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Neuropsychodynamic Psychiatry pp 137–155Cite as

Dreams

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Abstract

Dreams have been one core element in psychoanalysis and have been emphasized already by Freud as central therapeutic elements. Here we review recent findings on the neurobiology of sleep in general and dreams in particular. We here consider dreams as indicators of inner transformation processes in the structure of the ego—the vivid experiences of dreams are thus supposed to index change in our self and its structure. This is based on various findings from psychoanalytical dream research and, more specifically, the contents of dreams. That is complemented by recent psychological-cognitive and neurobiological findings of dreams—considered in a cognitive perspective, dreams can be regarded as ‘embodied memories’.

Different theories of dreams are compared and discussed. Taken in this sense, dreams have a central function for the ego in allowing for transforming previous memories into the present and current state of the self—they thus serve for the self to adapt itself to its changing environmental contexts without losing itself.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Memory for events associated with intense and salient emotions.

  2. 2.

    Ulrich Moser and Ilka von Zeppelin are full-trained psychoanalysts engaged in interdisciplinary research for decades. Ulrich Moser was professor for clinical psychology at the University of Zurich. Already in the 1960s and 1970s, he was involved in modelling parts of psychoanalytic theories. By the means of computer simulation, he tested the logical and terminological consistency of psychoanalytic theories of defence and the generation of dreams. Based on this basic research on dreams, he developed an own model of the generation of dreaming as well as a coding system for investigating the manifest dreams. In this chapter as well as in the paper by Varvin et al. (2012), the dream model and the coding system by Moser and v. Zeppelin are applied.

  3. 3.

    ‘Embodied’ not only means ‘non-verbal’: memory arises by way of a ‘coupling’ of reciprocally influential sensoric and motoric processes. This ‘coupling’ is biologically implemented through neuronal maps embedded in the organism’s sensomotoric system. Thus, Clancey (1993) defined memory as the ability to coordinate neurological process.

  4. 4.

    For psychoanalytic readers, you can use the term drive instead of endogenous stimulation.

  5. 5.

    The patient refers to another ‘funny’ dream. Before the dream he had a conflict with his wife which wasn’t treated openly. Instead the conflict led to an erectile dysfunction. Then he dreamed that he played on a guitar which had a very soft neck….

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sigmund-Freud-Institut, Frankfurt, Germany

    Tamara Fischmann & Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber

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  1. Tamara Fischmann
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  2. Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber
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Correspondence to Tamara Fischmann .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Heinz Boeker

  2. Hospital of Psychiatry-Psychotherapy-Psychosomatic, General Hospital Frankfurt, Teaching Hospital of the University, Frankfurt, Germany

    Peter Hartwich

  3. Mind, Brain Imaging, and Neuroethics, Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Georg Northoff

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Fischmann, T., Leuzinger-Bohleber, M. (2018). Dreams. In: Boeker, H., Hartwich, P., Northoff, G. (eds) Neuropsychodynamic Psychiatry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75112-2_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75112-2_8

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