Dreams: Pathology, Neurophysiology, Cognitive Psychology

PBS’s, Nova What Are Dreams, is a forty-five-minute documentary about how different stages of sleep effect our dreams. Throughout the documentary, we also witness how dreaming is essential for making sense of the world around us. For nearly a century, many thought when one is asleep the brain is asleep as well. Yet not until technology advanced, did scientists begin examining sleeping patients to notice every ninety minutes their patients brain showed activity as if they were awake but were still unconscious.

Do dreams have an evolutionary function? In this essay I will discuss Flanagan’s reasons for believing consciousness is an adaptation, I also will discuss why sleep is an adaptation and his stance on dreams being spandrels. And I will end with my opinion on why dreams may or may not be significant based on Flanagan’s theory and the treat simulation theory. I will also discuss the reasons why or why not dreams may have an evolutionary function.

The Catch to Dreaming     Dreams are quiet and they can be elusive. Dreams do not attract nor demand a copious amount of attention, and they reside in the back of one 's mind. If the individual has not elected to share their dreams; it becomes a work of tired thoughts and ideas the individual misplaces or forgets. It is difficult to detect why dreams linger in one 's thoughts, while other dreams do not.

Then he asks the patients to tell him ab out his dreams and childhood because according to his theory on Dreams(explained above), Dreams helps to understand one 's personality. Psychoanalyst allows the patient to speak whatever he wants and to tell him anything or everything, he feels is wrong with him. In order to encourage the client for the further insight development, psychoanalyst uses techniques like: parapraxes, resistances analysis, ink blots etc [Saul McLeod, 2007] .

1. Introduction Starting from the ancient times humans has always been interested in strange phenomena of sleeping and dreams. Dreams can be explained psychologically as images of subconsciousness and feedback of neural processes in human's brain. For most of us, dreaming is something quite separate from normal life. When we wake up from being chased by a monster, or being on a date with a movie star, we realize with relief or disappointment that "it was just a dream."

The word “dream” can refer to what we experience when we sleep, it can refer to an ideal, and it can also refer to goals and aspirations. I shall look at the word “dream” as having the same meaning as the latter. A dream in this instance is defined as something that is aspired for and sought after. It shares a similar definition with the words: “goal,” “ambition,” “aspiration,” “desire,” “hope,” and “wish.” I notice that it is synonymous with words that could be thought of as small and minor, and with words that carry more weight.

Dreams are so fascinating because of the level of their complexity while our body is asleep and unaware. In psychoanalysis dreams are continually analyzed and even used in therapy. Dreaming, by and large, in and out of the psychiatric literature, has

There are five theories that were developed that helps to explain the reason as to why we dream. They are wish fulfillment, information processing, psychological function, activation synthesis, and cognitive development. The Wish Fulfillment theory suggests that the reason why we dream is to fulfill wishes that would be considered strange in reality. The information processing theory suggests that we dream to reorganize information and events from the recent day. The psychological function theory suggests that REM sleep helps to develop and preserve neural pathways.

Sigmund Freud’s ex-partner, Carl Jung, believed that dream analysis allows a window into the unconscious mind. Jung did not believe that the content of all dreams was sexual or the disguised meaning. This researcher concentrated on more symbolic reasoning for imagery. Dreams could have many different meanings. These nightmares or terrors can show metaphors, symbols, and images that portray the external and internal worlds of a person.

Freud's theory was that the unconscious mind governs our behavior more than people expect. He sought to make the unconscious conscious. (McLeod 2013) Freud

In 1900, Freud published his theories about dreams in a book titled The Interpretation of Dreams. Here, Freud theorized that dreams all The debate meanings and hypothesized that our dreams are a visualization of our greatest fears and desires. Moreover, Freud explained that an individual will add or elaborate upon their dreams to make sense of everything. Society was very fascinated with these theories and “in the 1940s and 1950s the ability to measure sleep, initially in animals and then in humans, arrived” (Cunnington). During these years, scientists studied the brain and its activity during a dream.

Psychoanalysis is the theory that a person may have past events in his subconscious that are affecting his behaviour or mental state without his awareness. Freud believed that by looking at these hidden factors, he could help cure neurosis. Freud also believed strongly in hypnosis and dream interpretation. These were tools that could be used to tap into a patient’s subconscious to search for any factors that may be causing him distress. When these ideas were brought to light, the patient could confront them intellectually and emotionally.

What if Sigmund Freud was mistaken? What if dreams are not just the fulfillment of wishes? What if dreams are also, as C.G. Jung postulated the “self-representations of the unconscious” (p. 285)? Throughout the text of Man and his Symbols, the intersecting, dare I say synchronistic, point is that man’s unconscious psyche conceals a symbol-creating archetypal purpose. These archetypes seem to leave extraordinary impressions on the individual which contributes to one’s ethical, emotional, and relational development.

Outline Introduction I. Attention-Getter: Have you ever thought why we dream and if there is any real meaning to what we dream? II. Central Idea: There are several theories of why we dream and the meaning related to our dreams. III.

Dreams are made of the unconscious wishes or motives that comes out in dream content. This symbolize