The interpretation of physiology
Barbara E. Jones
Behavioral and Brain Sciences December 1, 2000 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x00524029 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 8 |
| Key points | Argues that dreams are not stimulated by chaotic brainstem activity, as Hobson et al. and Vertes & Eastman claim. Contends that brainstem activity during sleep is not chaotic and is not free of cerebral cortex control, with the cortex adding complexity and meaningful information that the brain consolidates during sleep. |
Abstract
Not at all self-evident, the so-called isomorphisms between the phenomenology and physiology of dreams have been interpreted by Hobson et al. in an arbitrary manner to state that dreams are stimulated by chaotic brainstem stimulation (an assumption also adopted by Vertes & Eastman). I argue that this stimulation is not chaotic at all; nor does it occur in the absence of control from the cerebral cortex, which contributes complexity to brainstem activity as well as meaningful information worth consolidating in the brain during sleep. [Hobson et al.; Vertes & Eastman]