Differential access to memory traces in the production of mental experience

Cicogna, Piera Carla; Cavallero, Corrado; Bosinelli, M

doi:10.1016/0167-8760(86)90017-6

Cited by 35 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…[33][34][35] The predominance of episodic sources for NREM dreams is independent of time of night and of corrections for report length. These are primarily biographical episodes (episodic memories) for NREM dream content, and a mixture of episodic and semantic memories for REM dream content.…”

Section: Frequency and Length Of Recalled Dreamsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultradian, Circadian, and Sleep-Dependent Features of Dreaming

Nielsen¹

2011

Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine

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Section: Frequency and Length Of Recalled Dreamsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultradian, Circadian, and Sleep-Dependent Features of Dreaming

Nielsen¹

2011

Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine

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“…NREM dreams, however, are quite different (Cavallero et al 1992). Here, episodic memories do appear in dream content (see Foulkes 1962;Cicogna et al 1986Cicogna et al , 1991Cavallero et al 1992;Baylor and Cavallero 2001). Recent episodes are predominant, but remote memories occasionally appear as well.…”

Section: Dreams and Episodic Memory Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sleep, dreams, and memory consolidation: The role of the stress hormone cortisol

Payne¹,

Nadel²

2004

Learn. Mem.

136

101

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We discuss the relationship between sleep, dreams, and memory, proposing that the content of dreams reflects aspects of memory consolidation taking place during the different stages of sleep. Although we acknowledge the likely involvement of various neuromodulators in these phenomena, we focus on the hormone cortisol, which is known to exert influence on many of the brain systems involved in memory. The concentration of cortisol escalates over the course of the night's sleep, in ways that we propose can help explain the changing nature of dreams across the sleep cycle.There is currently no convincing explanation for why we dream or what we dream about. In this article we propose an approach to dreaming that focuses on the relationship between sleep and memory. We suggest that dreams reflect a biological process of long-term memory consolidation, serving to strengthen the neural traces of recent events, to integrate these new traces with older memories and previously stored knowledge, and to maintain the stability of existing memory representations in the face of subsequent experience (Winson 1985(Winson , 2002(Winson , 2004Kali and Dayan 2004).It is generally assumed that long-term memory consolidation involves interactions among multiple brain systems, modulated by various neurotransmitters and neurohormones. We propose that the characteristics of dreams are best understood in the context of this neuromodulatory impact on the brain systems involved in memory consolidation. Although a number of neurotransmitters and neurohormones are likely involved, we focus our attention in particular on the stress hormone cortisol, which has widespread effects on memory during waking life through its impact on many of the critical brain structures implicated in memory function.Our hypothesis, briefly stated, is that variations in cortisol (and other neurotransmitters) determine the functional status of hippocampal ↔ neocortical circuits, thereby influencing the memory consolidation processes that transpire during sleep. The status of these circuits largely determines the phenomenology of dreams, providing an explanation for why we dream and of what. As a corollary, dreams can be thought of as windows onto the inner workings of our memory systems, at least those of which we can become conscious.In addition to exploring these ideas in more detail, we provide some background concerning (1) the states of sleep and the role of various neurotransmitters in switching from one sleep state to another, (2) how the characteristics of dreams vary as a function of sleep state, (3) the memory content typically associated with dreaming in different dream states, and (4) the role of sleep in the consolidation of memory.

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“…Some recent research (Cavallero & Cicogna, 1984;Cicogna, Cavallero, & Bosinelli, 1985, 1986 has focused on these mnemonic materials and in particular on the possibility of determining the quantity and quality of those mnemonic traces which are reactivated during the process of dream production and serve as the basis for the imagery of a particular dream.…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

Temporal Reference of the Mnemonic Sources of Dreams

1987

Self Cite

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The aim of this experiment was to investigate the temporal reference of elements which served as the mnemonic basis for dreams. Free associations with REM and Sleep Onset dreams were collected to determine the quality of the memories presumably activated during the producrion of the two types of dream. Associations referring to particular episodes of the dreamer's life were classified, according to their temporal dating, into Day residues, Recent residues, Remote residues. The hypothesis that there are differences in the temporal reference of the mnemonic sources of REM and sleep onset dreams has been confirmed. Day residues are significantly more associated with sleep onset than REM dreams. Moreover, in sleep onset, Day residues are significantly more frequent than Remote residues, while this is not true for REM dreams. Day residues are more easily available to sleep onset than REM dreaming because of the recent encoding which characterizes this kind of memory traces. In both sleep phases recent residues are more frequently used in constructing the dream.From a cognitive point of view we can define dreaming as the processes which elaborate, interpret, and reorganize some mnemonic materials into a more or less coherent and original narrative sequence. Some recent research (Cavallero & Cicogna, 1984;Cicogna, Cavallero, & Bosinelli, 1985, 1986 has focused on these mnemonic materials and in particular on the possibility of determining the quantity and quality of those mnemonic traces which are reactivated during the process of dream production and serve as the basis for the imagery of a particular dream.The paradigm used for this purpose is the free-associative technique modified to be suitable for an experimental setting (Cavallero Cicogna, 1984). As is known from the literature on dreaming, dream reports can vary according to the sleep stage from which they are collected. Cicogna, Cavallero, and Bosinelli (1986) have recently found that dreams collected from REM and Sleep Onset also differ in the quality of their mnemonic sources.In particular, episodic memory traces (i.e., discrete episodes in the dreamer's life which have definite spatial and temporal coordinates) are significantly more involved in sleep onset than in REM dream-production. These differences have been attributed to a peculiarity of sleep onset, i.e., the need to main-

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Differential access to memory traces in the production of mental experience

Cited by 35 publications

References 9 publications

Ultradian, Circadian, and Sleep-Dependent Features of Dreaming

Ultradian, Circadian, and Sleep-Dependent Features of Dreaming

Sleep, dreams, and memory consolidation: The role of the stress hormone cortisol

Temporal Reference of the Mnemonic Sources of Dreams

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