This article is a transcription of an electronic symposium held on February 5, 2001 …

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Biology Articles » Neurobiology » Systems Neurobiology » The brain decade in debate: VII. Neurobiology of sleep and dreams

Abstract

- The brain decade in debate: VII. Neurobiology of sleep and dreams

The brain decade in debate: VII. Neurobiology of sleep and dreams

F. Aloe¹, F. Amzica², W. Hening³, L. Menna-Barreto⁴, L.R. Pinto Jr.⁵, R. Velluti⁶, R. Vertes⁷ and C. Timo-Iaria⁸

¹Instituto de Psiquiatria, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
²Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Laval, Quebec City, Canada
³Rutgers State University, Center for Neuroscience, Newark, NJ, USA
⁴Departamento de Fisiologia e Biofísica, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
⁵Instituto do Sonho, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
⁶Neurofisiología, Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
⁷Center for Complex Systems, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA
⁸Departamento de Neurologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil

This article is a transcription of an electronic symposium held on February 5, 2001 by the Brazilian Society of Neuroscience and Behavior (SBNeC) during which eight specialists involved in clinical and experimental research on sleep and dreaming exposed their personal experience and theoretical points of view concerning these highly polemic subjects. Unlike most other bodily functions, sleep and dreaming cannot, so far, be defined in terms of definitive functions that play an ascribable role in maintaining the organism as a whole. Such difficulties appear quite clearly all along the discussions. In this symposium, concepts on sleep function range from a protective behavior to an essential function for maturation of the nervous system. Kleitman's hypothesis [Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease (1974), 159: 293-294] was discussed, according to which the basal state is not the wakeful state but sleep, from which we awake to eat, to protect ourselves, to procreate, etc. Dreams, on the other hand, were widely discussed, being considered either as an important step in consolidation of learning or simply the conscious identification of functional patterns derived from the configuration of released or revoked memorized information.

Key words: sleep, dreams, consciousness, rapid eye movement, REM

Braz J Med Biol Res, December 2001, Volume 34(12) 1509-1519 (Virtual Symposium). An Open Access Article.