Does Your “Single-Minded” Characterization of Dreaming Now Find Confirmation and Explanation in the Lucid Dreaming Data?

Abstract

Comments on the articles by J. Allan Hobson (see record [rid]2014-54589-002[/rid]), (see record [rid]2014-54589-003[/rid]) & (see record [rid]2014-54589-004[/rid]). The descriptions by Dr. Hobson and others of lucid dreaming (states in which the dreamer has a reflective awareness that he is dreaming) demonstrate nicely that what we have called the 'the single-mindedness' (absence of that reflective awareness) in most dreams is not an inevitable attribute of dreaming per se. Rather, by techniques described by Dr. Hobson and others, lucidity can be induced in association with dreams that would otherwise be single minded. In tum, this means that lucidity must originate from specific brain processes. Early imaging studies showed low levels of frontal lobe neural activity during REM sleep, suggesting that the mechanism for lucidity might be at least partly localized to that area. This hypothesis is bolstered by reports of dream-like mentation during wakefulness in patients with frontal lobe injury. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)