In article <lupawolf-1309000148550001 at lupa-0.dsl.speakeasy.net>,
lupawolf at deja.com (lupa) wrote:
> In article <8pn13t$f5g$1 at nnrp1.deja.com>, George Bajszar
<gyuri at usa.net> wrote:
>> > Every mammal must sleep. Sleep is not enough, dreams play a
> > big role. Without dreams, a person goes insane quickly, the
> > neural networks melt down to a random mess. Doesn't that
> > suggest that reorganization or garbage collection of
> > information in the brain is taking place?
> no, not at all. all it suggests is that there is something
> necessary that our brains do while we dream that we cannot do
> while we are awake *or* asleep.
>> my personal theory is that dreams are a way of safely
> addressing intense emotion (since intense emotion *also*
> affects memory, recall, and sanity). yours is that it
> processes and reorganizes memory. however, neither theories
> have enough basis in scientific fact to make the assertion.
>> ~risa
Emoitions comes down to "information". Let me explain:
What are emotions: The brain receives constant information. By some
information we feel emotionally affected. Hearing a good joke. Hearing
very bad news. Our consciousness decides what is important information
and what is not. When we receive important information, our brain
becomes more active to blend in the new information with the existing
ones. If we become active about a specific thought, we think
extensively about it. In the background, each thought blends the neural
connections of the new information with the existing "strong" network
of knowledge. The new important information will represent a brand new
neural net of its own forming its relationships with the existing ones.
When there is an overload of important data in our brain, we feel
stressed. Stress occurs when the brain becomes very active because a
lot of neurons are signalling: "Hey, I have new important data here! I
need processing time!". The thoughts jump back and forth responding to
the many recorded important events. When the consciouss brain receives
information that appear very important, hormones (chemicals) are
released that make the information in the brain to be recorded as
important. We feel those chemicals as the corresponding emotions
playing role. The neurons allocated for storing those informations will
keep on signalling until they have blended into the existing network
representing the knowledge base. Thought processing is combining new
information with existing ones. We recall the memories representing the
problem to solve, and think of known situations that can resolve that
problem. Understanding a problem later on and knowing how it can be
avoided the next time, releaves stress as understanding reflects a
completed blend of the neural nets regaring an issue. Neurons holding
important data will keep on signalling until they have blended in.
Returning to dreams, if people don't dream, regardless of stressful or
not stressful days, people will go insane. Memory would be corrupted.
So some sort of reorganization of data must occur during dreams,
remember that emotions refer to data.
George Bajszar
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