Source

Annotation

Thought/Connections

Sandervander
Linden26July
2011

HaraEstroff
Marano1
March2005

Inearlycivilizations,dreamswerethought
tobemediumsbetweentheearthlyworld
andworldofthegods.Inthenineteenth
centurySigmundFreudandCarlJungput
forthmultipletheoriesofdreaming.Freuds
theorywasbasedoffofrepressedlonging,
hebelievedthatourdreamssortthrough
repressedunresolvedwishes.Jung
believedthatdreamshaddifferent
meanings.Newtheorieshavecomeup,
onebeingthatdreamsdontmean
anything,theyarejustbrainimpulses.
Manytheorieshavebeenputforth,but
untilnownotangibleevidencehasbeen
shown.ChristinaMarzanoandher
colleaguesattheUniversityofRomehave
successfullyexplainedhowweremember
ourdreams.Theyconductedastudyof
sixtyfivestudentstostaytwonightsin
theirlab.Thefirstnighttheyletthemrelax,
allowingthemtogetusedtotheir
environment.Thesecondnightthey
measuredtheirbrainwaveswhilethey
slept.Thestudentswerewokenupat
randomtimesandaskedtofilloutadream
sheet.Theparticipantswhoremembered
theirdreamshadlowfrequencytheta
waves.Theincreasedfrontalthetaactivity,
isthesameofthatinthefrontalcortexthat
recollectswhathappenstoyou.Dreams
helpprocessemotionsbycreating
memoriesofthem.

Dreamshavebeensaidtobeprophecies
ofthefuture.SouthAfricanneuroscientist,
MarkSolms,suggeststhatmaybedreams
arewhatallowsustosleep.Perhaps,
dreamskeepthebrainoccupiedwhilewe
sleep.Withoutdreamsthebrainwouldbe
wakingusupandtellingustogooutinto
theworld.Dreamshavealotincommon

BenedictCarey
9November
2009

DawnTurner
Trice23April
2012

withhallucinations.Bothdreamsand
hallucinationsaredrivenbydopamine.In
ourdreams,wefeedourown
representationoftheworld.

Theoriesstatethatdreamshelpuswork
throughcurrentproblems.Whatifdreams
arenotpsychologicalatall?Dr.J.Allan
Hobsonarguesthatthebrainiswarming
upforthesightsandsoundsofwakingup.
Hearguesthatdreamingisastateof
consciousnessthatisrunningwhileweare
awake,butissuppressed.Peopleread
intotheirdreams.Inastudyparticipants
wereabletoconnectsignificancetoa
negativedreamifitwasaboutsomeone
theydislikedandpositivedreamswitha
friend.However,onlytwentypercentof
dreamsincludepeopleareplacesthe
personhasencountered.Somepeople
havetheabilitytowatchtheirdreamasa
viewer,luciddreaming.Somestudies
trainedparticipantstoluciddream.Lucid
dreamingoccursinamixedstateof
consciousness.Itwasshownthatlucid
dreaminghaselementsofREMand
walking,mostcommoninthefrontalareas
ofthebrain,whichisquietduringnormal
sleep.

LaurelClarksaysshecouldfeelher
deceasedhusbandspresencewhenshe
haddreamsabouthim.Shebelievesthese
typeofdreamsarepeoplessubconscious
fillingavoid.Shebelievesthatdreamstap
intospiritualrealms.Sheishostinga
NationalDreamHotline,whichwillbe
interpretingdreamsandanswering
questionsaboutdreams.Clarksays
interpretingdreamsgoesbacktoancient
cultures.TheSenoipeoplebuilttheir
wholeculturearounddreams,the
Aboriginestalkaboutdreamtime.Sigmund
Freudwasoneofthefirsttousedreams
asawindowintothemindandpersonality.

CarlJungwasthefirsttoconnectdreams
toarchetypes.Thereareuniversal
symbols,ifyourdreamhasacar,itcould
representphysicalbodyorahillrepresents
achallenge.Clarksaidwebegintostudy
dreampatternsandmakepredictionsto
associatesymbols.