Coming to grips with a "new" state of consciousness: the study of rapid-eye-movement sleep in the 1960s.
Adrian R Morrison
Journal of the history of the neurosciences 2013 DOI: 10.1080/0964704x.2013.777230 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | The author argues that early 1960s symposia on REM sleep revealed conceptual struggles over naming and defining a state mixing wakefulness and sleep, and that an anthropocentric focus on human dreaming shaped debates about homology with cats. REM deprivation causing rebound indicated that simple synaptic activity could not account for the phenomenon, pointing to a need for biochemical studies. |
Abstract
The recognition of rapid-eye-movement sleep (REM) and its association with dreaming in 1953 by Aserinsky and Kleitman opened a new world to explore in the brain. Discussions at two major symposia in the early 1960s reveal that a state with characteristics resembling both wakefulness and sleep was overturning accepted views of the regulation of the two states. Participants grappled with the idea that cortical activation could occur during sleep. They struggled with picking a name that would capture the essence of REM without focusing on just one aspect of the state. Questioning whether REM in cats could be homologous with that of humans suggested an anthropocentric focus on human dreaming as the essence of the state. The need for biochemical studies was evident given that deprivation of REM caused a rebound in the amount of subsequent REM, which indicated that simple synaptic activity could not support this phenomenon.