> Carrol also missed the latest: neuroscience is
> actually uncovering the
> underpinnings of Freud's theory. See recent ish of
> Sci Am, april I think.
>
>
> Kelley
See also: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1234739,00.html>
(...) "There were brain structures which, when damaged, led to a cessation of dreaming," explains Solms. One was the part of the brain that processes spatial cognition. But more interesting was the fact that dreaming also stopped with damage to a part of the brain that controlled motivation.
Patients who have suffered damage to this part of the brain - the ventromesial quadrant of the frontal lobe - not only lose their ability to dream, but have a complete lack of motivation to do anything. "Patients basically do nothing of their own volition," says Solms. "They can perform any action no matter how complex so long as you instruct them to do it. They don't have an internal drive to do anything."
The research showed that dreams were not controlled by the basic automatic mechanisms as had been thought. And the fact that the particular aspect of the mind that seemed to be most critical for the generation of dreams was the motivational mechanism was particularly interesting: it was close to the sort of conclusions that the psychoanalysts were drawing from Freud. Strong though the evidence was, Solms cautions against any rash conclusions. "This is not proof that Freudian dream theory is correct," he says. "It makes Freudian dream theory neuroscientifically plausible and possible. All we can say is that dreams are generated by higher brain mechanisms."
Simon
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