Abstract Index
Conference Index

ASD 2000 Conference 17 Abstracts

Millennial Dreaming: Washington, D.C.

The exceptionally high levels of REM sleep in the fetus and neonate indicate that this sleep state is in fact a genetic programming mechanism for the brain.  Essentially the neurons of the brain are being programmed for the specific functions that they will perform throughout life.  Evidence is presented that the levels of REM sleep gradually decline throughout life, and it is hypothesized that this represents a withdrawal of genetic programming from the neurons of the brain which is responsible for neuron death and the ultimate decay of the brain.  Findings about the cause of neuron death are canvassed and comparisons are presented that indicate that the gradual withdrawal of REM sleep from the brain could well be the cause of this phenomenon.  In early life the levels of REM sleep are high and the brain is growing while in later life the level of REM sleep are low and the brain is dying.  This has obvious implications not only for neuron death but for the whole question of aging.  A brief overview of physical aging is presented that indicates that the physical decay of the body as well as mental decay can be attributed to the reduction of both REM and NREM sleep.  The cycles of REM sleep and NREM sleep which occur nightly in a healthy adult are noted, along with findings that REM sleep seems to have significant ramifications for a subject’s mental health and memory capacities.  Particularly a person deprived of REM sleep for long periods becomes forgetful and disorientated.  It is suggested that during REM (dreaming) sleep the brain’s operating system is performing functions not dissimilar to  “scandisk” and “defragmenting” operations that are performed by a Graphical User Interface (GUI) operating system, such as Microsoft’s Windows.  An overview of genetic processes is presented along with a wealth of evidence that REM sleep is connected with genetic events, particularly with the expression of the ‘immediate early’ gene c-fos.   The genetic community has played down the significance of this connection between c-fos and REM sleep because it has been found that other artificial processes such as drug induced seizure likewise trigger the expression of c-fos.  Findings that REM sleep is biologically similar to delirium as well as the cerebral affliction Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) that triggers bouts of seizure are related to this genetic research that c-fos is likewise expressed during REM sleep and as a result of administering seizure inducing drugs.  It is suggested that seizure inducing drugs and TLE mimic certain aspects of the REM sleep state which causes expression of c-fos. This gene has a number of characteristics which suggest that it may trigger genetic programming functions in the brain.  Only REM sleep can be responsible for c-fos expression in healthy subjects which indicates that it performs functions that have significance at the genetic level on a daily basis.  This means that REM sleep may perform a genetic programming role.  An REM sleep algorithm is advanced which explains dream content in terms of essentially genetic procedures contained in Read Only Memory (ROM) in the genetic code selecting random objects from Short-term Memory and Long-term Memory in order to program the neurons of the brain for specific functions during waking consciousness.  The nature of ROM and RAM (Random Access Memory) is discussed.

BRADLEY YORK BARTHOLOMEW, Qls, Australia

The author is a freelance writer and computer programmer.  In the 1980s he wrote several articles on Hindu philosophy that were published in various philosophical journals in India.  In 1998 he put up a web site entitled “Dreams and the Genetic Code” (www.users.bigpond.net.au/dreams-genes) which was adopted as a poster presentation at the 1999 ASD Conference in Santa Cruz. 

Contact information: 

Bradley York Bartholomew