Dreams and Memory Consolidation Essay - 1297 Words

Sleep is an extremely interesting phenomenon in which the mind almost completely departs from the usual realm of consciousness. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness and a decreased ability to react to stimuli where we become less aware of our surroundings. However, it is more easily reversed than being in hibernation or a coma. It is a function that has been extensively researched by many. After all, we would not have evolved a mechanism that forces us to spend one-third of our lives sleeping unless sleep did us some good. What good does it do tough? Over the years, many theories have been proposed as to why we need sleep. The simplest is that it saves energy. An individual’s energy expenditure and demand is reduced during the day,†¦show more content†¦A sleep deprived driver, believe it or not, is as dangerous as a drunk driver. Sleep also strengthens learning and memory, including both motor skills and language related tasks. When you learn something, your mem ory improves if you go to sleep within the next 3 hours, and it deteriorates after a sleepless night. A good night’s sleep can also improve learning the next day. When people learn a new difficult motor task, such as a video game skill, the brain areas that are active during the learning become reactivated during one’s sleep that night. The brain replays the same patterns they had during the day, only faster. The amount of functioning and activity in those areas during sleep predicts the amount of improvement the next day. In learning, wakefulness and sleep play complementary roles. Researchers have demonstrated that learning strengthens the appropriate synapses during wakefulness and weakens other synapses during sleep. Therefore, REM sleep is crucial for organizing pieces and the associations between them needed for forming lasting memories. Organizing these pieces within your brain requires information gained through learning. Learning is a complicated process that is completed subconsciously by gaining new knowledge and skills and modifying previous ones. Three basic parts of learning include acquisition, consolidation, and recall. During acquisition, the brain receives information and stores it within itsShow MoreRelatedIb Extended Essay: Dreams and Memory Consolidation4525 Words   |  19 Pagesprocesses of memory consolidation? Candidate Name: Oscar Louw School: Wesley College, Melbourne Date: 6 June, 2010 Word count: 3434 Contents Abstract †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.i. Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..1. Body of text†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.6 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.8 Abstract This essay will pose the question â€Å"is there is there a link between dreaming and the processes of memory consolidation?† A review ofRead MoreThe Importance of Sleep Essay1681 Words   |  7 Pagesback onto a task. However, sleep deprived people do not have the capability to do so. A sleep deprived driver, believe it or not, is as dangerous as a drunk driver. Sleep also strengthens learning and memory, including both motor skills and language related tasks. When you learn something, your memory improves if you go to sleep within the next 3 hours, and it deteriorates after a sleepless night. A good night’s sleep can also improve learning the next day. When people learn a new difficult motor taskRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Inside Out 865 Words   |  4 PagesInside Out are the Memory Consolidation theory, Wish-Fulfillment theory, and the Creativity theory. Another theory not talked about in class but present in the movie is the Cognitive Appraisal theory. Memory Consolation is a sleep theory. According to this theory sleep helps us restore and rebuild our fading memories from the day. In the film Inside Out the moment Riley shuts her eyes symboling that she is asleep her memories from the day start to move down a line. Her memories are being sent toRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Inside Out 1318 Words   |  6 Pagesthat are present in the movie Inside Out are the Memory Consolidation theory, Wish-Fulfillment theory, and the Creativity theory. Another theory, that was not talked about in class, but is present in the movie is the Cognitive Appraisal theory. A more suitable theory for inclusion in the movie would have been the James-Lange theory of emotion. This theory would have helped clear up some of Riley’s more confusing memories showing emotion. Memory Consolation is a sleep theory. According to thisRead MoreWhy Do We Sleep?1227 Words   |  5 Pagescompelling theory on why we sleep. It shows the relationship between the effect of sleeping and the brain. For example, â€Å"Infants spend about 13 to 14 hours per day sleeping, and about half of that time is spent in REM sleep, the stage in which most dreams occur (Harvard).† This shows that the sleep plays critical role for the infant’s development because of the dreaming. After reading this article it gave me a better understanding of why we sleep. It provides theories on why we sleep and explainsRead More The Roles of NREM and REM Sleep On Memory Consolidation Essay example1836 Words   |  8 PagesThe Roles of NREM and REM Sleep On Memory Consolidation All mammals exhibit Rapid-Eye-Movement, or REM, sleep, and yet on certain levels this type of sleep would seem to be disadvantageous. During REM sleep, which is when most dreams occur, the brain uses much more energy than during non-REM (NREM) sleep. (1) This waste of energy coupled with the increased vulnerability of this state on account of the bodys paralysis at this time suggests that there must be a very important reason, orRead MoreDreaming Is Something That All Humans Do Essay1753 Words   |  8 PagesDreaming is something that all humans do. It is a wonderfully mysterious part of our life. No one knows for sure why we dream, but there are many theories as to why we do it. The conventional view on what dreams are, is that they are experiences in our brains during REM, (rapid eye movement) sleep that are seen as real by the dreamer (Weiten McCann, 2016). These images are often bizarre in nature and include extremely vivid imagery that can be jarring to the dreamer in question, many scientificRead MoreThe Theory And Its Effect On Sleep933 Words   |  4 Pagesposits that dreams mirror waking life experiences, thus serving a predictive function. In accordance to this theory, dream imagery can be used to predict wellbeing, and diagnose depression and anxiety (Miller, DeCicco, Fox, McCourt, 2015; DeCicco, Lyons, Pannier, Wright, Clarke, 2010; Michels, Schilling, Rausch, Eifler, Zink, Meyer-Lindenberg, Schredl, 2014). Lastly, dreams have a neurocognitive function. The effect of dreams on memory involves the assimilation of autobiographical memories, and insightRead MoreDreams And Its Effects On Dreams3206 Words   |  13 PagesDream content reflects aspects of waking-life experiences. After memories are made, they are often fragmentally merged with other information to construct larger, holistic dreams. Autobiographical memories are predominantly represented in dreams in comparison to episodic and semantic memories. Among various characteristi cs from waking-life experiences such as places, people, and events, emotions are highly incorporated into dream content. There is also a decreasing relationship between the cognitiveRead MoreHow Dreams Help Us Grow And Prepare For Life1502 Words   |  7 Pagesnever being able to run fast enough; what do all these dreams mean? From going to school and forgetting your pants, to running through a field of flowers dreams have different interpretations. There have been many theories behind not only the meaning of dreams, but also how they originated. From different religious views to Freudianism to Neo-Freudianism, dreams have had a constant impact on our understanding of life. Some theories explain how dreams help us grow and prepare for life. Others theorize