When Brains Dream (Part 2)

Dreaming is different from waking consciousness. First, the dreaming brain cannot access and incorporate complete episodic memories (i.e., memories of actual events in our lives), so the associative exploration of dreams is limited to semantic and nondeclarative memories (i.e., memories related to general world knowledge and those acquired and used unconsciously, respectively). In other words, while imagining and planning during wakefulness is normally based on recalled events, narrative construction during dreaming is based on semantic associations of these events, giving dreams their metaphorical quality and allowing for a more expansive investigation of associative links. 

Second, the neurochemical modulation of the brain is altered during sleep, and especially during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when the release of norepinephrine and serotonin in the brain is shut off while levels of acetylcholine reach their peak in regions such as the hippocampus. These shifts bias memory networks toward the activation of normally weak associations, perhaps explaining the bizarreness of many dreams, especially during REM sleep. 

Third, REM sleep is accompanied by a general activation of the limbic system, presumably explaining the enhanced emotionality seen in REM dreams, while also biasing the brain toward creating emotional responses to imagined dream narratives. 

Finally, unlike problem solving during wakefulness that relies on imagining and planning, dreaming stops short of offering definitive solutions to our current concerns. Instead, our dreams serve to explore the solution space, helping us to discover new possibilities. It is up to other processes, both in wakefulness and sleep, to draw conclusions and delineate our plans. Dreaming takes what has been and shows us what might be.

Antonio Zadra is a sleep and dream scientist at the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur's Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine and professor of psychology at the Université de Montréal. In addition to numerous publications on sleep, dreams, and dream-related disorders, Dr. Zadra is the co-author of 'When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep'.

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