The Architecture of Sleep and the Function of Dreams Essay

The Architecture of Sleep and the Function of Dreams - Essay Example This stage is called stage 1 or NREM sleep. Sleep spindles appear in Stage 2, as EEG further reduces; and it keeps on decreasing while the amplitude of slow waves increases during stage 3. This mixed pattern causes high amplitude delta waves in the deepest sleep or Stage 4; which is also called SWS. Shifts in posture occur; followed by REM. ‘At an interval of 90 minutes, REM/NREM phases alternate; while the NREM stages dominate the first third of the night and REM stages dominates the last third’. (McNamara, 2004, p.p 1-2) We dream during the REM phases of sleep. The dreams of the REM phase have the dream-like quality of emotional drama, fantasy, excitement, and liveliness. The dreams during the NREM phases are more like conceptual thinking and the scenes are usually taken or adapted from our everyday lives. Moreover, the dream intervals at the onset of sleep are short; and they increase in each subsequent REM-NREM cycle after every 90 minutes. The last dream could be of 30-40 minute duration. Freud believed in his Interpretation of Dreams (1911) that the basic function of dreams was wish-fulfillment. ‘We now see what this function is.