Dreaming as a model system for consciousness research
Advances in Consciousness Research October 28, 2010 DOI: 10.1075/aicr.79.20rev
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractDreaming is a pure form of phenomenality—conscious experience—and the dreaming brain can serve as a model system for studying consciousness. The dreaming brain preserves all essential features of consciousness, making it a challenging but necessary object for any theory aiming to explain consciousness. The argument is grounded in biological realism, the assumption that consciousness is a real natural biological phenomenon in the brain.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key finding | The dreaming brain is a model system for consciousness that preserves all essential features of phenomenality and cannot be ignored by any theory of consciousness. |
Abstract
Based on biological realism, that is, the philosophical assumption that consciousness is a real natural biological phenomenon in the brain, we argue that dreaming is a pure form of phenomenality, and suggest that the dreaming brain could be used as a model system for consciousness. The dreaming brain offers the most challenging model system that represents all the theoretically and philosophically interesting features of consciousness. Although difficult to study experimentally, the dreaming brain is the model system that fully preserves all the essential features of consciousness, and cannot be ignored by any theory that aims to explain consciousness.