Dreams and the daydream retrieval hypothesis.

Abstract

Dreams and the daydream retrieval hypothesis Background Dreams and daydreams are as beguiling as they are intangible (Barrett, 2018). Both share many features, from neurobiology to the sensed experience. Nevertheless, the specific narrative relationship between both, if any, remains uncertain. Theories of dream origins are many: from the psychodynamic royal road, (Freud, 1913) to biological theories, including Hebbian based memory consolidation (Voss & Klimke, 2017), and a unified quantum brain theory that extends to waking and dreaming alike (Globus, 2017). Both the ephemeral nature of dreams* and an inability to simultaneously study their content and biology render them difficult to research from a conventional biomedical perspective. This leaves agreement on the fundamental properties of dreams as ambiguous, and even the state of consciousness enjoyed during sleep is contested (Freud, 2013). What is known is that the qualia and neurophysiological signature of dreams and daydreaming share many features (Domhoff, 2011). We propose further, from a subjective experientialist position, that dream content is specifically derived from daydreams or mindful wandering (subserved by the default mode network [DMN]). If substantiated, this concept offers a new insight into the origin of dreams. *White dreams, where dreams are experienced but not remembered, account for onethird of dream reports (Fazekas, 2018) Current state of knowledge of daydreamsDaydreaming is a state of stimulus independent mind-wandering that may almost unknowingly occupy much of waking life (Baird et al., 2011, Domhoff, 2011). Humans tend to daydream, or mind wander 30-50% of the time while awake (Domhoff, 2011). Daydreaming achieves deep processing during off-task thinking with the tangible benefits of creativity conferred, such as mental time travel (Finnbogadottir 2013). Stimulus independent and undirected mind wandering may still be associated with enabling imagination and creativity in the subject (