Development In The Neuroscience In Dreams By Bryony Shaw

In ‘Developments in the Neuroscience in Dreams,’ Bryony Shaw discusses the relation between dreams and the development of neuroscience. Shaw begins his journal with an introduction, detailing the exact purpose of his writing. That being, to “explore the history of dreams and the scientists fascinated by them and to discuss developments in neuroscience as they relate to dreams and sleep” (45). The author then jumps into a discussion about the different philosophers and psychologist involved in the development of dreams through neuroscience. He begins by conferring the musings of three early philosophers who were interested in dreams, Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. Shaw then delves into the more scientific driven minds who studied dreams, more specifically, the ‘psychoanalytic psychologist’ (46).

Bryony includes information regarding both of their ideas on the subject, comparing and contrasting the two. Following this, the author discusses more recent discoveries about dreams that came from the world of neuroscience, such as, the discovery of REM sleep in 1953. He then goes on to inform the reader about what sleep and dreaming are, with a to the point explanation of both topics, along with varying subjects such as sleep disorders and neural activity in the brain during sleep. The author then concludes his work by summarizing many of the different points made in his writing and giving his opinions on the ideas of the philosophers and psychologist he made reference to. Shaw’s research was based around the works of others, such as Aristotle, Sigmund Freud, and various experiments conducted throughout the years about dreaming. The results of such research over time are vast, but they contribute to the various ideas and questions that surround sleeping and dreaming