Dreaming and Waking Thought as a Reflection of Memory Consolidation

Dreams are not a mysterious experience separate from waking thought but arise from the same brain processes that produce spontaneous thoughts during wakefulness. New evidence indicates these processes involve the brain's memory systems, which support the consolidation of newly learned experiences. During both sleep and wakefulness, fragments of recent memories are recombined with related older memories and general knowledge to create novel scenarios. This adaptive process contributes to memory consolidation and is reflected in the phenomenology of both nightly dreams and waking daydreams.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Dreaming has often been viewed as a “mysterious” experience entirely distinct from waking cognition. An alternative view proposes that dreams are generated by the same fundamental processes that give rise to spontaneous thought during wakefulness. New evidence suggests that these processes include activity of the brain’s memory systems, supporting consolidation of newly encoded experience. During both sleep and wakefulness, fragments of recently encoded memory are recombined with related remote memory and semantic information to create novel scenarios. This is an adaptive process that contributes to the “consolidation” of memory and is reflected in the phenomenology of both our nightly dreams and waking daydreams.