How we sleep: From brain states to processes.
Revue Neurologique October 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurol.2023.08.007 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Dreaming Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Behaviour Physiology Sleep |
| Citations | 18 |
| Key points | Proposes that viewing sleep as a multidimensional continuum rather than discrete states, and focusing on brain processes rather than states, better accounts for local brain activity discrepancies and reveals sleep's function of cleaning and decluttering the brain. |
Abstract
All our lives, we alternate between wakefulness and sleep with direct consequences on our ability to interact with our environment, the dynamics and contents of our subjective experience, and our brain activity. Consequently, sleep has been extensively characterised in terms of behavioural, phenomenological, and physiological changes, the latter constituting the gold standard of sleep research. The common view is thus that sleep represents a collection of discrete states with distinct neurophysiological signatures. However, recent findings challenge such a monolithic view of sleep. Indeed, there can be sharp discrepancies in time and space in the activity displayed by different brain regions or networks, making it difficult to assign a global vigilance state to such a mosaic of contrasted dynamics. Viewing sleep as a multidimensional continuum rather than a succession of non-overlapping and mutually exclusive states could account for these local aspects of sleep. Moving away from the focus on sleep states, sleep can also be investigated through the brain processes that are present in sleep, if not necessarily specific to sleep. This focus on processes rather than states allows to see sleep for what it does rather than what it is, avoiding some of the limitations of the state perspective and providing a powerful heuristic to understand sleep. Indeed, what is sleep if not a process itself that makes up wake up every morning with a brain cleaner, leaner and less cluttered.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dreaming: a conceptual framework for philosophy of mind and empirical research | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming | 2015 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Varieties of Lucid Dreaming Experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Experimental Research on Dreaming: State of the Art and Neuropsychoanalytic Perspectives | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up | 2009 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
Cites 17
- Breakdown of Cortical Effective Connectivity During Sleep Science September 29, 2005
- Assessing sleep consciousness within subjects using a serial awakening paradigm Frontiers in Psychology 2013
- Dreaming: a conceptual framework for philosophy of mind and empirical research Choice Reviews Online January 20, 2016
- The Phenomenal Contents and Neural Correlates of Spontaneous Thoughts across Wakefulness, NREM Sleep, and REM Sleep Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience May 31, 2017
- Conscious experiences and high-density EEG patterns predicting subjective sleep depth. Current Biology December 20, 2021
and 12 more in the library