dream

sleep

nationality

American

occupation / innovator as

university teacher

psychologist

psychiatrist

neurologist

is actually just a kind of brain fart, an accidental side-effect of activated circuits in the brain stem and stimulation of the limbic system (involved with emotions, sensations and memories) which the brain tries to interpret these random signals, resulting in dreams.

But another popular school of thought holds that dreams are actually just a kind of brain fart, an accidental side-effect of activated circuits in the brain stem and stimulation of the limbic system that's involved with emotions, sensations and memories. J. Allan Hobson, the psychiatrist who popularized this idea, calls it the 'activation-synthesis theory.' In a nutshell, the brain tries to interpret these random signals, resulting in dreams.What's particularly interesting about this theory is that it could also help to explain why humans use storytelling as a way to make sense of an often random, chaotic universe. If dreams are the meanings our brains supply to random neural firing in our limbic system, then stories are like waking dreams, meanings we use to paper over the fundamentally disorganized signals we receive from the world around us.

is as much preparation for the subsequent day's activity as it is recovery from that of the previous day.

A night of sleep is as much preparation for the subsequent day's activity as it is recovery from that of the previous day. (J. Allan Hobson)

J. Allan HobsonThinkers

J. Allan Hobson