Unromancing the Dream A New Theory In 1977, Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley came forward with a different theory about what happens when you dream. The theory stated dreams are nothing more than your attempt to interpret random impulses produced in your brain automatically during sleep.
The ActivationSynthesis Hypothesis Dreams could be defined as physiological manifestation instead of psychological desire. The new theory stated dreams are triggered automatically by psychological processes and the strangeness and distortion often associated with dreaming is just how the brain functions while sleeping.
Methods Hobson and McCarley used two methods during their study. The first was to use previous work by other researchers in the field including some of their own. The second was to study sleep and dreaming patterns of mammals. They concluded there was no difference between animals and humans sleep
wise and used cats as test subjects.
Results Part of the brain stem that controls your physical movements and incoming information are as active as when you are asleep. While you are asleep your sensory input and motor output are paralyzed. When you dream you can send motor signals just not able to express them. The eyes are the one exception that motor responses do not block which explains rapid eye movement during sleep. The brain enters REM sleep at predictable intervals during each night for a certain amount of time. With the experimentation on the cats, they were able to conclude mammals’ cycle through REM and NREM sleep. Hobson and McCarley gained more evidence that dreams are physiological.
The Activation Implications With the studies, Hobson and McCarley found many things. They allowed that dreams may have psychological meanings, although they suggested this meaning is more basic than psychoanalytic view portrays it to be. The brain activity is not one from where wishes, fears, or emotions are stored at. They stated that it is no more than electrical energy that your brain tries to interpret while you are asleep. Images are called up from memories in attempt to match the data composed by the brain stem’s activity. Your dreams are often mysterious and bizarre because your brain tries to inject them with meaning. You may have a hard time remembering what your dreams are when waking up. The problem is the chemicals necessary for converting short-term into long-term memories are suppressed during REM sleep.