I really enjoyed this seen from the 2001 film Waking Life where an individual named Jason T. Hodge states the following:

"In the waking world, the neural system inhibits activation of the vividness of memories. This makes evolutionary sense. It would be maladaptive for the perceptual image of a predator to be mistaken for the memory of one and vice versa; if the memory of a predator conjured up a perceptual image, we would be running off to the bathroom every time we had a scary thought. So you have these serotonic neurons that inhibit hallucinations that they themselves are inhibited during REM sleep. This allows dreams to appear real while preventing competition from other perceptual processes. This is why dreams are mistaken for reality. To the functional system of neural activity that creates our world, there is no difference between dreaming a perception and an action and actually the waking perception and action."

I have found no neuroscientific/neuropsychological research evidence to substantiate this claim; in fact most of the research I have found states the exact opposite. I want to believe that Hodge's statement is at least to some extent grounded in fact, but I can find nothing to back up his claims. Does anyone have any ideas?