An Evolutionary Psychology of Sleep and Dreams
By Patrick McNamara
In this work, Dr. McNamara reviews evolutionary psychology approaches to REM sleep and dreams and argues for the relevance of genetic conflict to REM sleep physiology and dreams. A book review of An Evolutionary Psychology of Sleep and Dreams is available at Praeger Press. Below is the table of contents.
Chapter 1. REM Biology and Evolutionary Theory | 1 |
REM Properties | 1 |
The REM NREM Cycle | 1 |
REM-On and REM-Off Cellular Networks | 2 |
Selective Cerebral Activation in REM | 2 |
REM Dream Content | 3 |
PGO Waves | 3 |
Activation of the Amygdala in REM | 4 |
REM Sleep and Automatic Nervous System Storms | 5 |
REM Sleep and the Cardiovascular System | 5 |
REM Related Respiratory Changes | 6 |
REM Related Lapse in Thermoregulation | 6 |
REM Related Motor Paralysis | 7 |
Penile Erections | 7 |
Muscle Twitching | 7 |
REM Interactions With NREM in Control of Growth Hormone Release | 7 |
Interim Summary: REM Properties as Injurious to Health | 8 |
REM Sleep and Mortality | 9 |
REM Properties and REM Functions | 9 |
Intragenomic Conflict | 12 |
Costly Signaling Theory | 14 |
Game Theory Modeling of Costly Signaling | 15 |
Chapter 2. Patterns of REM Expression Across the Life Span | 17 |
Sleep in Infancy and Early Childhood | 17 |
Sleep Need and Biologic Rhythmicity | 17 |
Fetal Sleep | 18 |
Emergence of REM and NREM | 19 |
Evolutionary Theory I: Sex Ratio Determination | 19 |
Evolutionary Theory II: Pregnancy and Genetic Conflict | 26 |
Evolutionary Theory III: Parent-Offspring Conflict | 26 |
Evolutionary Theory IV: Life History Theory | 30 |
Evolutionary Theory V: Attachment Theory and Ecologically Contingent Behavioral Strategies | 20 |
REM Sleep and Unconscious Appraisals of Ecologic Context | 32 |
Impact of Developmental Sleep on Adult Functioning | 33 |
REM in Promotion of Brain Development | 33 |
Costly Signaling in Mother-Infant Relations | 34 |
REM and Cosleeping | 39 |
Nursing and Sleep States | 41 |
Sleep and Dreams in Childhood | 41 |
Sleep and Dreams in the Teenage Years | 42 |
REM and Sexual Functions in the Adult | 44 |
Sleep and Dreams in the Elderly | 48 |
Chapter 3. Phylogeny of Sleep | 49 |
Definition of Sleep | 49 |
Methodologic Issues in the Study of Comparative Sleep | 51 |
Findings of Previous Comparative Analyses of REM and NREM in Mammals | 55 |
Effects of Social Conflict on Sleep Sites | 58 |
Yawning | 59 |
Homeostatic Regulation of Sleep Varies Across Taxa and Indicates That it Has an Adaptive Function | 60 |
Hibernation and Torpor | 60 |
Survey of Findings on the Electrophysiologic Features of Sleep in Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals | 61 |
Conclusion | 65 |
Chapter 4. REM-NREM Signaling and Interactions | 68 |
Physiologic Interactions of REM and NREM | 69 |
Antagonistic Cellular Interactions in Regulation of REM | 69 |
Endocrine Interactions in REM and NREM | 71 |
Memory Processing Depends on NREM-REM Interactions | 72 |
REM-NREM Interactions and Emotional Processing | 73 |
REM-NREM Interactions as Signaling Systems | 76 |
Hockett’s Criteria and Dream Elements | 76 |
Modeling Potential Interactions | 78 |
Chapter 5. REM Sleep and Genetic Conflict | 81 |
Genes and Sleep | 81 |
Genetic Conflict | 84 |
Effects of Imprinted Genes on Physiologic Systems Implicated in Growth | 85 |
Effects of Imprinted Genes on Functional Brain Systems That Have Been Directly Implicated In Sleep Processes | 86 |
Genomic Imprinting and Sleep State Biology | 86 |
Imprinting Clusters and Control Centers | 87 |
The 5HT2A Receptor | 91 |
Summary | 91 |
Chapter 6. Theories of REM | 94 |
Restorative Theory | 94 |
Energy Conservation Theory | 96 |
Memory Consolidation | 98 |
Synaptic Stabilization | 100 |
REM Functions to Promote Brain Development | 100 |
REM Functions in Interaction With NREM to Eliminate Parasitic Infection and Regulate Selected Immune System Functions | 101 |
REM Modulates Expression of Innate or Inherited Behaviors | 101 |
REM Regulates Expressions of Emotion and/or Emotional Balance | 101 |
Chapter 7. Phenomenology of REM Dreams | 103 |
Dissociation of REM and Dreaming Does Not Mean That REM Expression Excludes Dreaming | 103 |
Cognition During Sleep | 104 |
Formal Properties of Dreams | 105 |
Play, Pretense, and Imagination in Dream Phenomenology | 109 |
Proteanism | 113 |
Narrative | 115 |
The Narrative Self in Dreams | 116 |
Metaphor | 118 |
Self-Reflectiveness in Dreams | 119 |
Suspension of Disbelief in Dreams | 119 |
Mind Reading in Dreams | 120 |
Summary | 122 |
Chapter 8. Content of REM Dreams | 124 |
Isolation of the Dreaming Mind | 124 |
REM Dreams as Simulations of Waking Life | 125 |
Methods of Studying Dream Content | 126 |
Typical Dream Content | 127 |
REM- Related Disorders | 135 |
Chapter 9. Theories of REM Dreams | 141 |
Early Hypotheses of REM Dreams | 141 |
Cognitive Theories | 142 |
More Recent Theories | 144 |
Emotional Processing Functions | 145 |
History of the Theory of the Dream as Serving Emotional Expression | 146 |
Current Neurocognitive Theories of the Dream | 149 |
Chapter 10. Understanding REM | 159 |
References | 167 |
Index | 189 |