Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud believed that dreams allow people to express unconscious desires that are unacceptable in real life. (Fosse 2003) He makes a distinction between the manifest and latent content of dreams.
The activation-synthesis theory
Another theory, called the activation-synthesis theory proposes that neurons in the brain activated randomly during REM sleep (Hobson 2000). Dreams occur when the cortex of the brain tries to make sense of these random nerve impulses. According to the activation-synthesis theory, dreams are basically the brain sparks.
Dream interpretation
Interpretation of Dreams of a life transformation
Julie had been divorced a year when he had this dream. She had adapted to their new circumstances and was doing well socially and economically (Fosse 2003). Then he had the following dream.
I was driving a convertible on a high mountain road; down I saw a beautiful town with a marina and plenty of nice boats. I felt coming from there. Then I realized that I was a stranger in the car but do not bother me (Hobson 2000). It seemed that he knew where we were going. When I looked down the road, I really did not know where it went. I had never been down this road before. Still, I felt very good as I was vacation or something.
Julie recalled the dream of writing on paper, she felt it was an indicator necessary to take a vacation and left it. Six months later the dream was the second time, with some changes. "I was in the same way again, except more in the mountains, I could not see the small town any longer, and I could not see where it went, was all mountain road, the stranger it was still with me, and I felt I was going somewhere that I like and looks forward to it. "End of dream. She recognized the similarity to the previous dream, and then dutifully recorded it (Fosse 2003). Now the third and last time is repeated sleep. (About a year later)
"I was at the end of the mountain road, the stranger was with me, clean the houses were there, and a lady took me to one of them. When I realized that I belonged to me a wonderful feeling of security and integrity over me. Although he had no furniture, I knew that would take care of that soon. When I looked out I saw the ...