Thread: The cause of REM sleep

Found an interesting article on how the brain works during sleep and the cause of REM(apologies if its been mentioned in the past):

http://www.harvardmag.com/issues/mj98/dream.html
extract:
"The dream gets accepted uncritically as reflecting reality because the dreamer's critical faculties lack the serotonin and norepinephrine they need for proper judgment. And the dream is mostly or entirely forgotten because this same chemical shortfall disables memory."

I found this bit at the end interesting... If it is true its interesting that we can gain such good dream recall and judgement within lucid dreams. Anyone have information on how lucid dreams and better dream recall through dream journaling fit into this?

Well in Lucid Dreams your recall is better because the part of your brain that is off during normal sleep is on i believe. Once you pass the part where you realize your dreaming it gets turned on. I may be completely wrong though.

If thats the case then I suppose im wondering how that bit of your brain gets turned on in the first place/how you suddenly gain awareness and lucidity.
If its just a slight change in the amount of chemicals released in the brain (lets say more of a specific chemical) then this could lead to easier ways for lucid dreaming. Maybe there is a way to stimulate the release of this chemical during REM (maybe using an induction device similar to nova dreamer).

it gets turned on by reality check and you thinking about how stuff that happens in your dream shouldnt happen...never used any induction device, i have mostly DILDs

The same people that say that God cannot be proven detect one instance of a biochemical sucretion during sleep and suddenly they pronouce themselves the ultimate authorities upon dreaming.

Well, "prove it!"

dropout:

Yeah.. So if Hobson and McCarley were right.. that its a lack of specific chemicals that causes poor judgement and acceptance of the dream state, then a slight increase in these chemicals may give you the judgement to quickly realise your dreaming.

More quotes from the article:
And it explained why judgment and memory seem to work poorly in REM sleep, because the serotonin and norepinephrine shown by other researchers to be necessary for good judgment and memory are lacking.

The same people that say that God cannot be proven detect one instance of a biochemical sucretion during sleep and suddenly they pronouce themselves the ultimate authorities upon dreaming. *

Well, "prove it!" [/b]

Quote from the article:
This idea, which Hobson and McCarley called the "reciprocal interaction hypothesis," showed how the brainstem could turn REM sleep on and off, and how REM and other sleep stages could result from a rhythmic chemical dance within the brain.

Note the word hypothesis.. Hobson and McCarley wernt stating their idea's as fact, but at least they made an effort to try to find answers. Maybe it upsets you that others have different opinions and idea's but personally i think it helps to look at all possibilities.