Dream and Neurosciences

The author guides us on a journey into the field of dream neuroscience, showing how the concepts have evolved over time and their link to psychoanalytic theory. Dreaming became a subject of scientific study in the 1960s, with Michel Jouvet’s discovery of paradoxical sleep. For some time, the hypnic mental activity of dreaming seemed to take place only during this stage of sleep. As time went on, various neurobiological models, presented by Elizabeth Hennevin, were elaborated. Scientists Allan Hobson and Mark Solms were able to prove that dreams occur at every stage of sleep. According to another theory conceived by Jean-Pol Tassin, dreams are more connected to waking than to sleep. However, Fabian Guénolé and Alain Nicolas recently presented a number of reports refuting Tassin’s theory. Psychoanalysts André Green, Bianca Lechevalier, and Bernard Golse also contribute their viewpoints. Along with many neuroscientists, the analysts believe that dialogue between the neurosciences and psychoanalysis is finally possible and desirable, to move from ideological conflict to epistemological debate.