Function Of Dreams Research Articles

The hidden and the seen: Art as an intersubjective medium

ABSTRACT This paper explores the intersection of art and psychoanalysis, specifically the various ways in which the introduction of works of art into treatment can open pathways of intersubjective exploration and understanding of the patient’s unconscious processes that may have been otherwise hidden. Similar to the function of dreams and free association in psychoanalysis, a patient’s connection and identification with specific works of art may illuminate aspects of their unconscious organizing activity, or simply reiterate and re-confirm already-discovered dynamics of their internal world. Art in this context acts as an intersubjective medium through which associations from both the analyst and the analysand reflect one another and reveal deeper interpretations. This topic is explored by way of a clinical vignette in which the patient’s love for a particular painting opens up associations for both the patient and the analyst, areas of exploration that lead into deeper realms of the patient’s internalized relational world and his exhibitionism. Although the patient in this vignette has had significant experience with psychoanalysis, elusive areas of unconsciousness remain. His associations to his favorite painting by the Renaissance painter Giorgione and the analyst’s own associations to the painting help to illuminate hidden sectors of the patient’s unconscious processes, including how his developmental longing for admiration is in direct contradiction to his felt need to remain hidden, and how this conflict expresses itself in his exhibitionism.

Exploring the role of dreams: insights from recent studies.

Dreaming has only recently become a topic of scientific research. This review updates current findings on dream studies, emphasizing recent research on the neural mechanisms of dreaming. Additionally, it summarizes new evidence on the functional role of dreams, including insights from studies on dreams and nightmares during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Recent advances on the neural basis of mental activity during sleep have shifted towards dream-related phenomena, such as dream experiences in relation to parasomnias and hypnagogic hallucinations. Although some findings are consistent with the main models explaining dream recall (i.e., continuity hypothesis; activation hypothesis), some results contrast with the role of parieto-occipital region in dream experience. Moreover, recent findings - related to COVID-19 pandemic - underlined that dream experiences could express emotion regulation processes as well as provide a simulation of reality to prepare for future dangerous or social interactions. Overall, we highlighted the intricate interplay between brain regions in dreaming and suggest that dreams serve multiple functions, from reflecting waking-life experiences to simulating adaptive responses to threats. Understanding the neural bases and functions of dreaming can provide valuable insights into human mental health, nevertheless, further research is needed.

Конструктивные функции мечты: от теоретической модели к эмпирической валидизации. Часть 1

<p>The article presents a description of the theoretical model of dreams and constructive dreaming, developed by a team of authors (Osin E.N., Kedrova N.B., Egorova P.A.). The dreaming is considered by the authors as a phenomenon of culture. The article provides a brief comparative analysis of the content of the concepts of “dream” and “dreaming” in English-speaking and Russian-speaking cultures, and also shows the differences in psychological approaches to understanding dreams and dreaming, depending on the cultural context. The paper provides definitions of dreams and constructive dreaming, discusses in detail the genesis of a dream, its content and types, as well as the positive functions of daydreams and constructive dreaming in the regulation of mental activity: development of intrinsic motivation, orientation in the decision-making process, development of a future time perspective, development of values-based motivation, support of psychological well-being. Based on the theoretical model we formulate the hypotheses for an empirical study of the positive functions of dreams and constructive dreaming. The results are presented in the second part of the work.</p>

The connection between dreaming, the brain and mental functioning: where are we now?

Dreaming has always aroused our curiosity. Theories as to the cause and function of dreams have been described since the beginning of recorded history (George 2020). In the late 19th century, experimental psychologists and psychologically-minded researchers from other disciplines made important methodological contibutions, emptical observations, and conceptual developments to the study of dreams (e.g., Jastrow, 1888; Manacéïne, 1897; De Sanctis, 1899; Vold, 1897). At the end of the 19th century, Mary Whiton Calkins and her female students made pioneering advancements in the psychological science of dreams (Calkins 1893; Weed et al. 1896). Freud’s psychoanalytic theory soon overshadowed these groundbreaking empirical works as the interpretation of dream content and their presumed reflections of the unconscious mind became the focus. The detection of rapid eye movements during sleep in 1953 and the suggestion that dreams occurred exclusively during this newly defined sleep state electrified the field of dream research (Aserinsky and Kleitman 1953; Dement and Kleitman 1957). Although eye movements (Ladd, 1892), increased brain pulsations (Mosso, 1881), and electroencephalographic patterns (Loomis et al., 1937; Davis et al., 1938) had been previously argued to empirically correspond to dreaming, this discovery catalyzed the first “Meeting of Researchers in the Field of EEG and Dreams” at the University of Chicago in 1961 organized by psychologist Allan Rechtschaffen (Association for the Psychophysiological Study of Sleep Records). Renamed the Annual Meeting of the Association of the Psychophysiological Study of Sleep in subsequent years, these early meetings consisted principally of psychiatrists and psychologists, most of whom with interests in dream research. Among them, John Antrobus, Rosalind Cartwright, G. William Domhoff, David Foulkes, Donald R. Goodenough, Calvin S. Hall, Ernest Hartmann and Joe Kamiya, made valuable contributions to our understanding of dreaming through decades of psychological research (Antrobus, 1992; Domhoff and Kamyia, 1964; Ellman and Antrobus, 1991; Foulkes, 1966, 1985; Goodenough et al., 1965; Hall and Van de Castle, 1966; Hartmann, 2010). While David Foulkes tirelessly advocated for his vision of a descriptive and explanitory dream psychology, Rosalind Cartwright developed an applied vision for the field outlining over 100 dream-related questions that remain pertinent to sleep psychology (Cartwright 1977, 1978, 2010). With the rise of sleep medicine and the vicissitudes of funding, dream research drifted to the fringe of sleep research by the end of the 1980s (Foulkes 1996). Nevertheless, dreaming remains a central topic of sleep psychology, and many questions remain to be answered.

Evidence for an emotional adaptive function of dreams: a cross-cultural study

The function of dreams is a longstanding scientific research question. Simulation theories of dream function, which are based on the premise that dreams represent evolutionary past selective pressures and fitness improvement through modified states of consciousness, have yet to be tested in cross-cultural populations that include small-scale forager societies. Here, we analyze dream content with cross-cultural comparisons between the BaYaka (Rep. of Congo) and Hadza (Tanzania) foraging groups and Global North populations, to test the hypothesis that dreams in forager groups serve a more effective emotion regulation function due to their strong social norms and high interpersonal support. Using a linear mixed effects model we analyzed 896 dreams from 234 individuals across these populations, recorded using dream diaries. Dream texts were processed into four psychosocial constructs using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC-22) dictionary. The BaYaka displayed greater community-oriented dream content. Both the BaYaka and Hadza exhibited heightened threat dream content, while, at the same time, the Hadza demonstrated low negative emotions in their dreams. The Global North Nightmare Disorder group had increased negative emotion content, and the Canadian student sample during the COVID-19 pandemic displayed the highest anxiety dream content. In conclusion, this study supports the notion that dreams in non-clinical populations can effectively regulate emotions by linking potential threats with non-fearful contexts, reducing anxiety and negative emotions through emotional release or catharsis. Overall, this work contributes to our understanding of the evolutionary significance of this altered state of consciousness.

To What Extent Do Sleep and Psychological Treatment of Lucid Dream Therapy Play an Effective Role in Mental Disorders?

Sleep is such a complex and dynamic process and dream that it still is a scientific enigma. Over more than a century of research has established a wide range of dream-relevant theories, whereas, no one has yet reached an accurate conclusion about the function and meaning of dreams. So, in this project, I desire to review the relationship between sleep and dream and illustrate what is the function of sleep and dream. Firstly, is to state the specific processes of sleep. Humans undergo REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and NREM (non-rapid-eye-movement) during sleep. Additionally, there are various functions of REM, NREM sleep, and dreams which remain controversial. The third ambition of this project is to discuss whether dreams can act as a kind of therapy for mental disorders. And evaluate the effectiveness of lucid dreaming therapy (LDT) in patients suffering from mental disorders.

A Contribution to al-Nawawī’s Biography through Dreams: The Representation and Function of Dreams in al-Nawawī’s Works

Bireysel ve sübjektif bir olgu olduğu için bilgi değeri daima ihtiyatla karşılanmış olmakla birlikte İslam geleneğinde rüyalar yaygın biçimde bilgelik ve ilhamın değerli bir kaynağı olarak kabul edilmiştir. Müslümanların bireysel ve toplumsal hayatında rüyaların rol oynamadığı hemen hiçbir alanın olmaması şaşırtıcı değildir. İslam tarihinin en başından itibaren rüyalar üzerine geniş ve zengin bir yazın alanı geliştirilmiştir. Tarihi süreçte rüyalara yönelik olarak temel İslam bilimlerinin yanı sıra felsefî ve irfanî geleneğin mensuplarınca geliştirilen yaklaşımlar ve ortaya çıkan dinî, edebî, felsefî ve kültürel nitelikli birikim, günümüzde sadece İslam’a özgü tarihî bir materyal olarak değil, sosyal bilimler paradigmasının gerektirdiği biçimde insanlığın kadim tarihinin özgün bir parçası olarak görülmekte ve geniş bir perspektifle çok yönlü araştırmalara konu olmaktadır. Son yıllarda kendi içinde bağımsız bir bibliyografya oluşturabilecek bir yeküne ulaştığı söylenebilecek bu verimli araştırma alanından elde edilen bilimsel nitelikteki ürünler, rüyalar üzerinden İslam düşüncesi ve kültürüne yeni bakış açıları kazandırmakta ve diğer bilgi kaynaklarının analizinin nadiren sağladığı bireysel ve özel deneyimlerle karşılaşmaya imkân vermektedir. Bu araştırma da hicri yedinci asrın fıkıh ve hadis sahasında temayüz etmiş simalarından Nevevî’nin eserlerindeki rüya anlatımlarına odaklanmakta, ilgili malzeme üzerinden genel anlamda İslam düşüncesinde, özelde Nevevî’nin ilmi-edebi mirasında rüyanın yeri ve işlevi üzerinden alana katkı sunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu bağlamda Nevevî’nin eserlerinde dağınık halde bulunan rüya anlatıları bir araya getirilmiş, bunlar mümkün olduğunca rüya sahiplerinin kendi ağzından alıntılar halinde sunulmuş ve nihayet tematik olarak tasnif edilip hangi amaç ve işlevlerle kullanıldığı değerlendirilmiştir. Nevevî’nin vefatından sonra görüldüğü rüyalar da onun biyografisinin inşasına katkı sunan birer edebi-tarihi malzeme olarak bu çalışmada kendine yer bulmuştur. Nevevî’nin eserlerinde aktarılan rüyaların aynasından yansıyan görüntüler, bir yandan onun kişisel ve entelektüel biyografisinin gölgede kalmış bazı yönlerine ışık tutarken, aynı zamanda İslam düşüncesindeki rüya anlatılarını zenginleştirmeye ve rüyaların anlamı ve işlevine ilişkin bilgilerimizi genişletmeye imkan sunmaktadır.

Amalia Revisited-A Reanalysis of Amalia's Dreams with the Method Structural Dream Analysis.

Since Freud's "The interpretation of Dreams", working with dreams has continued to play a major role in psychoanalysis, though different perspectives have developed about the function and meaning of dreams. This controversy is discussed on the background of findings in empirical as well as clinical dream research. In this paper, the research method Structural Dream Analysis is introduced which investigates the changes in structure of dreams over the course of psychotherapy. The method is applied to the specimen case Amalia X, which is considered to be the best investigated case in the history of psychotherapy research. Based on the results from this case and from other studies, the implications for psychoanalytic dream theories, namely those of Jung and Freud, are discussed.

Dream interpretation and empirical dream research – an overview of research findings and their connections with psychoanalytic dream theories

ABSTRACT The paper confronts psychoanalytic dream theories with the findings of empirical dream research. It summarizes the discussion in psychoanalysis around the function of dreams (e.g. as the guardian of sleep), wish-fullfilment or compensation, whether there is a difference between latent and manifest content, etc. In empirical dream research some of these questions have been investigated and the results can provide clarifications for psychoanalytic theorizing. The paper provides an overview of empirical dream research and its findings, as well as of clinical dream research in psychoanalysis, which was mainly conducted in German-speaking countries. The results are used to discuss the major questions in psychoanalytic dream theories and points out some developments in contemporary approaches which have been influenced by these insights. As a conclusion the paper attempts to formulate a revised theory of dreaming and its functions, which combines psychoanalytic thinking with research.

Locus coeruleus and the defensive activation theory of rapid eye movement sleep: A mechanistic perspective.

The defensive activation theory (DAT) was recently proposed to explain the biological function of dreaming. Briefly, DAT states that dreams are primarily visual to prevent plastic take-over of an otherwise inactive visual cortex during sleep. Evidence to support the DAT revolve around the interplay between dream activity (REM%) and cortical plasticity found in evolutionary history, primate studies, and coinciding decline in human cortical plasticity and REM% with age. As the DAT may prove difficult to test experimentally, we investigate whether further support for the DAT can be found in the literature. Plasticity and REM sleep are closely linked to functions of the Locus Coeruleus (LC). We therefore review existing knowledge about the LC covering LC stability with age, and the role of the LC in the plasticity of the visual cortex. Recent studies show the LC to be more stable than previously believed and therefore, the LC likely supports the REM% and plasticity in the same manner throughout life. Based on this finding, we review the effect of aging on REM% and visual cortex plasticity. Here, we find that recent, weighty studies are not in complete agreement with the data originally provided as support for DAT. Results from these studies, however, are not in themselves irreconcilable with the DAT. Our findings therefore do not disprove the DAT. Importantly, we show that the LC is involved in all mechanisms central to the DAT. The LC may therefore provide an experimental window to further explore and test the DAT.

Converging theories on dreaming: Between Freud, predictive processing, and psychedelic research.

Dreams are still an enigma of human cognition, studied extensively in psychoanalysis and neuroscience. According to the Freudian dream theory and Solms' modifications of the unconscious derived from it, the fundamental task of meeting our emotional needs is guided by the principle of homeostasis. Our innate value system generates conscious feelings of pleasure and unpleasure, resulting in the behavior of approaching or withdrawing from the world of objects. Based on these experiences, a hierarchical generative model of predictions (priors) about the world is constantly created and modified, with the aim to optimize the meeting of our needs by reducing prediction error, as described in the predictive processing model of cognition. Growing evidence from neuroimaging supports this theory. The same hierarchical functioning of the brain is in place during sleep and dreaming, with some important modifications like a lack of sensual and motor perception and action. Another characteristic of dreaming is the predominance of primary process thinking, an associative, non-rational cognitive style, which can be found in similar altered states of consciousness like the effect of psychedelics. Mental events that do not successfully fulfill an emotional need will cause a prediction error, leading to conscious attention and adaptation of the priors that incorrectly predicted the event. However, this is not the case for repressed priors (RPs), which are defined by the inability to become reconsolidated or removed, despite ongoing error signal production. We hypothesize that Solms' RPs correspond with the conflictual complexes, as described by Moser in his dream formation theory. Thus, in dreams and dream-like states, these unconscious RPs might become accessible in symbolic and non-declarative forms that the subject is able to feel and make sense of. Finally, we present the similarities between dreaming and the psychedelic state. Insights from psychedelic research could be used to inform dream research and related therapeutic interventions, and vice versa. We propose further empirical research questions and methods and finally present our ongoing trial "Biological Functions of Dreaming" to test the hypothesis that dreaming predicts intact sleep architecture and memory consolidation, via a lesion model with stroke patients who lost the ability to dream.

Dreaming during the COVID-19 pandemic: Support for the threat simulation function of dreams.

Evolutionary theories suggest that dreams function as a world simulator of events that maximizes our ability to surmount social and threat-related challenges critical to survivorship and reproduction. Here, in contrast to the incorporation continuity hypothesis, we test the (1) social bias hypothesis, which states that dreams will overrepresent positive social interactions relative to waking life, (2) the mutually exclusive threat bias hypothesis, the idea that dream content will be negative relative to waking life, (3) the strengthening hypothesis, which states that dreams will rehearse more positive interactions with individuals the self is familiar with relative to waking life, and (4) the compensation hypothesis, which states that social contents in dreams increases during periods of social seclusion. Dream (n = 168) and wake (n = 184) reports were collected through a standardized online survey from 24 undergraduate students. Recalls were analyzed using the Social Content Scale. Generalized linear mixed effects models were used, and the following fixed-effects were considered for the study; the number of reports contributed, report state, biological sex, stress, social support, and media exposures. Results showed support for the threat bias hypothesis, we found that dreams were more negative and featured more unfamiliar individuals in contrast to waking life. Additionally, we found partial support for the social bias and the strengthening hypotheses, however no support was shown for the compensation hypothesis. Overall, these results demonstrate support for the threat simulation function of dreams.

Negative dream affect is associated with next-day affect level, but not with affect reactivity or affect regulation.

There is increasing evidence that sleep plays an important role in affective processing. However, it is unclear whether dreaming-the subjective experiences we have during sleep-also serves an affect regulation function. Here, we investigated the within-person relationship between negative affect experienced in dreams and next-day waking affect level, affect reactivity, and affect regulation. For 5 days, 40 participants reported their dreams and rated their dream affect and post-sleep waking affect level upon morning awakening. Thereafter, they performed an affect reactivity and regulation task which involved viewing neutral and negative pictures with the instruction either to simply view the pictures or to down-regulate the affect evoked by these pictures. Multilevel regression analyses showed that the more negative affect people experienced in their dreams at night, the more negative affect and the less positive affect they reported the next morning. However, negative dream affect was associated neither with affect reactivity to the pictures nor with the ability to down-regulate negative affect in response to these pictures. In fact, Bayesian analyses favored the null hypotheses. These findings fail to provide support for the affect regulation function of dreaming and, instead, speak for affective continuity between dreaming and post-sleep wakefulness.

Testing predictions of the emotional and stress regulation theories of dream function

Testing predictions of the emotional and stress regulation theories of dream function

RETRACTION: State of the art and new frontiers in sleep research: New qualitative and quantitative approaches (Engrami, 2002: 24(2), 62-73)


 Based on the fact that journal ENGRAMI is indexed in Serbian citation index SCIndeks, which provides journal a check of the manuscript, we are informed that based on subsequent, retroactive manuscript checking on the presence of plagiarism by means of CrossRef/iThenticate service, a violation of academic ethical principles was found.
 The paper entitled: State of the art and new frontiers in sleep research: New qualitative and quantitative approaches by authors Ilanković N. and Ilanković A. (https://scindeks.ceon.rs/article.aspx?artid=0351-26650202062I)
 which is published in the journal ENGRAMI (2002): 24(2) (pp. 62-73) presents the (auto)plagiate (extensive use of the text published in the previous papers without quoting the original) of the articles:
 Ilanković N, Draganić S and Ilanković A. EEG and the sleep disorders. in: Ilanković N, Ilanković V. i Jašović-Gašić M. (eds). Bolesti spavanja dijagnostika i lečenje (Cibif, 1995): 79-96.
 Ilanković N and Ilanković AN. EEG and the Sleep Disorders: a new quantitative approach. In: Brain and Consciousness. Proceedings of the First Annual ECPD International Workshop on Scientific Bases of Consciousness. (Belgrade, 1997, Čigoja štampa), pp. 117-128.
 Moreover, paper “State of the art and new frontiers in sleep research: New qualitative and quantitative approaches” published in Engrami, 2002 was almost identical with the later publication:
 Ilanković N, Ilanković A, Ilanković V. New Hypothesis and Theory about Functions of Sleep and Dreams. Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. 2014 Mar 15; 7(1):78-82.
 The authors approached inadequately the quotation and citation of sources and thus acted contrary to the ethical code of scientific research, grossly violating the editorial policy of the journal ENGRAMI and Committee for Ethics of Publication principles. Bearing in mind a violation of ethical principles relating to a multiple submissions from 1995 to 2014, the editorial board of the journal ENGRAMI made a retraction of the paper. 

The Adaptation Function of Dreams and the Waking Work: A Modern Ego Psychology View

ABSTRACT This article is about the adaptive function of dreams. It applies Hartmann’s descriptions of autonomous ego functions, especially the synthetic function of the ego, to the dream’s use of reality and to the use of dreams for adaptation; to reality and to neurotic conflict. This paper poses a specific synthetic function of the ego to be called the waking work in which the dream is applied upon awakening to problems of adaptation, growth and development.

Towards a neural network hypothesis for functional cognitive disorders: an extension of the Overfitted Brain Hypothesis

ABSTRACT Introduction: Whilst the empirical understanding of functional cognitive disorders (FCD) has advanced in recent years, theoretical and conceptual models have evolved more slowly. Existing frameworks for FCD are based on models of other functional neurological disorders or of metacognitive processes and are recognised to lack mechanistic precision. Methods: In this article, a novel application to FCD of Hoel’s Overfitted Brain Hypothesis of the evolved function of dreaming is attempted. Results: This posits that the empirically observed sleep disturbance in FCD entails impaired dreaming which causes the brain to be overfitted and hence unable to generalise appropriately, producing mismatch between memory expectations and memory performance. Conclusions: This formulation of FCD is based on considerations derived from the study of neural networks and shares commonalities with Bayesian models of functional neurological disorders. Additionally, it has implications for future hypothesis-driven research in FCD and suggests a pragmatic basis for management strategies.

Constructive episodic simulation in dreams.

Memories of the past help us adaptively respond to similar situations in the future. Originally described by Schacter & Addis in 2007, the “constructive episodic simulation” hypothesis proposes that waking thought combines fragments of various past episodes into imagined simulations of events that may occur in the future. This same framework may be useful for understanding the function of dreaming. N = 48 college students were asked to identify waking life sources for a total of N = 469 dreams. Participants frequently traced dreams to at least one past or future episodic source (53.5% and 25.7% of dreams, respectively). Individual dreams were very often traced to multiple waking sources (43.9% of all dreams with content), with fragments of past memory incorporated into scenarios that anticipated future events. Waking-life dream sources are described in terms of their phenomenology and distribution across time and sleep stage, providing new evidence that dreams not only reflect the past, but also utilize memory in simulating potential futures.

Integrating the Complementary Therapies of Energy Psychology and Dreamwork – the Dream to Freedom Method

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the integration of dreamwork and Energy Psychology (EP) can enhance outcomes in the treatment of a range of psychological disorders. The therapeutic process often begins with a peeling away of emotional layers until underlying issues surface. When utilizing dreamwork, however, it is possible to begin at a deeper level. Because dreams address salient unresolved emotional conflicts, dreamwork can quickly bring into consciousness previously unconscious emotional issues that are at the source of psychological difficulties. Utilizing techniques from energy psychology to process the material that emerges in dreams is a particularly potent way of engaging the emotional content of the dream and utilizing it to inform the dreamer’s self-understanding and direction. Energy Psychology, in its most frequently utilized format, the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), combines imaginal exposure and cognitive restructuring with the somatic stimulation of acupuncture points by tapping on them. More than 100 clinical trials demonstrate the unusual speed and clinical efficacy of EFT. The authors of this paper have combined dreamwork and EFT into a therapeutic protocol we call the Dream to Freedom (DTF) method. In addition to providing theoretical underpinnings of the approach, we present details of the use of the DTF protocol with seven subjects. In each case, underlying stressful memories triggering psychological symptoms were revealed, and the stress reaction to those specific memories was minimized or eliminated. In all seven case reports, DTF appears to have provided a systematic protocol for enhancing the emotional problem-solving function of dreams, providing each subject with insight towards creating future action steps.

Adolescent Feminine Subjectivities Elaborated via Transitory Objects Created in the Analytic Field

ABSTRACT This paper will consider the challenges adolescents, their families, and their psychoanalysts face when approaching the feminine/masculine theme. Adolescent sexual relationships co-construct and constitute versions of the feminine and the masculine. Such narratives of gender are compromise formations, which include overdetermined normativities and yet are idiographic and embodied. Conformity to cultural expectations leads to comprehensibility, but threatens the unique and the personal. We will consider clinical material from a fourteen-year-old girl who came into therapy because her mother considered her behavior towards her twin brother too aggressive. The family culture brought to the therapy expectations about the behavior of a young girl. What was important in this therapy was a setting with the use of different materials to build artistic objects. The presenting issue of the real relationship between sister and brother brought the male-female theme into the analysis, which was then present in the analytic relationship like a dream function. Putting this intuition into the theoretical frame of post-Bionian field theory, the female function is considered as the desire to be “at one ment” with the other (O) and the masculine function to realize necessary separation and subjective knowledge (K).