The secret dream laboratory
Brain October 24, 2017 Matt Ffytche, Dominic Ffytche
A review of Benjamin Ehrlich's book on Santiago Ramón y Cajal's dream diaries argues that the volume's focus on refuting Freudian psychoanalysis obscures Cajal's own theories of dreaming. Cajal recorded dreams between 1918 and 1934, often annotating them with comments like 'No repressed desire' to challenge Freud. However, the review contends Cajal misunderstood basic Freudian concepts such as the distinction between manifest and latent content. Cajal instead hypothesized that dreams are a 'game of imagination' combining elements from different times, driven by 'mnemonic phenomena and conditions that did not want to die'. The review suggests situating Cajal's diary within a broader culture of responses to Freud's work.