Dreams and the daydream retrieval hypothesis.
March 1, 2020 E. Eeles, Donna M. Pinsker, Hana Burianova et al.
Dreams and daydreams share many neurobiological and experiential features, but their narrative relationship remains uncertain. The authors propose, from a subjective experientialist position, that dream content is specifically derived from daydreaming or mind-wandering, which is subserved by the default mode network. If substantiated, this concept offers a new insight into the origin of dreams. The paper reviews various theories of dream origins, including psychodynamic, Hebbian memory consolidation, and unified quantum brain theory, while noting the difficulty of studying dreams due to their ephemeral nature and the inability to simultaneously examine content and biology.