Sleep and Dreaming in the Predictive Processing Framework
Iris (Roma Tre University) 2017 DOI: 10.15502/9783958573079 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Consciousness Cognitive science Dream Embodied cognition Cognitive psychology Field mathematics Artificial intelligence |
| Citations | 25 |
| Key points | Argues that Predictive Processing cannot fully explain how consciousness arises during sleep and that Integrated Information Theory is a better candidate for this role, while both frameworks can inform future dream research. |
Abstract
Sleep and dreaming are important daily phenomena that are receiving growing attention from both the scientific and the philosophical field. The increasingly popular predictive brain framework within cognitive science aims to give a full account of all aspects of cognition. The aim of this paper is to critically assess the theoretical advantages of Predictive Processing (PP, as proposed by Clark 2013, Clark 2016; and Hohwy 2013) in defining sleep and dreaming. After a brief introduction, we overview the state of the art at the intersection between dream research and PP (with particular reference to Hobson and Friston 2012; Hobson et al. 2014). In the following sections we focus on two theoretically promising aspects of the research program. First, we consider the explanations of phenomenal consciousness during sleep (i.e. dreaming) and how it arises from the neural work of the brain. PP provides a good picture of the peculiarity of dreaming but it can’t fully address the problem of how consciousness comes to be in the first place. We propose that Integrated Information Theory (IIT) (Oizumi et al. 2014; Tononi et al. 2016) is a good candidate for this role and we will show its advantages and points of contact with PP. After introducing IIT, we deal with the evolutionary function of sleeping and dreaming. We illustrate that PP fits with contemporary researches on the important adaptive function of sleep and we discuss why IIT can account for sleep mentation (i.e. dreaming) in evolutionary terms (Albantakis et al. 2014). In the final section, we discuss two future avenues for dream research that can fruitfully adopt the perspective offered by PP: (a) the role of bodily predictions in the constitution of the sleeping brain activity and the dreaming experience, and (b) the precise role of the difference stages of sleep (REM (Rapid eye movement), NREM (Non-rapid eye movement)) in the constitution and refinement of the predictive machinery.
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 10
- Predictive coding, multisensory integration, and attentional control: A multicomponent framework for lucid dreaming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 1, 2022
- Converging theories on dreaming: Between Freud, predictive processing, and psychedelic research Frontiers in Human Neuroscience February 16, 2023
- Gauging oneiromancy—the cognition of dream content and cultural transmission of (supernatural) divination Religion, Brain & Behavior March 10, 2023
- Visual perspective, distance, and felt presence of others in dreams. Consciousness and Cognition August 1, 2023
- The bizarreness and reality of dreams Chinese Science Bulletin December 19, 2017
and 5 more in the library
Cites 20
- Interoceptive inference, emotion, and the embodied self Trends in Cognitive Sciences October 12, 2013
- Consciousness as Integrated Information: a Provisional Manifesto Biological Bulletin December 1, 2008
- A Theoretically Based Index of Consciousness Independent of Sensory Processing and Behavior Science Translational Medicine August 14, 2013
- Dreaming as mind wandering: evidence from functional neuroimaging and first-person content reports. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013
- Cortical reactivity and effective connectivity during REM sleep in humans Cognitive Neuroscience July 1, 2010
and 15 more in the library