neurobiological clock. Dreaming sleep is purely physiological, not psychological.

Results and Discussion Brain activates itself internally. Images are called up from the memory in an attempt to match the data generated by the brain’s activation.

Results and Discussion At least 95% of all dreams are not remembered – unless it is vivid and you awaken during or immediately after. When we awaken there is an immediate change in the brain chemistry. Certain brain chemicals that are necessary for converting short-term memories into long- term ones are suppressed during REM sleep.