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Sigmund Freud, was a neurologist and a founder of psychoanalysis. Carl Jung was Freud's protege, and is credited for influencing modern dream studies. Freud and Jung both share similar theories of dreams, which states that dreams are the brain's way of living out unconscious desires that would be pushed back in conscious life. In the late 1970s, Robert McCarley of Harvard developed a new theory of dreams, stating that brain cells become tangled with one another and goes into a sensory overload, and a dream is simply what the brain makes of all the tangled messages

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An impawtant part of Westietude is that we love to chase things... if it runs, it shall be chased!

(You can read more about the west highland terrier temperament here.)

If you can't chase cats in real life, at least us doggies can always dream about it...

Does your dog dream? (Me - I often twitch and bark in my sleep. My humans think it's cute, which is annoying - for in my dreams I am fearsome!)

What do you think your dog dreams of?

Have fun expressing your Westietude, my furiend!

Wags 'n' nose licks,

To link to this post use: http://www.minniethewestie.com/westietude-dream-a-little-dream

Do you enjoy Minnie the Westie cartoons?

Treat yourself (or a loved one) to a book full of smiles!

Amazon.com Widgets

Go on, buy someone a smile today! 🙂

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Westietude: what do westies dream about? | westie cartoons

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An impawtant part of Westietude is that we love to chase things... if it runs, it shall be chased! (You can read more about the west highland terrier temperament here.) If you can't chase cats in real life, at least us doggies can always dream about it... Does your dog dream?

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All mammals have REM sleep including humans of all ages (even fetuses in the womb). One group that does not have REM sleep? Reptiles!! Psychologists believe during the transition of reptiles to mammals, REM sleep somehow evolved.

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The two types of sleep are deep and REM sleep. During deep sleep, the eyes do not move much, muscles are relaxed, and the brain waves are much less active. In REM, the eyes move rapidly (hence rapid eye movement acronym), brain waves are fast much like an awake and active brain, and muscles are on alert.

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Rapid eye movement sleep (REM) is a unique mammalian sleep phase during which the eyes move quickly in different directions. There's much more going on when you slumber during this phase than just retina gymnastics, though. The brain is more active than in the non-REM phase which is evidenced by intense dreaming that may occur. REM sleep is also known to consolidate learning and memories. It was never clear until recently, however, how this mechanism that transforms temporary memories into permanent looks like in the brain.

Now, a paper published in Nature Neuroscience may have made REM sleep a lot less mysterious. According to experiments carried out by New York University School of Medicine researchers, some neural structures which help form connections get pruned during REM while others are strengthened. In other words, the brain selects which of these structures are allowed to support stronger connections in a timely manner, ultimately causing long-lasting memories to form.

These neural structures in questions are called dendritic spines. They're small outgrowths found on a neuron's dendrite - the branched extension of the neuron where impulses received from other cells at synapses are transmitted to the cell body.

The spines aren't permanent structures. Instead, these will grow, shorten or entirely disappear in time as the importance of different connections changes. This shift in priorities is critical - otherwise, we would never be able to make sense of all the information we absorb on a daily basis. Previous research found up to 10 percent of all new synapses are formed daily but only a smaller number will be stably maintained over time.

To investigate the functions and underlying mechanisms of REM sleep, the researchers subjected lab mice to motor learning tasks then examined postsynaptic dendritic spines of neurons in the mouse primary motor cortex. Some of the mice were either allowed to enjoy a full night's rest or deprived of the REM phase.

Mice that had the chance to go through REM sleep cycles showed significantly higher pruning of new dendritic spines compared to the REM-deprived mice. This difference was observed only in the case of new dendritic spines. Previously existing spines were pruned or strengthened at the same rate, signaling that REM was a decisive factor.

The researchers also analyzed how dendritic pruning changes as the mouse ages. They found that neural pruning happens the most frequently during a mouse's juvenile stage. Pruning occurred during REM sleep later in life too, at adulthood, but less frequently. Without REM sleep, the size of spines that are retained doesn't grow.

These findings seem to agree with previous work on humans. REM sleep deprivation during development can have a detrimental effect on cognitive development which is why doctors will often tell teens sleep is very important. In adulthood, REM sleep deprivation can cause behavior changes and mood swings.

Calcium channels seem to play a role in the decision-making that leads to the pruning or strengthening of the dendritic spines. Observations suggest sudden changes in the amount of calcium seen during REM sleep can kick start the selection process. When calcium channels were blocked, no selection occurred.

"More study is needed to investigate whether REM sleep has similar or different roles in regulating synapse development and plasticity of other types of neurons in different cortical layers and brain regions, " the researchers wrote in their paper.

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During REM sleep, memory is consolidated by weeding out unwanted neural connections

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Rapid eye movement sleep (REM) is a unique mammalian sleep phase during which the eyes move quickly in different directions. There's much more going on when you slumber during this phase than just retina gymnastics, though. The brain is more active than in the non-REM phase which is evidenced by intense dreaming that may occur.