PSYC 444 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Solms, Epiphenomenon, Intrinsic Function
14 May 2018
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PSYC 444 – LECTURE 14
RECALL FROM LAST CLA“…
Professor “oloooa osiders eerthig that happes durig sleep to e dreaig
• Other researchers use different words for these various states
We can have different mental experiences during any stage of sleep- dreas are’t restrited to REM sleep. Hoeer, eig oke fro REM sleep is the est
enaling ondition”.
• More specifically, we tend to have the most intense dreams when woken during REM.
• Just like our apait is deteried our state of ake (e.g. caffeinated post-exercise vs. when not), our capacity for dreaming is determined by the
stage of sleep.
Hobson extrapolated about human sleep, particularly about REM, from animal (cat) studies. For Hobson, dreaming is interpretation of random brain activity, and
dreams can be explained by modulations of neurochemical and physiological changes drien by the brain stem.
PGO waves: responsible for activating the neocortex and eye movements during sleep
Hobson sees people as passive recipients during dreaming, contrary to Freud
• Comparable to hallucinating while on drugs
• We have no agency over dreaming
Dreams are a by-product of some other important brain process, such as waste removal
• Epiphenomenon
• No meaning behind dreams
SOLMS: NEUROLOGIST AND PSYCHOANALYST FROM CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
Aied to deelop a sste ased o Freud’s ideas that ould also iorporate oteporar eurosiee ad eurolog
• Continuation of project for scientific psychology of Freud
• Emphasis on complimentary of neurology and psychoanalysis
Note that Freud considered himself to be a neurologist.
NEUROPSYCHOANALYSIS OF SOLMS
1. Dreams are dissociable from REM
• Even though REM sleep is dependent of cholinergic activations arising from the brainstem
• Lesion of the pons in humans do not abolish dreams- even if they abolish REM
2. Dreams are dependent on activation of frontal regions
• Dreams require frontal dopaminergic pathways
• Frontal lesions can abolish dreaming
Cotrar to Hoso’s elief that dreas are a etirel bottom-up process (brainstem→ neocortex→dreams), Solms believed that higher order areas initiate dreams.
SOLMS: LESIONS
Note that “ol’s ork as deried fro hua studies
• Found patients with lesions and asked them about their dreams
• Did’t reate lesions
1. Lesions to the white matter in the frontal medial and inferior parietal areas abolish dream recall
• PGO waves and neocortex activation both present, yet dreams cannot be remembered
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
2. Ventral occipito-parietal lesions produce conscious experience but no visual dreaming
• Know you dreamt and can remember physical sensations and/or thoughts but no visual content
3. Temporo-limbic lesions + epilepsy produce recurrent nightmares
4. Fronto-limbic lesions produce increased dream recall but difficulty distinguishing dreams from reality
The most important idea is that even when REM is abolished, dreams are preserved and vice versa (when dreams abolished, REM preserved).
• It is all about the frontal and parietal cortices- lesions here prevent dreaming!
• Not about lower level, REM activating systems
o Braiste lesios do’t aolish dreaig
• Point of dream initiation comes from the dopaminergic, neolimbic system, a higher-order area involved in motivation
Dreaming and sleep are linked but are dissociable processes.
• The dream is not an epiphenomenon underlying sleep activity (as Hobson believed)
o Epiphenomenon: a phenomenon on top of something else
• No neurocorrelate that explains dreaming
For Solms, dreams have an intrinsic function and a role in human psyche, enabled by sleep-physiological functions.
• The unconscious can be approached through dreams, mind wandering, day dreaming, etc.
o These are all processes that are linked in the psychodynamic paradigm.
• Though these experiences may differ in degree, they are not categorically different
• E.g. day-dreaming is comparable to dreaming, it just occurs during wake
NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL MODELS OF DREAMING (SOLMS, 1997)
Above is the same model proposed by Hobson, replaced with the completely different ideas proposed by Solms.
• Red line indicates location of lesion that would abolish dreaming
HOBSON VS. SOLMS: A SUMMARY
The public voted on which scientist convinced them better
• Solms won- by a lot!
• Ma haged their id aout the origi of dreas
HOBSON: ACTIVATION-SYNTHESIS, BOTTOM-UP, 2-GEN
Dreams = REM
REM is generated by the brain stem
1. PGO waves are sent from brain stem to the neocortex
2. Random brain activity is interpretated as a dream
REM and non-REM are distinct states
• Generated by completely different brain networks
• Dreams are a process driven solely by the REM-state
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Professor olo(cid:373)o(cid:374)o(cid:448)a (cid:272)o(cid:374)siders e(cid:448)er(cid:455)thi(cid:374)g that happe(cid:374)s duri(cid:374)g sleep to (cid:271)e (cid:862)drea(cid:373)i(cid:374)g(cid:863) Other researchers use different words for these various states. We can have different mental experiences during any stage of sleep- drea(cid:373)s are(cid:374)"t restri(cid:272)ted to rem sleep. Ho(cid:449)e(cid:448)er, (cid:271)ei(cid:374)g (cid:449)oke(cid:374) fro(cid:373) rem sleep is the (cid:271)est (cid:862)ena(cid:271)ling (cid:272)ondition : more specifically, we tend to have the most intense dreams when woken during rem. Just like our (cid:272)apa(cid:272)it(cid:455) is deter(cid:373)i(cid:374)ed (cid:271)(cid:455) our (cid:862)state(cid:863) of (cid:449)ake (e. g. caffeinated post-exercise vs. when not), our capacity for dreaming is determined by the stage of sleep. Hobson extrapolated about human sleep, particularly about rem, from animal (cat) studies. For hobson, dreaming is interpretation of random brain activity, and dreams can be explained by modulations of neurochemical and physiological changes drien by the brain stem. Pgo waves: responsible for activating the neocortex and eye movements during sleep. Hobson sees people as passive recipients during dreaming, contrary to freud.
