Biological Approach: Activation Synthesis Theory

Question 1

What is Activation Synthesis Theory

Answer 1

Dreams are meaningless and a by-product of abnormal neurological function during REM.

Question 2

What is Activation

Answer 2

During REM, brainstem inhibits muscles, preventing movement - in REM there is activation of different regions of the brain. The Pre-frontal cortex becomes ‘active’ during REM, particularly the amygdala and hippocampus. Hobson attributes the intense emotions in dreams to the amygdala.

Simply put, dreams are random with no real meaning to them, they are random internally generated signal from the brain stem which are created by the pre-frontal cortex.

Question 3

What is synthesis (make sense of)

Answer 3

The brain tries to make sense of the signals from the pre-frontal cortex, it synthesises them into thing we act out in our head. Our brain takes past experiences and integrates them in the process. The brain does its best to interpret and add meaning to the signals.

Question 4

Evaluation of Activation Synthesis Theory

Answer 4

Brain scans support this theory and demonstrate that the frontal cortex is active during REM. However Solms examined people with damaged brain stems who still dreamed which suggests the theory isn’t accurate if signals from the brainstem are responsible for dreaming.