Term Papers on Dreams

Term Paper Title	Dreams
# of Words	636
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	2.54

Dreams

     Theories attempting to explain the origin and functions of REM sleep
include:  (1) that REM sleep provides stimulation for the development of the
brain;  (2) that it performs a chemical restoration function, since during REM
dreaming neuro-protein synthesis occurs along with the restoration of other
depleted brain chemicals;  (3) that it provides oculomotor (eye movement)
coordination, since during non-REM sleep the eyes move independently of each
other;  (4) that it provides a vigilance function, since REM sleep (stage I) is
characterized by a level of consciousness close to the awakened state;  (5) in a
more recent and controversial theory, REM dreaming performs a neurological
erasure function, eliminating extraneous information build-up in the memory
system;  and (6) that, in a more cognitive psychological explanation, REM
dreaming enhances memory storage and reorganization.
     Contrary to popular belief, dreaming is not caused by eating certain
foods before bedtime, nor by environmental stimuli during sleeping.  Dreaming is
caused by internal biological process.  Some researchers have proposed the
activation-synthesis hypothesis.  Their neurological research indicates that
large brain cells in the primitive brain stem spontaneously fire about every 90
minutes, sending random stimuli to cortical areas of the BRAIN.  As a
consequence, memory, sensory, muscle-control, and cognitive areas of the brain
are randomly stimulated, resulting in the higher cortical brain attempting to
make some sense of it.  This, according to the research, gives rise to the
experience of a dream. Now, as in the past, the most significant controversy
centers on the question of whether dreams have intentional, or actual personal,
meaning. Many psychotherapists maintain that while the neurological impulses
from the brain stem may activate the dreaming process, the content or meaningful
representations in dreams are caused by nonconscious needs, wishes, desires, and
everyday concerns of the dreamer.  Thus, such psychotherapists subscribe to the
phenomenological-clinical, or "top-down," explanation, which holds that dreams
are intentionally meaningful messages from the unconscious.  The neurological,
or "bottom-up," explanation maintains that dreams have no intentional meaning.
In between these two positions is an approach called content analysis.  Content
analysis simply describes and classifies the...

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