The Biology of Sleeping and Dreaming - Research Paper Example

? Biology Sleeping and dreaming The biology of sleeping and dreaming Background information Sleeping is the natural state of a person where the mind and the body of a person get to rest; characterized by the closure of the eyes as well as a decreased in the bodily movement including a slower response to external stimuli. On the other hand, dreaming is the process where the mind during the sleep of a person continuously sees a succession of ideas, sensations, images, as well as the emotions that occur in the mind involuntarily at certain stages of sleep. It has been biologically proven that during the sleep of a person, the brain usually experiences a brainwave of activities that makes a person to occasionally dream. Oneirology is the scientific study of dreams (Freud & Eder, 2010). During sleep, there is a stage of sleep where a one is bound to experience the dreams known as the Rapid Eye Movement (REM). At this stage of sleep, biologists across the world have scientifically proved that the brain of a person usually experiences many activities resembling a person who is very much wide-awake. The continuous rapid movements of the eyes while sleeping can prove this. Mostly the dreams dreamt at this level of sleep can easily be recalled clearly when the person is suddenly woken up. Dreams can last from just a few seconds to around 20 minutes for an average person (Pincot, 2013). The choice of my topic is to help answer the frequently asked questions by people across the world who are eager to know what usually happens in their minds while they are sleeping so that they get to experience dreams that somehow, sometimes relates with realities of the real world. Dreams have been observed to be as a means to the connection of unconsciousness of a person. The experiences of any particular dream can range from normal to a very bizarre kind of dream. In addition, they could have several varying nature of experiences; from an exciting one to an adventurous to a very frightening dream and sometimes could be sexual in nature especially with teenagers undergoing puberty. Whatever the case, the content of the dreams in a person are completely out of his control (Rosen, 2005). In addition, dreams have had their own share of interpretations since time in history. In the ancient times, they were observed to be a form of communication between the gods of the universe and the human beings involved. It could also be a mode of communication between the dead and the living human beings (Freud & Eder, 2010). However, according to the previous studies about dreams by Sigmund Freud, he sought to explain that the dreams that we normally dream are because of the brain’s manifestation on our cordial needs in our minds and the anxiety involved normally as a reflection since our childhood memories to our personal obsessions. Sigmund sought to explain further the motifs and the symbols that we see in our dreams are the royal roads to our personal unconsciousness. Based on his arguments about the numerous researches about the human psychology concerning the dreams of a person, he helped put forward the theory that a dream is a reflection of the unconscious mind of a dreamer and the content is shaped by the unconscious wish fulfillment in the mind of a person. Additionally, Sigmund helped to explain that the human mind experiences two types of dreams; the latent dreams and the manifest dream. The manifest dreams of a person are usually superficial, meaningless to the brain while the latent dream is mostly relates with our deep and unconscious fantasies, and wishes in our minds that we usually want to subconsciously fulfill in one way or another. However, mostly our manifest dreams normally tend to mask and obscure our latent dreams in our minds (Freud & Eder, 2010). However, there has not been a conclusive research as to why dreams usually occurs at the REM stage of sleep and the relation dreams have with the rapid movements of the eyes while a person is dreaming. Freudians cannot readily accept the relationship of the physiological phenomenon to the psychological state of the mind while a person is dreaming. On the hand, while the school of thought of Dr. Maurice’s ophthalmologic hypothesis research proposes that the REM dreaming process helps to do something meaningful to the cornea of the eyes, Freudians totally reject the idea and propose that the nature of the dreams of a person in relation to the psychoanalysis of an individual. Biological researches on the anatomy of human beings depict that REM is usually associated with several physiological processes in the body and as thus might somehow affect some changes in the body like the breathing, the amount of blood flow to the brain as well as the changes in the activities of the brain (Freud & Eder, 2010). In addition, what is also not known is the relationship of the closing of the eyes of a person while sleeping. Some suggest that because the eyes are closed, they might suffocate due to a reduced supply of oxygen to the eyes. As a result of the REM stage of sleep, the eyes experience rigorous movements to help bring oxygen to the cornea of the eyes while a person is dreaming. Additionally, what is not known is the relation as to why a person just woken from the REM stage of sleep will almost recall his dreams very clearly as opposed to a person-dreaming while in other stages of sleep. However, whatever the side of the argument about the dreaming of a person, all the authors seem to explain that dreaming involuntarily occurs in the mind of a person while sleeping. Additionally, they sought to explain that the same structures of the body that induce the REM sleep of a person that are also used to generate all the sensory information in the body. In addition, a person is normally not aware that he is dreaming while he himself is dreaming no matter the type of dream he is dreaming (Freud & Eder, 2010). Moreover, the dreaming and REM are controlled by very different brain mechanisms. Furthermore, all the dreams of an individual are characterized by the continuous flow of images that the brain will be processing. Critical thinking The original research by Sigmund was a complete success since for the first time in human history there was a documented scientific research behind our dreaming. He helped to explain that dreams are usually a manifestation of our brains about our deepest desires in life about the things we have ever seen since our childhood days. In addition, he helped to explain scientifically that the symbols and the motifs of our dreams are the royal roads to our personal unconsciousness. However, as a critique to his theories one would question the fact that people do have dreams on things they have yet seen (Pincot, 2013). It is fascinating how the brain can take a picture and translate it into a dream. In addition, his theory states that a dream is a conscious fulfillment of a person’s inner wishes. Moreover, with the recent improvements in the field of biotechnologies, there has been the discovery of advanced medical gadgets that can help to detect the level of activity of the brain. Basing on the previous studies that dreams originate from the mind, I would attach the special medical gadget on the head of a person when he goes to sleep so that the gadget picks up the level of activity of the brain as he sleeps and the data should be recorded on a specialized computer. This will help in identifying the part of the brain specifically involved with the sleep of a person as well as telling us what usually happens to the mind when a person is dreaming. References Freud, S. & Eder, M. (2010). On dreams: Journal of sleeping and dreaming New York: Cosimo Classics. Pincot, J. (2013). 7 Unexpected Things That Influence Your Dreams. Huffington post, 12/02/2013, p. 1. Rosen, M. (2005). Sleep and dreaming. Philadelphia, Penn: Chelsea House Publishers. Read More