Psychology Name_______________________

Consciousness

Read the article “What dreams are made of,” in Newsweek (8/9/04) and complete the following:

1. History of Dream research

There have been various theories about what dreams are. Below, describe those theories:

A. Ancient Culture:

 Thousands of years ago, dreams were seen as messages from the gods, and in

many cultures, they are still considered prophetic

B. Sigmund Freud’s theory:

 Sigmund Freud, who theorized that dreams were the expression of unconscious

desires often stemming from childhood. He believed that exploring these hidden

emotions through analysis could help cure mental illness. The Freudian model of

psychoanalysis dominated until the 1970s, when new research into the chemistry

of the brain showed that emotional problems could have biological or chemical

roots, as well as environmental ones

C. Activation Synthesis theory:

 The "activation-synthesis hypothesis," which describes how dreams are formed

by nerve signals sent out during REM sleep from a small area at the base of the

brain called the pons. These signals, the researchers said, activate the images that

we call dreams.

2. The Biology of Dreaming

Thanks to modern brain imaging techniques, scientists can see which parts of the brain are active during
sleep

A. What do the limbic system and the frontal lobe (aka prefrontal cortex) have to do with the incoherent

storyline of our dreams?

  The dreaming brain have found that one of the most active areas during REM is

the limbic system, which controls our emotions. Much less active is the prefrontal

cortex, which is associated with logical thinking. That could explain why dreams

in REM sleep often lack a coherent story line.

B. Is REM sleep essential to life? Give evidence to support your answer.

 These may seem like vital mental functions, but no one has yet been able to say

that REM sleep or dreaming is essential to life or even sanity. MAO inhibitors, an

older class of antidepressants, essentially block REM sleep without any

detectable effects, although people do get a "REM rebound"--extra REM--if they

stop the medication.

C. Summarize what some researchers say about the physiological purpose of REM sleep.

 Some researchers think REM may have evolved for physiological reasons. "One

thing that's unique about mammals and birds is that they regulate body

temperature," says neuroscientist Jerry Siegel, director of UCLA's Center for

Sleep Research. "There's no good evidence that any coldblooded animal has REM

sleep." REM sleep heats up the brain and non-REM cools it off, Siegel says, and

that could mean that the changing sleep cycles allow the brain to repair itself. "It

seems likely that REM sleep is filling a basic physiological function and that

dreams are a kind of epiphenomenon," Siegel says--an extraneous byproduct, like

foam on beer.

3. Different dreamers: Age and Gender

 By comparing hundreds of dreams produced by many different people, psychologists have noticed
patterns in people’s dreams.
A. Contrast children’s dreams (ages 9-15) to adults’ dreams.

 She found that children dreamed about animals more often than adults and were
more likely to report being victims than aggressors. They were also more likely to
have "fantastic" dreams, while adults' dreams tend to contain more elements of
reality. A typical fantastic dream from a 10-year-old Strauch studied included a
cat asking for directions to the "cat bathroom." Similarly, an 11-year-old boy
dreamed that a snake wanted to go up a ski lift.

B. Contrast men’s dreams to women’s dreams

 When they do have dreams that include sex, they're often about someone they're

not really attracted to or some conflict, he says. "They are not often joyful

occasions." In fact, about two thirds of the characters in men's dreams are men;

gender is more evenly divided in women's dreams. These differences appear to be

true in many different cultures. Men's dreams also involve more physical

aggression than women's dreams; they're more likely to be about chasing,

punching, breaking, stealing or killing, Domhoff says. A favorite topic for women:

weddings. But they're not always happily-ever-after dreams. "Something always

goes wrong," Domhoff says. "It's the wrong dress, the wrong guy, the wrong

church." Not surprisingly, new mothers frequently dream about their babies, says

Tore Nielsen, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal, who

has analyzed the content of 20,000 dreams collected over the Web

4. How we use dreams

Psychologists have struggled with finding a purpose and use for our dreams. Describe the following
recent theories about why we dream.
A. Emergency Broadcast System:

 One possibility is that dreaming helps the mind run tests of its Emergency

Broadcast System, a way to prepare for potential disaster. So, for example, when
 new mothers dream about losing their babies, they may actually be rehearsing

what they would do or how they would react if their worst fears were realized.

B. Dreaming helps learning

 Some researchers have found that dreaming about physical tasks, like a
gymnast's floor routine, enhances performance.

C. Dreaming helps problem solving

 Dreaming can also help people find solutions to elusive problems. "Anything that

is very visual may get extra help from dreams," says Deirdre Barrett, assistant

professor at Harvard Medical School and editor of the journal Dreaming.

How do psychologists use patients dreams in therapy?

 "Dreams reveal stuff about you that you didn't know was there," she says. The

therapists she trains to work with patients' dreams are, in essence, heirs to Freud,

using dream imagery to uncover hidden emotions and feelings. Dreams provide

clues to the nature of more serious mental illness. Schizophrenics, for example,

have poor-quality dreams, usually about objects rather than people.

What is the link between traumatic events and dreams?

 Ernest Hartmann, author of "Dreams and Nightmares," analyzed dreams from

the same group of people before and after September 11 (none of them lived in
New York). He found that the later dreams were not necessarily more negative,
but they were more intense. "The intensity is a measure of emotional arousal," he
says. For people suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dream
content can be a marker of the level of distress, says psychiatrist Thomas
Mellman of the Howard University School of Medicine, who studies PTSD.
Dreams that mimic the real-life trauma indicate that the patient may be "stuck"
in the experience. He thinks one way to help people move past the memory is
through an "injury rehearsal," where they imagine a more positive scenario.
Sweet, Elusive Sleep

According to the article, why is our mood worse when we don’t get enough REM sleep at night?

 Dreaming, like thinking, is what makes us human--whether we're evoking old

terrors or imaging new pleasures. "We dream about unfinished business," says
Domhoff. And, if we're lucky, we wake up with a little more insight to carry the
day.

Using the information in the article, briefly hypothesize what might happen at each stage below if you

deprive yourself of REM sleep for one week.

 Day Two (after 1 night of no REM sleep) – waking up irritable with lack of confidence for the

day

 Day six (After 5 nights of no REM sleep)- feeling weak, depressed, and angry with a feeling of

no purpose and no joy to be experienced through the day

 Night after experiment is done (you are allowed to get REM Sleep)- a fresh sense of

revitalization and happiness, still coming off of the week long trial, REM rebound hits full effect

and calls them to be in a state of wanting more, deeper sleep