FEVE, A. - HART, G.:
Dreams in the Fields of Neurology and Psychoanalysis
Feve, A. - Hart, G., Paris Psychoanalytical Society, Paris, France
(Presented at the Conference «FREUD'S SCREEN MEMORIES in the Light of the Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Neurosciences» in Prague, May 4-6, 2006)
Annotation
Neurobiological studies of dreaming between 1950 and 1980 have focussed upon polysomnographic recordings. Dreams mechanisms were confounded with the mechanisms of REM sleep. Hobson's initial "activation-synthesis" model of dreaming was based upon this extrapolation. In 1997 Solms conducted a study of dreams of patients with cerebral lesions and found, in contrast to Hobson's theories, that the cerebral cortex is greatly implicated in dream genesis. This was further confirmed by functional studies (PET scan and CBF) of dreaming in normal subjects. Controversies exist between psychoanalytical and neurobiological research, one of them is methodological, as few neurobiological works study dream content. Another is the link between dreams, consciousness and memory. The psychoanalytical process, namely the state of consciousness and implicit memory at play could provide an experimental framework for a common understanding. In order to advance collaboration and discussion, the free associations of a patient in relation to a visual hallucination and dreams occuring in the context of a brainstem stroke have been studied. The continuity between the content of the hallucination and the narration of subsequent dreams during psychoanalysis are presented.
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