Sleep and dreaming are for important matters
Frontiers in Psychology January 1, 2013 Lampros Perogamvros, Thien Thanh Dang‐Vu, Martin Desseilles et al. 79 citations
Sleep and dreaming activate emotional and reward systems, including the amygdala and mesolimbic dopaminergic regions during REM sleep, which likely consolidates memory traces with high emotional or motivational value. Coordinated hippocampal-striatal replay during NREM sleep may selectively strengthen memories for important events. Via activation of emotional and motivational circuits, sleep and dreaming provide a neurobehavioral substrate for offline reprocessing of emotions, associative learning, and exploratory behaviors, improving memory organization, emotion regulation, social skills, and creativity. Dysregulation from sleep disturbances such as insomnia or sleep deprivation may predispose individuals to reward-related disorders like mood disorders, increased risk-taking, and compulsive behaviors, with major health implications for vulnerable populations.