The parallel that exists between one's reality and their dreams is remarkable. Have you ever been extremely stressed about something so you decide to take a nap, only to find yourself having a dream about the exact situation you were trying to take some time away from? Not only can dreams mimic scenarios that exist in somebody's life, but the way the dream is portrayed mirrors their personal physiology. For example, people with bilateral medial occipital-temporal lesions (the area of the brain critical to interpreting what we see) do not sense vision in their dreams (Lin, Han, Lu, 2017). Additionally, people with impaired facial perception are unable to dream of faces (Nir & Tononi, 2010).
Electroencephalogram images show similar brain activity in people who are awake and in REM sleep, the stage of sleep where dreams are most likely to occur. Positron emission tomography images provide evidence that the brain's metabolism is similar in an awake person and someone in REM sleep (Nir & Tononi, 2010). These neuroimaging techniques also show a high level of activity in the limbic cortex of the brain, which is the area responsible for memory. Interestingly, the memory of our dreams are usually lost despite the upregulation of the limbic cortex (Nir & Tononi, 2010).
Some of the population has reported learning how to experience a lucid dream. A lucid dream describes one's awareness that they are having a dream. Researchers have recently investigated the potential clinical benefit of lucid dream therapy for those suffering from chronic nightmares or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The goal is to give these people power over their mental state by increasing their sense of voluntary control. 80% of people with PTSD have chronic nightmares that are emotionally associated with their trauma (Holzinger, Saletu, Klosch, 2020). One study found evidence to support that lucid dreaming can decrease the frequency of nightmares and relieve the anxiety and depressive symptoms of PTSD (Holzinger, Saletu, Klosch, 2020). Perhaps lucid dream therapy could be implemented as part of the treatment regimen for several psychological disorders like schizophrenia or personality disorders.
References
Holzinger, B., Saletu, B., & Klösch, G. (2020). Cognitions in Sleep: Lucid Dreaming as an Intervention for Nightmares in Patients With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 1826. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01826
Lin, X., Han, Y., & Lu, L. (2017). Unraveling the mystery of dreams. Journal of thoracic disease, 9(9), 2732–2735. https://doi.org/10.21037/jtd.2017.07.103
Nir, Y., & Tononi, G. (2010). Dreaming and the brain: from phenomenology to neurophysiology. Trends in cognitive sciences, 14(2), 88–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2009.12.001
Hi Vivianne!
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting topic to explore. I have been interested in how exactly dreams work in relation to our lives. I was once told in a psychology class, that dreams are memories, which can relate back to what you said about the neuroimaging techniques in the limbic cortex of the brain. I have heard and experienced times when something that I dream is very vivid and lifelike, but is merely a dream, however, I will experience deja vu of the exact events of that dream day, months, sometimes even years later. I could not find much research on that particular topic, though I think that it could be something interesting to look into.