====== Dreaming ======

>__The content and purpose of dreams are not yet understood, __though they have been a topic of speculation and interest throughout recorded history.\\ \\ Source : [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream|Wikipedia]]

Not only is the function of dreaming unknown (if there is one), but there isn't as yet an agreed definition of what it is.

Nevertheless, after several centuries of research, more than a dozen formal theories proposing reasons for dreaming have been proposed - including :

  * Memory consolidation theory
  * Threat simulation theory
  * Activation synthesis theory
  * Empathy theory
  * Emotion regulation theory

Some are complementary, others conflicting. None has been generally accepted.

See [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream#Neurological_theories|Wikipedia]]

Until fairly recently, dreaming was thought to be a uniquely mammalian activity - but recent research has identitified phenomena which appear to be dream-like states in several invertebrate species. E,g, [[https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2204754119|spiders]] and [[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004221001917|octopuses]]

Further info on dreaming :[[https://www.asdreams.org/about-iasd/|International Association for the Study of Dreams]]

''//Note://Freudian and other 'psychoanalytic' theories of dreaming have not been included in the above list due to the lack of any scientific validation. ''

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Also see [[content:life_sciences:human_body:sleep]]