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Why do we dream? A new theory on how it protects our brains

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Re: Why do we dream? A new theory on how it protects our brains

#71

Post by jbotz »

Roritharr wrote: post #66

My wife is having really bad sleep problems which she attributes to dreaming too much too intensely. She just doesn't seem to get rested doing this. This article sadly does not give a clue what could be her problem.

She's probably putting the cart before the horse... light or troubled sleep leads to more dreaming because REM sleep phase comes just before a waking or almost waking phase. Also, you most vividly remember those dreams that happen just as you are waking up, so the more often you wake the more intense your dreaming seems.

Re: Why do we dream? A new theory on how it protects our brains

#73

Post by nerdponx »

Roritharr wrote: post #66

My wife is having really bad sleep problems which she attributes to dreaming too much too intensely. She just doesn't seem to get rested doing this. This article sadly does not give a clue what could be her problem.

Consider that maybe the intense dreams are a reflection of physical processes in the body that cause sleep to not be restful. That is, both intense dreams and not feeling rested are maybe caused by the same underlying thing.

Re: Why do we dream? A new theory on how it protects our brains

#74

Post by subaquamille »

kolinko wrote: post #62
arbol wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It explained this with the example of the blindfolded braille readers. Over 5 days their sense of touch was enhanced, presumably at the expense of their visual senses. Over time, the visual cortex would be completely taken over if the brain was not receiving signal from the eyes.

But if the theory were true, they would begin to see hallucinations while awake as a way of protecting the brain from changes.

And that's exactly what's described at the end of the article:

> If dreams are visual hallucinations triggered by a lack of visual input, we might expect to find similar visual hallucinations in people who are slowly deprived of visual input while awake. In fact, this is precisely what happens in people with eye degeneration, patients confined to a tank-respirator, and prisoners in solitary confinement. In all of these cases, people see things that are not there.

Re: Why do we dream? A new theory on how it protects our brains

#75

Post by raducu »

Roritharr wrote: post #66

My wife is having really bad sleep problems which she attributes to dreaming too much too intensely. She just doesn't seem to get rested doing this. This article sadly does not give a clue what could be her problem.

My wife is exactly like this.

She says she feels tired because she feels she lives paralel lifes in her sleep.

But objectively she has NONE of the symptoms of bad sleep I get when I can't actually sleep.

So she maybe just feels emotionally tired for the first 5 minutes after she wakes up.

I once gave her my fitbit and checked her sleep -- she had almost no restless sleep like I do, she had a lot of REM and a lot of deep sleep, I'd love to have her sleep pattern.

Re: Why do we dream? A new theory on how it protects our brains

#76

Post by raducu »

syrrim wrote: post #11

This doesn't explain why consistently interrupting REM sleep will lead to death. Also, the exposition suggests that this is somehow particularly necessary for visual information because we can't see while sleeping. They originally suggest that this is because it's dark at night, but later modify it to be because one's eyes are closed while sleeping. However, to my knowledge, very little hearing is done while one is s…

There can be a lot of reasons we sleep.

Why do we have weekends?

Re: Why do we dream? A new theory on how it protects our brains

#77

Post by FailMore »

Roritharr wrote: post #66

My wife is having really bad sleep problems which she attributes to dreaming too much too intensely. She just doesn't seem to get rested doing this. This article sadly does not give a clue what could be her problem.

You/she might enjoy: https://psyarxiv.com/k6trz, discussed on HN here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19143590 [written by me]

Re: Why do we dream? A new theory on how it protects our brains

#78

Post by baxtr »

subaquamille wrote: post #74
kolinko wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if the theory were true, they would begin to see hallucinations while awake as a way of protecting the brain from changes.

And that's exactly what's described at the end of the article: > If dreams are visual hallucinations triggered by a lack of visual input, we might expect to find similar visual hallucinations in people who are slowly deprived of visual input while awake. In fact, this is precisely what happens in people with eye degeneration, patients confined to a tank-respirator, and prisoners in solitary confinement. In all of the…

And that's exactly my point :) Shouldn't this have happened to those blind people, too?

Re: Why do we dream? A new theory on how it protects our brains

#79

Post by FailMore »

This idea ignores a fascinating aspect of REM sleep. During REM, the brain shuts down the executive functions, while the brain goes into extreme 'story generation mode'. A story in which you are a character. I think this is one of the most overlooked and interesting parts of dreaming. We are able to observe ourselves in our dreams acting without the constraints of our 'executive functioning' brain. This means we get to learn about our purely emotional behaviour, and perhaps spot where it is maladaptive. (I am very bias on this subject, as I have written a paper on this topic - https://psyarxiv.com/k6trz, which was discussed here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19143590)

Re: Why do we dream? A new theory on how it protects our brains

#80

Post by silverpepsi »

tgv wrote: post #47
dwighttk wrote: post #2

Well. I don’t (or very rarely) remember my dreams. Hope I get the protection anyway.

Of course. Articles such as the "OP" are simplistic bollocks. For starters, you'd be completely blind by now if the article had any merit. And deaf. And lost all memory. Oh no, wait: we open our eyes every morning, so even if there was any effect, it would be the opposite: visual taking over everything else. Which also doesn't happen. So take it with a grain of salt: yet another unprovable "theory" about the brain.

Have you stopped to think for a second where science would be if every possible hypothesis was thrown out as soon as its inventor realized he couldn't conclusively prove it in a day?

Also exactly the fact that it hasn't been fully proved out yet is why the nuance is missing. But now all the sudden you want them to be able to give you an explanation of the nuanced mechanism that prevents visual from taking over everything else? (Plus why on earth would it? What are you even talking about? I'm seeing all day long, but I'm also smelling hearing touching and tasting) Make up your mind!

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