Scarpelli Serena, Alfonsi Valentina, De Gennaro Luigi
Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome.
IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2024 Nov 1;30(6):583-588. doi: 10.1097/MCP.0000000000001112. Epub 2024 Aug 8.
Dreaming has only recently become a topic of scientific research. This review updates current findings on dream studies, emphasizing recent research on the neural mechanisms of dreaming. Additionally, it summarizes new evidence on the functional role of dreams, including insights from studies on dreams and nightmares during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Recent advances on the neural basis of mental activity during sleep have shifted towards dream-related phenomena, such as dream experiences in relation to parasomnias and hypnagogic hallucinations. Although some findings are consistent with the main models explaining dream recall (i.e., continuity hypothesis; activation hypothesis), some results contrast with the role of parieto-occipital region in dream experience. Moreover, recent findings - related to COVID-19 pandemic - underlined that dream experiences could express emotion regulation processes as well as provide a simulation of reality to prepare for future dangerous or social interactions.
Overall, we highlighted the intricate interplay between brain regions in dreaming and suggest that dreams serve multiple functions, from reflecting waking-life experiences to simulating adaptive responses to threats. Understanding the neural bases and functions of dreaming can provide valuable insights into human mental health, nevertheless, further research is needed.
做梦直到最近才成为科学研究的一个主题。本综述更新了当前关于梦研究的发现，重点强调了近期关于做梦神经机制的研究。此外，还总结了关于梦的功能作用的新证据，包括来自2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间梦和噩梦研究的见解。
睡眠期间心理活动神经基础的最新进展已转向与梦相关的现象，如与异态睡眠和入睡前幻觉相关的梦境体验。尽管一些发现与解释梦回忆的主要模型（即连续性假说；激活假说）一致，但一些结果与顶枕叶区域在梦境体验中的作用形成对比。此外，与COVID-19大流行相关的最新发现强调，梦境体验可以表达情绪调节过程，并提供对现实的模拟，以为未来的危险或社交互动做好准备。
总体而言，我们强调了做梦时脑区之间复杂的相互作用，并表明梦具有多种功能，从反映清醒生活经历到模拟对威胁的适应性反应。了解做梦的神经基础和功能可以为人类心理健康提供有价值的见解，然而，仍需要进一步的研究。
