Skip to main content

What Is the Current Status of Your “Covert REM Process” Theory, Especially in the Light of the New Protoconsciousness Hypothesis?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Dream Consciousness

Part of the book series: Vienna Circle Institute Library ((VCIL,volume 3))

Abstract

The widespread use of standard polysomnographic (PSG) criteria for identifying sleep stages (Rechtschaffen and Kales 1968) has helped promote an artificially categorical view of sleep and the unproven notion that sleep stages are mutually exclusive states separated by abrupt transitions. Rather, evidence suggests that sleep stages consist of fluid, dissociable clusters of processes, with overlaps and admixtures being common under various circumstances (Nielsen 2000b; Himanen and Hasan 2000). This emerging, alternative view of sleep has important ramifications for theories of dreaming—and thus for theories of dream function like the protoconsciousness (ProtoCs) theory.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ambrosini, M. V., & Giuditta, A. (2001). Learning and sleep: The sequential hypothesis. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 5, 477–490.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beersma, D. G. M., Dijk, D. J., Blok, C. G. H., & Everhardus, I. (1990). REM sleep deprivation during 5 hours leads to an immediate REM sleep rebound and to suppression of non-REM sleep intensity. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 76, 114–122.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, C., Rosenthal, L., Helmus, T., Roehrs, T., & Roth, T. (1996). The frequency of multiple sleep onset REM periods among subjects with no excessive daytime sleepiness. Sleep, 19, 727–730.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bódizs, R., Kantor, S., Szabo, G., Szucs, A., Eross, L., & Halasz, P. (2001). Rhythmic hippocampal slow oscillation characterizes REM sleep in humans. Hippocampus, 11, 747–753.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bódizs, R., Sverteczki, M., Halász, P. (2004, October 5–9) A parahippocampal electrocorticographic analysis of the transition from wakefulness to sleep in humans: Are REM features present? In: 17th Congress of the European Sleep Research Society, Prague, Czech Republic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bódizs, R., Sverteczki, M., & Meszaros, E. (2008). Wakefulness-sleep transition: Emerging electroencephalographic similarities with the rapid eye movement phase. Brain Research Bulletin, 76, 85–89.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brunner, D. P., Dijk, D. J., & Borbely, A. A. (1993). Repeated partial sleep deprivation progressively changes in EEG during sleep and wakefulness. Sleep, 16, 100–113.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carskadon, M. A., Keenan, S., & Dement, W. C. (1987). Nighttime sleep and daytime sleep tendency in preadolescents. In C. Guilleminault (Ed.), Sleep and its disorders in children (pp. 43–52). New York: Raven Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carskadon, M. A., Wolfson, A. R., Acebo, C., Tzischinsky, O., & Seifer, R. (1998). Adolescent sleep patterns, circadian timing, and sleepiness at a transition to early school days. Sleep, 21, 871–881.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Esposito, M. J., Nielsen, T. A., & Paquette, T. (2004). Reduced alpha power associated with the recall of mentation from Stage 2 and Stage REM sleep. Psychophysiology, 41, 288–297.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, B. E., Pauley, C., & McGuire, K. (1989). Children’s sleep behavior scale: Normative data on 870 children in grades 1 to 6. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 68, 227–236.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Foulkes, D. (1999). Children’s dreaming and the development of consciousness. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Germain, A., & Nielsen, T. A. (2001). EEG power associated with early sleep onset images differing in sensory content. Sleep Research Online, 4, 83–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Germain, A., Nielsen, T. A., Khodaverdi, M., Bessette, P., Faucher, B., & Raymond, I. (1999). Fast frequency EEG correlates of dream recall from REM sleep. Sleep, 22(Suppl 1), S131–S132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henane, R., Buguet, A., Roussel, B., & Bittel, J. (1977). Variations in evaporation and body temperatures during sleep in man. Journal of Applied Psychology, 42, 50–55.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Himanen, S. L., & Hasan, J. (2000). Limitations of Rechtschaffen and Kales; review article. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 4, 149–167.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lavie, P., Schnall, R. P., Sheffy, J., & Shlitner, A. (2000). Peripheral vasoconstriction during REM sleep detected by a new plethysmographic method. Nature Medicine, 6, 606.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mahowald, M. W., & Schenck, C. H. (1992). Dissociated states of wakefulness and sleep. Neurology, 42(Suppl 6), 44–52.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, T. A. (2000a). A review of mentation in REM and NREM sleep: ‘covert’ REM sleep as a possible reconciliation of two opposing models. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23, 851–866.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, T. A. (2000b). Covert REM sleep effects on NREM mentation: Further methodological considerations and supporting evidence. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23, 1040–1057.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, T. (2011). Ultradian, circadian, and sleep-dependent features of dreaming. In M. Kryger, T. Roth, & W. C. Dement (Eds.), Principles and practice of sleep medicine (5th ed., pp. 576–584). New York: Elsevier.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, T. A., Stenstrom, P. M., Takeuchi, T., et al. (2005). Partial REM sleep deprivation increases the dream-like quality of mentation from REM sleep and sleep onset. Sleep, 28, 1083–1089.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ogilvie, R. D., Takeuchi, T., & Murphy, T. I. (2003). Expanding Nielsen’s covert REM model, questioning Solms’s approach to dreaming and REM sleep, and reinterpreting the Vertes & Eastman view of REM sleep and memory. In E. F. Pace-Schott, M. Solms, M. Blagrove, & S. Harnad (Eds.), Sleep and dreaming: Scientific advances and reconsiderations (pp. 193–194). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oudiette, D., Dealberto, M. J., Uguccioni, G., et al. (2012). Dreaming without REM sleep. Consciousness and Cognition, 21, 1129–1140.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pivik, T. (1991). Tonic states and phasic events in relation to sleep mentation. In S. Ellman & J. Antrobus (Eds.), The mind in sleep. Psychology and psychophysiology (2nd ed., pp. 214–248). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rechtschaffen, A., & Kales, A. (1968). A manual of standardized terminology, technique and scoring system for sleep stages of human subjects. Bethesda: HEW Neurological Information Network.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scholz, U. J., Bianchi, A. M., Cerutti, S., & Kubicki, S. (1997). Vegetative background of sleep—spectral analysis of the heart rate variability. Physiology and Behavior, 62, 1037–1043.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki, H., Uchiyama, M., Tagaya, H., et al. (2004). Dreaming during non-rapid eye movement sleep in the absence of prior rapid eye movement sleep. Sleep, 27, 1486–1490.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Takeuchi, T., Fukuda, K., & Murphy, T. I. (2002). Elicitation of sleep-onset REM periods in normal individuals using the sleep interruption technique (SIT). Sleep Medicine, 3, 479–488.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Terzano, M. G., Parrino, L., Smerieri, A., et al. (2005). CAP and arousals are involved in the homeostatic and ultradian sleep processes. Journal of Sleep Research, 14, 359–368.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tinguely, G., Huber, R., Borbely, A. A., & Achermann, P. (2006). Non-rapid eye movement sleep with low muscle tone as a marker of rapid eye movement sleep regulation. BMC Neuroscience, 7, 2.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Toth, M. F. (1970). A new method for detecting eye movement in sleep. Psychophysiology, 7, 516–523.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wamsley, E. J., Hirota, Y., Tucker, M. A., et al. (2004). Circadian influences on sleep mentation. Sleep, 27(Suppl), A65–A66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Werth, E., Achermann, P., & Borbely, A. A. (2002). Selective REM sleep deprivation during daytime. II. Muscle atonia in non-REM sleep. American Journal of Physiology Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 283, R527–R532.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tore Nielsen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Nielsen, T. (2014). What Is the Current Status of Your “Covert REM Process” Theory, Especially in the Light of the New Protoconsciousness Hypothesis?. In: Tranquillo, N. (eds) Dream Consciousness. Vienna Circle Institute Library, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07296-8_25

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics