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Chapter Seven - What Are Dreams?

from Part II - Dreams

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2023

Patrick McNamara
Affiliation:
Boston University School of Medicine
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Summary

The most common definition of dreams among scientists appears to be that dreams are sleep-dependent cognitions (Table 7.1). They are thoughts and mental images that occur during sleep. If, however, dreams are sleep-dependent cognitions, then they require sleep if they are to occur. If REM sleep can erupt or invade daytime consciousness and REM-related mentation can occur with that daytime eruption, then we can get dreams or dreamy thoughts and images while awake. Indeed, that is what we call daydreams. Even if we cannot strictly claim that dreams are always sleep dependent, they nevertheless typically occur in association (even when daydreaming) with a brain state (REM) that is normally activated during sleep.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

Further Reading

Hobson, J. A. (1988). The Dreaming Mind. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Hobson, J. A., Pace-Schott, E. F., & Stickgold, R. (2000). Dreaming and the brain: Toward a cognitive neuroscience of conscious states. Behavioral Brain Sciences, 23, 793842.Google Scholar
McNamara, P., Mclaren, D., Kowalczyk, S., & Pace-Schott, E. (2007). “Theory of Mind” in REM and NREM dreams. In Barrett, D. & McNamara, P. (eds.), The New Science of Dreaming, Volume I: Biological Aspects (pp. 201220). Westport, CT: Praeger Perspectives.Google Scholar
Windt, J. M. (2015). Dreaming: A Conceptual Framework for Philosophy of Mind and Empirical Research. Cambridge, MA: MIT PressGoogle Scholar

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  • What Are Dreams?
  • Patrick McNamara, Boston University School of Medicine
  • Book: The Neuroscience of Sleep and Dreams
  • Online publication: 06 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009208840.010
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  • What Are Dreams?
  • Patrick McNamara, Boston University School of Medicine
  • Book: The Neuroscience of Sleep and Dreams
  • Online publication: 06 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009208840.010
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • What Are Dreams?
  • Patrick McNamara, Boston University School of Medicine
  • Book: The Neuroscience of Sleep and Dreams
  • Online publication: 06 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009208840.010
Available formats
×