Dreaming and the brain: Toward a cognitive neuroscience of conscious states

Hobson, J. Allan; Pace‐Schott, Edward F.; Stickgold, Robert

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511615511.003

Cited by 192 publications

(371 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

338

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The brainsteminitiated neural activation is most pronounced in the visual cortex, the motor cortex, the basal ganglia, and various limbic system structures, particularly the amygdala (Braun et al, 1997;Maquet et al, 1996;Nofzinger, Mintun, Wiseman, Kupfer, & Moore, 1997). The pattern of activation during REM corresponds closely with dream content and matches the neural activity of the same behaviors during waking consciousness (see Hobson et al, 2000).…”

Section: Dreamingsupporting

confidence: 70%

“…Not surprisingly, it is instigated by neural activity in the brainstem, an area near the bottom in the hierarchy of consciousness (for a review, see Hobson, Pace-Schott, & Stickhold, 2000). Electrophysiological, neuroimaging, and psychological data strongly suggest that REM sleep is a state phenomenologically different from NREM sleep (Hobson et al, 2000). According to Hobson and McCarleyÕs (1977) activation-synthesis model, the brainstem contains a dream-state generator that periodically activates a great number of subcortical and cortical structures during the REM stage.…”

Section: Dreamingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The capacity for semantic and episodic retrieval of specific memories, which heavily relies on DL areas (see Cabeza & Nyberg, 2000), is also greatly decreased. Furthermore, the extent to which a dream is bizarre is related to the extent of the prefrontal hypofunction (Hobson et al, 2000). It is evident that the principal difference between dream mentation and normal waking consciousness is due to the deactivation of the DL.…”

Section: Dreamingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: The transient hypofrontality hypothesis

Dietrich

2003

Consciousness and Cognition

378

279

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It is the central hypothesis of this paper that the mental states commonly referred to as altered states of consciousness are principally due to transient prefrontal cortex deregulation. Supportive evidence from psychological and neuroscientific studies of dreaming, endurance running, meditation, daydreaming, hypnosis, and various druginduced states is presented and integrated. It is proposed that transient hypofrontality is the unifying feature of all altered states and that the phenomenological uniqueness of each state is the result of the differential viability of various frontal circuits. Using an evolutionary approach, consciousness is conceptualized as hierarchically ordered cognitive function. Higher-order structures perform increasingly integrative functions and thus contribute more sophisticated content. Although this implies a holistic approach to consciousness, such a functional hierarchy localizes the most sophisticated layers of consciousness in the zenithal higher-order structure: the prefrontal cortex. The hallmark of altered states of consciousness is the subtle modification of behavioral and cognitive functions that are typically ascribed to the prefrontal cortex. The theoretical framework presented yields a number of testable hypotheses.

show abstract

Section: Dreamingsupporting

confidence: 70%

Section: Dreamingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dreamingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: The transient hypofrontality hypothesis

Dietrich

2003

Consciousness and Cognition

378

279

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…After controlling for the word count of each report, anodal stimulation still resulted in significantly more reported motor imagery than sham stimulation. The control for word count has been criticized in the study of free mentation reports of dreams (Hobson et al, 2000), as some meaningful variables may not be independent of report length. In the present study however, it may be appropriate to control for report length, as verbal reporting involves motor action, and could have been influenced by the stimulation of motor areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The AIM model of consciousness proposes that the motor imagery perceived in REM sleep dreams is a direct result of higher motor cortical activation (Hobson, 2009 andHobson et al, 2000). TDCS may also enable us to manipulate motor cortical excitability in order to test whether there is a strong causal relationship between activation of the motor system and spontaneous motor imagery as it occurs in REM sleep dreaming, or through the use of mental motor rehearsal techniques in waking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcranial direct current stimulation of the motor cortex in waking resting state induces motor imagery

Speth

Harley

2015

Consciousness and Cognition

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study investigates if anodal and cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of areas above the motor cortex (C3) influences spontaneous motor imagery experienced in the waking resting state. A randomized triple-blinded design was used, combining neurophysiological techniques with tools of quantitative mentation report analysis from cognitive linguistics. The results indicate that while spontaneous motor imagery rarely occurs under sham stimulation, general and athletic motor imagery (classified as athletic disciplines), is induced by anodal tDCS. This insight may have implications beyond basic consciousness research. Motor imagery and corresponding motor cortical activation have been shown to benefit later motor performance. Electrophysiological manipulations of motor imagery could in the long run be used for rehabilitative tDCS protocols benefitting temporarily immobile clinical patients who cannot perform specific motor imagery tasks -such as dementia patients, infants with developmental and motor disorders, and coma patients.

show abstract

Amygdala and hippocampus volumetry and diffusivity in relation to dreaming

Gennaro

Cipolli

Cherubini

et al. 2010

Human Brain Mapping

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Microstructural analyses by MRI brain scans and by DTI analysis of MR images were used to investigate the possible relationship between deep gray matter structures (amygdala and hippocampus) and dreaming in healthy subjects. Thirty-four subjects ranging in age 20s to 70s underwent to a MRI protocol for the assessment of volume and mean diffusivity (MD) in the amygdala and hippocampus and were asked to fill out a dream diary via audiotape recording upon morning awakening for two weeks. Multiple regression analyses evaluated the relationships between anatomical measures and quantitative and qualitative measures of the reported dreams. The main result points to a dissociation between some quantitative and qualitative aspects of dream reports. While the mean number of dreams recalled per day did not show any significant relationship with the neuroanatomical measures, significant associations with some qualitative features of the recalled dreams (emotional load, bizarreness, and vividness) and, to some extent, with the length of dream reports were observed. Particularly, a higher MD of the left amygdala, reflecting a decreased microstructural integrity, was associated with shorter dream reports and lower scores on emotional load. Bizarreness of dream reports was negatively correlated with the left amygdala volume and positively correlated with the right amygdala MD. Some specific, although weaker, relationships were also found between bizarreness and hippocampal measures. These findings indicate some direct relationships between volumetric and ultrastructural measures of the hippocampus-amygdala complex and specific qualitative features of dreaming.

show abstract

Dreaming and the brain: Toward a cognitive neuroscience of conscious states

Cited by 192 publications

References 0 publications

Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: The transient hypofrontality hypothesis

Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: The transient hypofrontality hypothesis

Transcranial direct current stimulation of the motor cortex in waking resting state induces motor imagery

Amygdala and hippocampus volumetry and diffusivity in relation to dreaming

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About