Dreaming and waking: Phenomenological and biological differences

Abstract

Varying research perspectives of the conceptual distinction between physiology and subjective experience, and the outside vs. inside perspective on dreaming will be discussed. Whereas the AIM model is helpful in describing the neurobiological differences between states of consciousness, research is needed to test whether specific features of the subjective experience like bizarreness or awareness of the current state of consciousness is related to distinct brain activation patterns. On a phenomenological level, lucid dreaming has more parallels to dreaming and meditation than to the normal waking state. Regarding the conceptualization of dreaming, it seems necessary to conduct sophisticated content analytic studies of normal and lucid dreams to determine what kind of higher-ordered consciousness processes occur regularly within dreams.