Word: hobson
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Hobson's and McCarley's "activation-synthesis" theory provoked a heated controversy in the American Journal of Psychiatry. "The editor of the journal told us our article generated more letters than any in the history of the journal," Hobson says. Much of the response was negative, Hobson says, in part because many people misinterpreted the theory...
...frontal brain indicating that it moved. But the movement is not always so simple as turning left. Because the eyes are not actually seeing, the messages they transmit are garbled and incomplete, and often call for impossible movement such as flying. The bizarre images in dreams, says Hobson, are simply the brain's attempt to make sense out of nonsense...
...Hobson rejects the Freudian notion that dreams are essential because they offer an outlet for suppressed emotions. Dreaming is simply the result of REM, Hobson says. "Babies for example, have much more REM than adults--this is not because infants have an abundance of suppressed emotions and hidden remorse; it is because they are learning very much very fast. Similarly, when REM falls off with old age, this does not mean old age, this does not mean old people have any less anxiety than any one else," he adds...
...Hobson has conducted extensive research on cats, which he says confirms the existence of the independent dream center in the mammalian brainstem. "REM occurs in cats when the entire brain except the brainstem has been destroyed," he says. The cat research has shown that REM causes the brain to create the dream and not vice-versa, Hobson says. "Obviously, we cannot tell if a cat is actually dreaming, but by inserting a microscopic electrode into a cat's brain, we can measure the electrical signal as it passes along a single nerve cell--the impulse in the eye fires before...
...Hobson says another reason for the criticism is that, "people would rather not have you rock the boat." Even though few psychiatrists still adhere to strict Freudian analysis, "it takes a lot of work to come out strongly against the established theories, and people who have practices are often reluctant to do so," he adds...