European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 16, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Cortex brain s outer cover reticular i a formation a / Medulla brain Stem dreams result when parts of Trie brain Stem Send signals to thought enters in the cortex which iry to make sense of the impulses. New Light on the chemistry of dreams by Harold m. Schmeck i new York times he stage of sleep called Rem. Lor rapid Eye movement is Bolh a Paradox and a mystery thai is leading scientists to new insights about the chemistry of the brain. While the brain registers internet activity during Rem sleep the body enters a slate of benign paralysis. And while it is a Hal stage of sleep in which dreaming occurs most dreams do nol become permanent memories. In the new research on Rem sleep scientists Are exploring its chemistry the Ole clerical state at the brain cells and the local Ian and physical characteristics of cells and nerve circuits involved. One objective is to answer a question thai has perplexed iss eardies Lor generations Why do people dream scientists also Anllo Straw whether dreaming is necessary As Welt As to understand the mechanics end chemistry of dreaming. It s a state in which the hard wiring of the brain does t a tinge but the slate of the organism changes More dramatically than in any other situation said i Robert w. Mccarley of Harvard medical school in Boston and the veterans administration Hospital in Brockton mass. By studying it we can learn what Are the mechanisms by which the brain alters its own  the studies May help doctors better understand the brain in health and disease Mccarthy said. He and some other experts View the dreaming phase of sleep As a possible Model Lor the study of Biz Ane thought processes that occur in mental illness. Indeed a hallmark of serious depression is that Rem sleep olten appears earlier in the Bleep Cycle. Drug treatment that helps ease severe depression often has the effect of delaying thai phase of sleep. One of the circumstances that brings on the dreaming stage is an abundance of acetyl choline in the brain. This chemical is one of the brain s main neurotransmitters substances that nerve cells use to signal to i hair neighbors. White brain cells that use acetylcholine Are Active others thai use different  Are subdued or. J. Allan Hobson of the Harvard medical school said he believed the most important development in the last five years was the ability to produce Rem sleep experimentally with drugs. The dreaming slate can be brought on abruptly in animals when a substance thai acts like acetylcholine is injected directly into certain nerve cells of the Pons a primitive part of the brain. Several studies of this kind done at Harvard under the leadership of Hobson and Mccarley showed that drugs similar in action to acetylcholine could produce Rem sleep and that other treatment thai interfered Wilh the natural breakdown of thai nerve signal substance would have the same effect in some of the experiments done on cats by or. Helen a. Baghdoyan now at Pennsylvania stale University in Hershey the responses were dramatic. Rem sleep began within two or three minutes after injection instead of the half hour it would take naturally. The phase of Stop lasted for two to four hours rather than the usual six minutes. Or. J Christian Gillin s group at the University of California at san Diego has evoked hem sleep in volunteers by giving them drugs that act like acetylcholine in the brain. Related studios have demonstrated thai the drug induced Rem sleep produces dreams that Are qualitatively no different from those that occur in natural Steep. In research on Rem sleep in animals. Mccarley and colleagues have demonstrated that certain groups of brain Cellan tha Pons become increasingly excitable As the Glrst Reh period approaches. That excitability is a chemical and electrical stale that brings the cells closer to firing or sending signals to other brain cells. When the same cells of the reticular formation of me Pons lire during the waking state they cause physical movements particularly the Semi automatic motions that contribute to walking running and Many other physical acts. In the dreaming phase of sleep Eye movements continue but the nerve connections that govern limb movements Are shut Oil. Almost Allol human dreaming occurs during Rem sleep and dreaming has held intense fascination in every civilization and every epoch. The actual stage of sleep and ils key characteristics were discovered in the Earty 1950s today this phase of sleep is intriguing to scientists because it May hold clues to the crucial functions of sleep As Well As to understanding of the brain. One theory of Rem sleep holds Hal this combination of signalling within the brain without resultant physical movements is actually the raw material of dreams. The sleeping brain forms images and scenes in trying to make sense of its own internal signalling. The theory was proposed 10 years ago by Mccarley and Hobson. In important respects it hollered an explanation of dreaming totally different from Freud s theory that the dream was a disguised and censored expression of forbidden ideas. We hypothesize that this perceived movement becomes part of the dream plot said Mccarley and or. Edward Hoffman of Harvard in a report that buttressed the theory by analysing 104 dreams described by people who were awakened at the end of Rem sleep episodes. A majority of the dreams involved running walking and similar Behaviours thai would be expected from a brain concocting stories to match internal signals. The theory challenges the psychoanalytic idea that the Many meaningless aspects of dream mentation Are the result of an Active Effort to disguise the meaning of unconscious wishes said Hobson in a recent article on dreaming. But he does not suggest that the Content of dreams is random an  5 dreams May contain unkind stylistic psychological features and concerns he said and thus be worthy of scrutiny by the individual to review file  Mccarle noted that the bizarre features of dreams including impossible feats such Ai Hying under one s own Power and sudden Shilts in scene May to Worth study As a temporary and harmless but possibly enlightening Model of menial illness. The bizarre Quality of dreams is probably in Salt rooted in the neurophysiology of Rem sleep in Hobson s View he has argued that the bizarre Ness of a dream is probably a consequence of changes in properties of Tho brain and May have no particular psychological significance. Specialists say that Rem Sloop itself Musl have useful biological unctions because it has been preserved throughout mammalian evolution and because in is difficult perhaps impossible to eliminate ii. When in is delayed by making lha dreamer every Lime the rapid Aye movements begin Rem returns Moio insistently in succeeding sleep episodes. Animals have died in experiments in which Rem sleep was prevented Lor Long periods. Killin said he and others have eliminated Rem sleep Lor Long periods by using drugs of the class of Mono Amine oxidase inhibitors for Iro Almont of depression. He said some patients have evidently gone without Rem sleep for As Long As a year and a half. The dream phase rebounds when the drug is discontinued. The depression did nol reappear Wilh the renewed dreaming. In b Normal person each episode of Rem Steep is preceded by tour earlier stages of sleep spanning about 90 minutes in which brain activity and physical activity become progressively More subdued. Rem sleep itself is a Paradox in that the brain abruptly becomes much More Active while the Teal of the body except the eyes remains inert. In Many respects the electrical activity of tha dreaming brain is like thai of Tho waking brain. But the chemistry is entirely dil Terent. In Rem sleep the nerve cells that use acetylcholine Are Active while those that depend an other  like norepinephrine and serotonin Are quiet. Rem sleep is experienced by virtually All mammals. The human infant spends 16 hours e Day asleep and Hall of this time is Rem sleep. This stage of sleep actually begins in the fetus at the 23rd week of gestation. Does Iho fetus dream if so of what no one knows. What is the vital function of Rem sleep that has apparently preserved ii throughout mammalian evolution no one knows that either. Saturday january 16,1988 the stars and stripes Page 17