How Do Dreams Work - Research Paper Example

How Dreams Work Introduction A broad definition of dreaming can include the feelings of movement and sensations just as one drifts off to sleep, the feeling of thoughts that intrude and interrupt sleep, as well as the classic thematic and displaced events of dreams that are a play within the mind. A fascinating feature of dreaming is in the event where it is believed in the moment of the dream and that all aspects of the surrealistic events are accepted as possible and truly occurring (Hobson, 2005). Dreams have many levels of inquiry, which include everything from the scientific to the mystical. Dreams have been considered prophetic and delivered from the spiritual plane. The ways in which dreams have been stimulated include the concept of incubating in a place or chamber designed specifically to create a prophetic dream. However, dreams have been most used in the search for understanding the unconscious mind. Theories proposed by Jung and Freud have defined ways in which to approach dreams for their therapeutic values. The way in which dreams work has been studied for the brain waves that are associated to the different stages of sleep. As well, the way in which they are associated to the mental state of the individual has been examined for the many ways that dreams can be associated. The brain has been studied while sleep occurs in order to determine which parts of the brain are working compared to which parts are not working during the dream state. Still, the associations of the events in dreams to the biological event have yet to be fully explained. The state of dreaming has been somewhat defined for its biological function, but the true nature of dreams and how they work has yet to be fully established. Dreams: The Theoretical Divide Dreams have provided a great deal of study to psychologists, neurologists, and to disciplines that are concerned with the function of the brain. The concept of dreams has also been an interest to sociologists and anthropologists as they study culture. Sigmund Freud constructed his theory of dreams as purposeful in his theories of psychoanalysis where he insisted that dreaming had no connection to neurology and was a function of the mind rather than part of the brain. This divided the concept of mind and brain and even when modern scientists discovered REM and found evidence of brain functions in association with dreaming, it was still framed with the psychoanalytical structures, believing that the content of dreams was a separate issue to the physiology of dreams (Hobson 2005, xii). Previous to the work of Freud, people saw dreams, primarily, as nonsense of the mind. Some cultures believed in the mystical qualities of dreams, but the general belief about dreams was that they had no real value. Freud changed this through his discussions about the meaning of dreams in regard to psychoanalysis. He proposed that the mind had a hidden censor that could protect a person from sexual and aggressive threats, but that to act on every perceived threat would be socially unacceptable. The dream phase would allow for threatening thoughts to transform into harmless symbols within dreams. In allowing guilty feelings, anxieties, and inappropriate desires to manifest in dreams, the social world is safe from the intrusion of those thoughts (Plotnik and Kouyoumdjian 160). The two new concepts that Freud brought to the forefront of psychological evaluation was that dreams consisted of symbols and that they could be interpreted for psychologically relevant information (Plotnik and Kouyoumdjian 160). The idea that dreams held symbols and could be interpreted was new from a cultural understanding as many religions and cultures had depended on the symbols and interpretations of those symbols for mystical meaning for centuries, perhaps back to the dawn of human history. However, that these symbols and interpretations could be used for the scientific study of the mind and focused upon the individual was a revolutionary idea. Freud had three different concepts of the unconscious. The first is the descriptive unconscious which is involved in all the concepts of mental life that do not present themselves to an individual, but exist as an underlying motivation. The descriptive unconscious is the most common understanding of the unconscious and is was not an original idea by Freud The second is the dynamic unconscious which are not accessible to the mind as they represent conflicting ideas and threats within the mind. The dynamic unconscious, although not directly accessible, is in constant contact with the conscious mind and influences the direction of though. This concept is a theory that is believed to have originated with Freud. The third is the system unconscious which organizes the unrealized mental process that must be held out of reach of the conscious mind. This system is out of reach and is associated with the id, an illogical and instinctual section of the mind (Jarvis 23). However, while Carl Jung believed that much of what Freud had theorized had merit, he diverged from the meaning that dreams held. Jung, a younger contemporary of Freud came to a point where he disagreed with the theories that Freud had put forth. He divided the unconscious into the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. The personal unconscious resided in the place between the collective unconscious and the conscious, holding all that identified the individual but with a barrier between the self and those aspects that could not be processed on the surface of the mind. Within this unconscious is the suppressed and repressed desire and fears that cannot actively interact with the conscious state. The collective unconscious was a grouping of symbols that represented the centuries of symbolic interpretations that had been developed over millennial periods of time, from the dawn of human existence that created the universality of symbols that appeared within dreams. These ’archetypal’ symbols were born of the collective unconscious that had grown over the expanse of time which had been inherited by all humans (Coolidge 65). It must be noted that there is some speculation that Jung had a break from reality between the time he spent with Freud and the rift in their association. His period of psychosis was filled with time spent creating sculpture and interpreting symbols. He lived as a hermit and avoided all social interaction during this time. Because he had always had dreams that were filled with mythological and religious aspects, he discerned that dreams were founded in the history and through the ancestry of human beings as much as through the aspect of the personal interpretation of the unconscious mind. Jung asserted that there were two personalities of the individual, one which was public and a very different one that was private (Watts, Cockcroft, and Duncan 28). Dreaming and the Brain There have been many researchers who have since had evolutions of thought that reinvented the purpose and importance of dreams. Dreaming, to some researchers, has little real life implications and is simply an extension of the waking life. Dreams allow the fears of life to be reenacted in the dream state so that those emotions can be processed. This type of thought led Allan Hobson to develop the activation synthesis theory which suggests that dreams are manifestations of the parts of the brain that are normally shut down during the day. In the state of sleep, the cognitive control over the mind is closed and chemical stimulations open up the though processes to wild and bizarre thought patterns that are envisioned within the sleeping mind in ways that can best be interpreted (Plotnik and Kouyoumdjian 161). One of the odd considerations where dreams are concerned is that they have been considered similar to madness throughout literary history. Contemporary science is providing information to suggest that this might be closer to true than a literary metaphor would normally allow. The nature of a dream, according to Hobson, is “more similar to delirium than any other kind of psychosis” (1999, xi). Hobson devised his theory based upon brain scans that were taken during the sleep stage. According to his interpretation of these scans, the human mind, during REM sleep shut down the prefrontal cortex, the area responsible for reasoning, thinking, and planning, and opened up the limbic system and visual cortex, allowing emotions and visual experiences to be expanded. Hobson decided that with the prefrontal cortex shut down and the emotions and visual areas turned on, the brain would have delusional and fantastical experiences that were stimulations of those areas. The theory of activation synthesis allows for no real meaning to be attributed to the content of dreams. This theory is highly criticized by those who believe in the importance of dreams (Plotnik and Kouyoumdjian 161). Dreams and REM Sleep Before discussing REM sleep, it is important to discuss NREM and the sleep cycle. The primary cycles of sleep are REM and NREM. The pre-sleep stage is characterized by lower-frequency brain waves and higher voltage alpha waves. During this state, sleep may not have actually come to the individual, but the sleepy nature of their activities will reveal the pre-sleep stage. Stage 1 of sleep is not a long stage, lasting only a few minutes before one moves to the next level of sleep. In stage 1, the muscles relax and this is when the nodding off period can happen, when you sleep and then are brought awake abruptly with the neck loosening and the head jerking from the drop of the head. The individual can be awakened easily at this point. During stage one sleep, the brainwaves drop into an even slower rhythm. During stage 2, two different types of brain wave patterns emerge. These are very short bursts of pattern lasting for about a second of time. The first is called K complex which is one strong wave that lasts a second, which is then followed by the sleep spindle which appears as a quick one second wavy pattern that resembles a spindle as it moves through a loom (Martin 98). While the change is a brief burst of two brain wave signals, the type of sleep that happens during this time is consistent from almost half of the time one is asleep. This type of sleep is typically a still, deep sleep with little movement and the complete relaxation of the muscles (Martin 99). Stage 3 will typically appear about fifteen minutes into the period of sleep. Deep, rolling delta brain waves signal this sleep stage as the muscles seem to be more relaxed. The eyes are relaxed and this stage of sleep will only last for a few minutes. During stage 4, the deepest level is reached and large rolling delta waves have moved to a rate of about 4 per minute. When a person is at this stage it is very difficult to wake them from their sleep. These stages of sleep take about an hour or more to accomplish, each level taking the sleeper deeper into the slowed, rolling stages of the delta wave pattern. These stages of sleep are called NREM, or non-REM sleep. When this has been accomplished, a striking change starts to take place as REM sleep begins to take over (Martin 99). REM sleep or rapid eye movement sleep is a stage during the sleep cycle that is typified by the rapid movement of the eyes under the eyelids. When observed, this can seem disturbing without understanding the context of the physical event as it is associated with sleep. REM sleep is considered paradoxical sleep because although a person appears to be in the deepest levels of sleep, their brain patterns show that they are in an extremely active state of brain activity. The brain is being stimulated at a high level during this time of sleep and it is assumed that this is a state in which dreams are being experienced. There is evidence that some areas of the brain are more active in REM sleep than they are during waking hours (Martin 99). During this state, the body is paralyzed and unable to physically act on whatever stimulation is being achieved. Martin states that the visual centers of the brain have shut down and become a closed system during REM sleep. Metabolic rate, blood pressure, pulse rate, and sexual stimulation take place during this time as well as a rise in the temperature of the brain. REM sleep creates a great deal of energy that is expended during this time. People who are awakened during REM sleep will answer positively that they were dreaming at a rate of 80 to 90 percent (100). However, it does not seem to be true that during REM an individual is watching their dream as often the eyes are out of sync and they are moving in opposite directions. The paralysis that is experienced in many of the bodies muscle systems provides safety for the individual who is dreaming. The French scientist Michel Jouvet discovered that when nerve fibers that provide the paralysis are cut, cats will get up and pounce non-existent prey and move about during REM sleep. People who have had brain damage in those parts of the brain that carry the same nerve fibers will exhibit active behaviors while in REM sleep. This will often require nightly restraint in order to prevent them from injuring themselves during sleep (Martin 101). REM sleep is one of the more fascinating physical effects within the human body and has inspired a great deal of study and pursuit of knowledge. Dream Recall Dream recall is an inconsistent subject that varies from individual to individual, and even from dream to dream. There is a belief within many theoretical constructs on dreams that dreams help the individual to work out emotional issues during their unconscious state. While this theory takes on many forms, the basic premise is available in most theories that give dreams meaning. One of the theories on recall is that when a dream successfully works out the issues that are emotionally present in dreams, the dream is not remembered. The conscious has no need of retaining the dream, therefore it isn’t remembered. There has been a correlation observed between frequent dream recall and depression, while infrequent dream recall can be associated to somatic and anxiety (Pace-Shott 89). Therefore, the research on the meaning of recalling the content of a dream is not conclusive and has no yet appreciated relevance to mental health. Controlling Dreams There are many myths that are associated with dreams and many therapeutic concepts that suggest ways in which to help reframe an experience. One of the myths of the dream is that if a dreamer confronts what is causing them fear in a nightmare, they will no longer be controlled by that fear. As well, it is believed that if the dreamer follows his or her dream to their death, they will die in real life. These myths have some realities associated with them, but are also based upon a misunderstanding of the dream state. The cultural beliefs that have emerged around the dream state are often powerful belief systems that can affect aspects of society. In believing that in controlling the dream state, one is in control of an aspect of real life, a false sense of power can be observed. As well, there have been many leaders who have used the concept of dreams and the power of their charisma to affect the direction of a society. From the point of view of research on dreams, it has been observed that suggestion can manifest into dreams of themes that relate to the suggestion. As well hypnosis could be used to not only affect the thematic content of dreams, but could be used to awaken a subject during the dream state when a specific instruction was given to awaken during a certain stage of sleep. The problem with too much research in regard to hypnosis and sleep is that since sleep is not fully understood, messing with the machinations of sleep could have a harmful effect as the organization of the mind that leads to the visual elements of sleep is not fully understood (Oldis 84). Dream Incubation Dream incubation is defined by the location of the physical dreamer in relationship to the dream that is ‘birthed’ at that site. The first writing of dream incubation is found on tomb walls in the early empire period of Egypt. The Greeks used dream incubation as part of their diagnostic tools for those who were ill. There is evidence of the practice shown in Amazonian Indian cultures, Native Hawaiian cultures, North American Iroquois Native Americans, and Asian Nomads. There is evidence that dream incubation was used in the prophetic visions of the prophets of the Bible and the Torah, thus suggesting that the idea of dream incubation crossed cultures and was reinvented in many locations throughout the world (Pagel 159). Evidence can be seen in The Illiad by Homer where individuals would lay on the earthen mounds of graves and the dreams that were had during their sleep would be considered prophetic and interpreted for meanings that related to the idea of prophesy. Herodotus similarly wrote of the practice of sleeping on the graves of ancestors in order to receive prophetic dreams. The concept was eventually translated into lying on the sites of sacred places in order to receive dreams of prophecy. The concept was eventually turned into a deeper religious practice where temples were built between 300-400 CE in Greece to the god Asclepius in which a labyrinth led to a chamber that is believed to have been for incubation for dreams (Kramer and Larkin 130). What do our dreams mean? According to the research, it is impossible to definitively determine the meaning of dreams. Dreaming is a state that every person experiences, whether they realize they have or not. Dream deprivation has the potential of resulting in hallucinatory episodes, thus the importance of dreams is undeniable (Fisher and Greenberg 49). The specific physical meaning of the dream state to the body is clearly important, but there has yet been a definitive physiological reason for understanding this importance. The meaning of dreams to the mental state of the individual is not clearly understood either. Through observing the state of the brain during sleep, Hobson discerned that dreams were the result of the un-tethered systems that were left working when the other more reasonable systems were shut down (Plotnik and Kouyoumdjian 161). According to Brien and Fairbairn, the purpose of dreams can be viewed as “ a gateway to the unconscious” creating an indicative review of the inner mental state of the individual. Dreams allow for distress and anxiety to be processed, although often these emotions are replayed in a continued set of dreams that never fully purge the individual of their fears associated with the emotions. Through counseling, the meanings of the dreams may help to alleviate their stressful nature if they have manifested in nightmares and recurrences. However, the true meaning of dreams is still subjective in the scientific world and while they have been very useful in therapeutic situations, the science of the dream has yet to be resolved. Recurring Dreams and Nightmares Recurring dreams and nightmares, if looked at from the perspective that they have probative value (discounting Hobson‘s belief that dreams are just impulses when reason is shut down), they suggest that there is an issue in the life of the dreamer that he or she is not fully exploring through the dream, thus it must repeat in order to continue to try and work out the issue. If looked at from the perspective of threat simulation theory as supported by Antii Revonsuo, the mind tries to work out the simulated response to threat almost like a ’practice’ that can prepare the individual for a threat type situation (Plotnik and Kouyoumdjian 161). In this theory, dreams are practice fields for threats that may or may not occur, thus flexing the fight or flight responses and creating response scenarios in preparation for a real life event. The events that occur more often represent the threats that the individual most fears will be actuated in life. If taken from the perspective of the average theories on dream interpretation, the reoccurring dream and the nightmare both signal a fear, desire, or threat that is suppressed or repressed but is pushing against the conscious mind. Dealing with the represented issue will more often relieve the dreamer from that dream, the substance and value of the fear that is represented being brought forth to the conscious mind and dealt with in a way that is conclusive. However, this is not always possible; therefore, those who suffer from recurring dreams and nightmares may suffer for years without any relief from the issues that are plaguing them so regularly. Premonitions in Dreams There are many cultural beliefs in regard to premonitions in dreams. There are many people who make correlations between the information in their dreams and the events that happen after they occur. While the dream state seems to be a mystical place, the depth of attention given to in regard to organically spiritual abilities is found in almost every culture and civilization. The dream state is often considered a reflection of the true self, some cultures sending their people on dream walks. Just like the concept of controlling a dream has given some figures power in their culture, so has the idea of premonitions given power to those who have claimed to have them. One of the more common stories associated with premonitions in dreams is that of the ‘coat of many colors’ from the Bible. Through dreams, the main character of the story is able to secure his safety and give his captor some fore knowledge of the future. Through knowing in advance what will happen, he is able to create safeguards against the future events. The ability of Joseph was to interpret the meaning of dreams and when he interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh, Joseph gained the Pharaoh’s trust and was made an advisor to him. When the predicted famine came and Egypt was safe because of good planning, his brothers came to beg for help and found themselves bowing to him, fulfilling the dream prophesy that Joseph had made in the beginning of the story (Eoyang 153). That dream prophesies exist in the Bible, as well as in so many other cultures suggests that the importance of the human characteristic of dreaming has affected the nature of life in the human world. Dreams are an integral part of most religions, thus creating a universalism in the belief about the power of dreams. In Buddhism, the Buddha had a five dream sequence that affected the nature of the religion. However, it has been observed that “Contemporary Theravada Buddhism pays little attention to the five dreams of the Buddha, presumably because the era of intense interest in dreams is long past” (Bianchi 542). This suggests that the mythologies about dreams are being supplanted by the nature of dream research that approaches the phenomenon from a scientific approach. Conclusion Dreams are still illusive to the human experience, even in this age of science and reason. The nature of a dream cannot be divined through the understanding of the chemical and physical state of dreaming. The dream itself is comprised of images and events that have meaning to the dreamer. Jung believed that the history of man was kept in the unconscious, a resource for symbols that were universal. Freud believed that each individual held the key to their own symbols. No theory, however, fully explains how dreams work. Works Cited Bianchi, Ugo. 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Watts, Jacki, Kate Cockcroft, and Norman Duncan. Developmental Psychology. Cape Town, South Africa: UCT Press, 2009. Print. Read More