Dream Sharing

The function of REM sleep dreaming is still unknown. We situate our approach to understanding dream phenomenology and dream function within that part of evolutionary theory known as Costly Signaling Theory (CST). We contend that many of the signals produced by the dreaming brain can be and should be construed as 'costly signals'--emotions or mental simulations that produce daytime behavioral dispositions that are costly to the dreamer. For example, often the dreamer will appear in the dream as handicapped in some way (i.e., no clothes, no ID, no money, is under attack, being chased etc.). The dreamer, during waking life, is then influenced by the carry-over effect of the unpleasant dream content. The informational and affective content of the dream creates a mental set in the dreamer that operates during the daytime to facilitate the signaling of a 'handicapped' Self. The subtle signaling effect might be via display of the intense emotions or physical demeanor that had first appeared in the dream. When the dreamer shares his dream with others the dream has a more direct impact on waking life and social interactions. In effect, the dreamer uses his or her dreams to adopt a self-handicapping strategy when dealing with significant others. The increased use of costly signals (the self-handicapping strategy) during the daytime then facilitates some vital communicative goal of the dreamer.

Patrick McNamara, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology at Northcentral University, Associate Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and Research Associate Professor of Neurology at Department of Neurology, University of Minnesota School Of Medicine in Minneapolis. He is the author of over 60 papers on sleep and dreams several single author books and co-edited volumes on sleep and dreams.

Michelle Carr, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Rochester in the Department of Psychiatry, working in the Sleep and Neurophysiology Research Laboratory with Dr. Wilfred Pigeon. She previously completed postdoctoral training at the Swansea University Sleep Laboratory with Dr. Mark Blagrove, and received her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Montreal in 2016, conducting research with Dr. Tore Nielsen at the Dream and Nightmare Laboratory.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gr3d716x3ns



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