Why Humans Dream: A Review of Sleep and Brain Biology, and Diseases in the Context of Dreams
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.785Keywords:
Sleep, Dreams, Parkinson's Disease, PTSDAbstract
While there is much research around sleep and its function, there is a seeming lack of research into the purpose of dreaming that if addressed could open a lot of research and clinical benefits. Specifically, dream research around certain diseases like PTSD and Parkinson's can increase understanding of dreams, and therapies pertaining to dreams. Here we review the biology of sleep in the context of dreams, review some popular dream theories, and dive into some deeper research around brain biology and disease research around dreams. By using the biology of sleep as a frame to understand dream theories we can evaluate the theories validity, and extend those theories into deeper concepts like small parts of the brain, and how disease affects dreams. The goal of the paper is to both assess dream theories for their validity and how certain diseases pertain to that, but also to encourage and prove how further research on dreaming could have widespread impacts in many fields.
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