Dreaming and the brain: from phenomenology to neurophysiology.
Yuval Nir, Giulio Tononi
Trends in Cognitive Sciences January 14, 2010 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2009.12.001 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Dreaming Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Brain Humans Psychophysiology Emotions Consciousness Imagination Dreams Perception Neurophysiology Environment |
| Key findings | Argues that dream research can now integrate phenomenological and neuroscientific approaches to address how brain activity produces conscious experience in sleep, why dreamers are disconnected from the environment, and whether dreaming resembles mental imagery or perception. |
Abstract
Dreams are a remarkable experiment in psychology and neuroscience, conducted every night in every sleeping person. They show that the human brain, disconnected from the environment, can generate an entire world of conscious experiences by itself. Content analysis and developmental studies have promoted understanding of dream phenomenology. In parallel, brain lesion studies, functional imaging and neurophysiology have advanced current knowledge of the neural basis of dreaming. It is now possible to start integrating these two strands of research to address fundamental questions that dreams pose for cognitive neuroscience: how conscious experiences in sleep relate to underlying brain activity; why the dreamer is largely disconnected from the environment; and whether dreaming is more closely related to mental imagery or to perception.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming | 2019 | Review | |
| Sleep and dreaming are for important matters | 2013 | Review | |
| Nightmare Disorder and Isolated Sleep Paralysis | 2020 | Review | |
| My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares? | 2019 | Review | |
| Dream Recall: State or Trait Variable? Part I: Model, Theories, Methodology and Trait Factors | 1996 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 196
- Neural correlates of consciousness: progress and problems Nature Reviews Neuroscience April 20, 2016
- Unresponsiveness ≠ Unconsciousness Anesthesiology February 7, 2012
- Integrated information theory of consciousness: an updated account. December 1, 2012
- Dreaming as mind wandering: evidence from functional neuroimaging and first-person content reports. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013
- Consciousness in humans and non-human animals: recent advances and future directions Frontiers in Psychology 2013
and 191 more in the library
Cites 19
- Breakdown of Cortical Effective Connectivity During Sleep Science September 29, 2005
- Consciousness as Integrated Information: a Provisional Manifesto Biological Bulletin December 1, 2008
- Dreaming During Non-rapid Eye Movement Sleep in the Absence of Prior Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Sleep December 1, 2004
- Appropriateness of dream feelings to dreamed situations Cognition & Emotion March 1, 1988
- Cognitive replay of visuomotor learning at sleep onset: temporal dynamics and relationship to task performance. Sleep 2010
and 14 more in the library