The dreaming brain/mind, consciousness and psychosis.
Ivan Limosani, Armando D'Agostino, Maria Laura Manzone, Silvio Scarone
Consciousness and Cognition December 2011 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2010.11.014 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Key points | Argues that dreaming serves as a useful phenomenological model for psychosis, since both involve vivid internally generated imagery, incongruous emotion, and impaired reality testing. Cites experimental data indicating cognitive bizarreness is similarly elevated in dreams, in acutely psychotic patients' waking cognition, and in patients given pro-dopaminergic drugs, independent of diagnosis. |
Abstract
Several independent lines of research in neurobiology seem to support the phenomenologically-grounded view of the dreaming brain/mind as a useful model for psychosis. Hallucinatory phenomena and thought disorders found in psychosis share several peculiarities with dreaming, where internally generated, vivid sensorimotor imagery along with often heightened and incongruous emotion are paired with a decrease in ego functions which ultimately leads to a severe impairment in reality testing. Contemporary conceptualizations of severe mental disorders view psychosis as one psychopathological dimension that may be found across several diagnostic categories. Some experimental data have shown cognitive bizarreness to be equally elevated in dreams and in the waking cognition of acutely psychotic subjects and in patients treated with pro-dopaminergic drugs, independent of the underlying disorder. Further studies into the neurofunctional underpinnings of both conditions will help to clarify the use and validity of this model.
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 12
- Exploring the neural correlates of dream phenomenology and altered states of consciousness during sleep Neuroscience of Consciousness 2017
- Sleep fragmentation and lucid dreaming. Consciousness and Cognition September 1, 2020
- Grand Challenges in Consciousness Research Across Perception, Cognition, Self, and Emotion. Frontiers in Psychology November 26, 2021
- The bizarreness and reality of dreams Chinese Science Bulletin December 19, 2017
- Quantitative-Qualitative Assessment of Dream Reports in Schizophrenia and Their Correlations with Illness Severity. Brain Sciences June 3, 2024
and 7 more in the library
Cites 14
- An information integration theory of consciousness BMC Neuroscience November 2, 2004
- Integrating the Science of Consciousness and Anesthesia Anesthesia & Analgesia September 19, 2006
- Cognitive Aspects of Mental Activity during Sleep The American Journal of Psychology 1991
- Waves of the Unconscious: The Neurophysiology ofDreamlikePhenomena and Its Implications for the Psychodynamic Model of the Mind Neuropsychoanalysis 2007
- Cognitive Bizarreness in the Dream and Waking Mentation of Nonpsychotic Patients With Parkinson’s Disease The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences October 1, 2010
and 9 more in the library