I have always thought that the only dreams we remember are those that wake us up and then we think about, at least enough to get elements into our LTM. Is this valid?
Also, it would seem logical that the minimal amount of time we spend in deep sleep as well as the fact that it's spread out during our first two cycles could be supported by the evolutionary psychology. That is, in "days of yore," in order to survive a night's sleep with dangerous predators nearby, we could ill-afford to spend too much time during one cycle in this comatose state. Also, could not the same evolutionary explanation be used to explain why our brain returns to the very active REM state at the end of each cycle, thereby making us more able to be aroused if danger is lurking? I ask the latter as during one of my classes when we were discussing the hypotheses concerning the purpose of REM (e.g., activation-synthesis), I concluded that we still don't have closure on precisely why our brain returns to this very active REM brain state at the end of every sleep cycle. One of my students mentioned the survival mechanism for returning to REM so frequently during an average night's sleep and I was intrigued with his question and would appreciate comments/reactions. Joan [email protected] --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
