Gazette Version (link)
Dreaming linked to brain development
BILL: I would re-phrase as" FRACTAL DREAMING LINKED TO BRAIN DEVELOPMENT"
Hidden patterns of dreamlike activity in the brains of fetal sheep and newborn rats may mimic the process of brain development in humans, according to a Harvard scientist.
BILL: I would re-phrase as" HIDDEN FRACTAL PATTERNS OF DREAMLIKE ACTIVITY IN THE BRAINS OF FETAL SHEEP AND NEWBORN RATS MAY HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS OF BRAIN DEVELOPMENT IN HUMANS"
"Eye movements and a loss of muscle tone that characterize dreaming are thought of as random activity, but careful analysis shows they contain definite structure," says Carl Anderson, a research fellow at Harvard -- affiliated McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass.(top)
"What we are seeing, I believe, is the integration of various levels of the brain as it organizes into a feeling, learning, thinking organ."
In adult animals, including humans, the same dreamlike activity may be necessary to maintain that development by incorporating information from awake experiences into memory.
BILL: re-phrase as "IN ADULT ANIMALS, INCLUDING HUMANS, SIMILAR PATTERNS MAY BE NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN DEVELOPMENTAL FLEXIBILITY BY INCORPORATING INFORMATION FROM AWAKE EXPERIENCES INTO MEMORY."
From the womb to old-age, humans and other animals go through periods of sleep in which their eyes constantly dart back and forth under their lids, and their brains are as active as when awake.
Such rapid eye movements (REM) are frequently associative with dreaming, although dreams can occur at other times during sleep.(top)
It is generally believed that these patterns of eye movements are the result of random chemical changes taking place in the brain.
BILL: I would change "random chemical changes taking place in the brain" to RANDOM NEURAL FIRING.
Anderson challenges the notion that such activity is random.
He obtained records of REM sleep from sheep still in the womb and from newborn rats, then analyze them for so-called fractal patterns.
Such patterns repeat themselves in different time intervals, a pattern that takes place in hundredths of a second also appears on scales of seconds and minutes.
BILL: re-phrase as "SUCH PATTERNS REPEAT THEMSELVES IN A STATISTICALLY SIMILAR WAY IN DIFFERENT TIME INTERVALS, PATTERNS THAT TAKE PLACE IN HUNDREDTHS OF A SECOND ALSO APPEAR SIMILAR TO PATTERNS ON SCALES OF SECONDS AND MINUTES".
In other words, fractals present a nested structure like hollow Russian dolls of various sizes sitting one inside the others.
BILL: re-phrase as " IN OTHER WORDS, STATISTICAL FRACTAL PATTERNS PRESENT A NESTED STRUCTURE LIKE STRETCHED AND DISTORTED RUSSIAN DOLLS OF VARIOUS SIZES SITTING ONE INSIDE THE OTHERS."
(I have found that it is usually better to compare statistical fractal patterns with natural objects such as broccoli or cauliflower. Here's a section from McLean's press release to illustrate this idea:
Plants such as ferns or broccoli are examples of fractal objects. If you hold a stalk of broccoli or a fern leaf and break off a small piece or leaflet and bring it closer to your eye, it looks like a miniature stalk of broccoli or fern leaf.
The fractal patterns of fetal REM sleep observed by Anderson and his colleagues were nested inside one another over time, like the layers of an onion. Short clusters of REM sleep, like the small piece of broccoli or fern, were found to be statistically similar to longer clusters of fetal REM sleep over hours or days. )
" A hidden pattern emerges if you look at brain activity long enough," Anderson declares.
BILL: re-phrase as " THESE PATTERNS REMAIN HIDDEN UNLESS YOU LOOK AT LONG RECORDINGS OF BRAIN ACTIVITY, "ANDERSON DECLARES.
He examined REM sleep and fetal sheep, recorded 24 hours for 13 days.
In the womb, humans in other mammals spend 50 to 70 percent of their days in this state, and experimenters wanted to compare this brain activity with that of adults.
To do that, the head of the fetus is "exteriorized" from the womb and recordings made of its brain ways and muscle tone in the neck area.
BILL: re-phrase as " TO DO THAT SHEEP FETUSES WERE BRIEFLY SUBJECTED TO A SURGICAL PROCEDURE TO ALLOW RECORDINGS OF EEG AND MUSCLE TONE DURING DEVELOPMENT IN THE WOMB" (I don't think this is a good description of the surgery on the sheep fetuses.)
Anderson did not do these experiments, he quickly explains.
He merely analyzed the records that resulted from them.
The best records came from loss of also muscle tone in the neck, something that happens to humans when they nod off in an airplane or commuter train.(top)
Nuchal atonia, as it's called " is directly related to REM activity; both originate in the brainstem," Anderson reported in a scientific journal brain research recently. (This is in March 23rd issue ).
"Recurrent fractal bursts associative with REM and atonia may be evidence of new connections forming between brain cells, which is part of the process of integrating various regions of the brain during its development," Anderson says.
BILL: re-phrase as " RECURRENT FRACTAL BURSTS ASSOCIATIVE WITH REM AND ATONIA MAY BE INDICATIVE OF GENERAL NEURAL ACTIVITY PATTERNS INTEGRATING VARIOUS REGIONS OF THE BRAIN DURING ITS DEVELOPMENT," ANDERSON SAYS.
And in moving in than than in than
Adults don't spend half their days in REM sleep, but the process continues in order to maintain the brain's plasticity or flexibility, Anderson speculates.
If this is true, dreams are simply a by-product of chemical and electric activity that consolidates experiences during wakefulness into memory.
BILL: re-phrase as " IF THIS IS TRUE, DREAMS THAT OCCUR DURING REM SLEEP MAY NOT SIMPLY BE THE BYPRODUCT OF RANDOM CHEMICAL AND ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY, BUT PART OF AN ONGOING DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS THAT CONSOLIDATES NEW EXPERIENCES DURING WAKEFULNESS INTO MEMORY.
Such activity simulates the visual and emotional parts of the brain, creating feelings, usually anxiety, and scenes that shift in ways that make no sense.
BILL: re-phrase as " RECENT IMAGING WORK HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT REGIONS OF THE FRONTAL CORTEX USED IN PLANNING OR ORGANIZING MOVEMENT IN TIME ARE IN ACTIVE DURING REM SLEEP. SO WHEN ACTIVITY STIMULATES THE VISUAL AND EMOTIONAL PARTS OF THE BRAIN, CREATING FEELINGS, SOMETIMES ANXIETY, AND SCENES THAT SHIFT IN WAYS THAT MAKE NO SENSE, THE PLANNING REGIONS OF THE BRAIN ARE NOT FUNCTIONING.
No one knows if the human fetus has dreams, but in any case dreams may be void of direct psychological meaning.
"Dreams do not contain messages from the unconscious mind, or provide an outlet for repressed feelings," insists J. Alan Hobson, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Psychology comes into the picture when people feel compelled to put their own interpretations on what they see and feel in dreams.
Is those interpretations that tell us something about ourselves, but the actual biological changes in the brain.
The Need to Dream(top)
Recordings of brain wave activity in sleeping rats provide evidence that they incorporate some of what they've learned about running mazes during the day.
Whether such consolidation is the sole purpose of dreams is unknown, but it is known that REM sleep is necessary for survival. When deprived of it, rats die in about 20 days.
Cats, dogs and humans deprived of REM sleep exhibit memory in learning problems. A well-known method of torturing prisoners, REM deprivation can make a person more susceptible to suggestion and thus more likely to confess to something they may not have done.
Autistic children show disturbed fractal patterns in their REM sleep.
BILL: re-phrase as " AUTISTIC CHILDREN SHOW DISTURBED EYE MOVEMENT PATTERNS DURING THEIR REM SLEEP.
The brain cell activity of those 2-5 years old have REM activity similar to normal kids less than 18 months old.
BILL: re-phrase as " THE EYE MOVEMENT PATTERNS OF 2-5 YEAR OLD AUTISTIC KIDS ARE SIMILAR TO NORMAL KIDS LESS THAN 18 MONTHS OLD"
Anderson interprets this as an indication of abnormal brain development.
It may be possible, he says, to use fractal analysis of REM patterns as a way to detect autism.
Another question to be answered is whether or not abnormal REM fractals disappear when the children become more responsive.
BILL: re-phrase as " ANOTHER QUESTION TO BE ANSWERED IS WHETHER OR NOT ABNORMAL BY MOVEMENT PATTERNS CHANGE WHEN THE CHILDREN BECOME MORE RESPONSIVE."
The number of researchers have begun to look at fractal patterns in the brains of those with other psychiatric problems in hope of findings new ways to diagnose or treat those disorders.
BILL: re-phrase as " A NUMBER OF RESEARCHERS HAVE BEGUN TO LOOK AT FRACTAL PATTERNS IN THE BEHAVIOR OF THOSE WITH OTHER PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS AND HOPE OF FINDING NEW WAYS TO DIAGNOSE AND TREAT THOSE DISORDERS."
Anderson works with Martin Teicher, associate professor of psychiatry at McLean Hospital, on recording brain waves, as well as arm, leg, and head movements of kids with attentional-hyperactivity disorder while they play computer games.
BILL: re-phrase as " ANDERSON WORKS WITH MARTIN TEICHER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY AT MCLEAN HOSPITAL WHO HAS DEVELOPED FRACTAL METHODS TO ANALYZE THE ARM, LEG, AND HEAD MOVEMENTS OF KIDS WITH ATTENTIONAL-HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER WHILE THEY PLAY COMPUTER GAMES."
The goal is to detect patterns of movement and brain activity which can be used to diagnose the condition sooner and more accurately.
BILL: re-phrase as " THE GOAL IS TO DETECT PATTERNS OF MOVEMENT AND CORRELATE THIS WITH FMRI MEASURES OF BRAIN ACTIVITY WHICH CAN BE USED TO DIAGNOSE THE CONDITION SOONER AND MORE ACCURATELY"
Anderson himself is seeking funding to look at brain activity during meditation and spontaneous fluctuations in thought (mind-wandering) occur. He wants to learn why consciousness cannot hold itself still into and to answer the question: what does meditation do?
BILL: THIS IS AN INTERESTING SECTION AND VERY WELL-WRITTEN. HOWEVER, IT MIGHT BE NICE TO MENTION THAT I AM TRYING TO GET FUNDING WITH MY COLLEAGUE DR. STEVEN LOWEN AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY TO STUDY IN MORE DETAIL THE FRACTAL STRUCTURE OF FETAL BEHAVIOR AND CREATE COMPUTER SIMULATIONS THAT WILL HELP US UNDERSTAND IN MORE DETAIL HOW THESE FRACTAL PATTERNS EMERGE DURING FETAL LIFE AND WHAT IF ANY ROLE THEY MAY HAVE IN LATER LIFE AND IN THE EMERGENCE OF ADULT SLEEP PATTERNS.
Evidence of abnormal development shows up in brain images of young rats deprived of contact with her mothers.(top)
BILL: re-phrase as " EVIDENCE OF ABNORMAL DEVELOPMENT SHOWS UP IN REM ACTIVITY FROM YOUNG RATS DEPRIVED OF CONTACT WITH THEIR MOTHERS."
Anderson wants to do fractal analysis of these animals and compare their brain activity with those of children who have suffered sexual or verbal abuse.
BILL: re-phrase as " ANDERSON WANTS TO USE THE SAME METHODS TO STUDY THE BRAIN ACTIVITY AND BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE SUFFERED SEXUAL OR VERBAL ABUSE."
Patterns revealed in such research, he thinks, might be used to determine if children have been victims of such abuse.
Over and above such practical uses, Anderson sees fractal probing as "a new way to study how biological systems organize themselves. Activity at the cellular level may organize activity at higher levels, right up to the cortex, which controls behavior. In other words, this could be generalized principal for how all biological systems developed their complex structure. Fractal analysis has the potential to see through the 'noise', or apparent randomness, in which this structure and organization are embedded."
BILL: re-phrase as "OVER AND ABOVE SUCH PRACTICAL USES, ANDERSON SEES FRACTAL METHODS AS PROVIDING "A NEW WAY TO STUDY HOW BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS ORGANIZE THEMSELVES. ACTIVITY AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL SOMEHOW VERTICALLY ORGANIZES INTO ACTIVITY AT HIGHER LEVELS, RIGHT UP TO CORTICAL LEVELS, WHICH INTERN HELP ORGANIZE OUR MOMENT TO MOMENT BEHAVIOR. UNDERSTANDING HOW SPONTANEOUS PATTERNS INTEGRATE ACROSS LEVELS COULD PROVIDE GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR HOW BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS DEVELOP THEIR COMPLEX STRUCTURE. FRACTAL ANALYSIS IS A NEW TOOL WITH THE POTENTIAL TO TRANSFORM OUR CONCEPTS OF BIOLOGICAL NOISE OR APPARENT RANDOMNESS AND HELP US UNDERSTAND THE THE ORIGINS OF MINDS AND DREAMS.