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Function of Dream Sleep: Crick & Graemi M Itchison
Function of Dream Sleep: Crick & Graemi M Itchison
from neural modelling. This appr6ach has- necessary: :a fairly constant internal caused by a defect in the reverse learning
its limitations, sin&it is difficult .to pro- temperature, so that its function is not process should not be overlooked.
duce realistic models and even more disturbed by temperature fluctuations, and In this model, attempting to remember
difficult to simulate them effectively, in addition a cleaning-up mechanism, to ones dreams should perhaps not be en-
especially if the. hypothetical neural nets remove potentially parasitic modes. In couraged, because such remembering may
approach a realistic size, when the com- short, without REM dreams evolution help to retain patterns of thought which are
putational time becomes prohibitively could not have produced the highly refined better forgotten. These are the very pat-
long. However, such theoretical studies neocortex we have today. terns the organism was attempting to damp
should at least reveal some of the types of If the reverse learning mechanism we down.
networks which would benefit from our have postulated exists, one might wonder Finally we should remark that even if it
proposed mechanism. They might also what effects its failure might have. A com- turns out that our ideas are wrong and that
help to give more life to our otherwise plete failure might lead to such grave nature does not employ the reverse learning
rather vague characterization of the cor- disturbances - a state of almost perpetual mechanism we have postulated, the process
tical system. obsession or spurious, hallucinatory may well be useful for artificial intelligence
Another approach would be to under- associations - that it would probably be machines of the future, especially those
take comparative studies. There is one severely selected against. A partial failure having extensive parallel processing, a
mammal which, although possessinga well should produce unwanted responses to learning mechanism and a certain amount
developed neocortex, appears not to random noise, perhaps as hallucinations, of randomness in their construction.
show any signs of REM sleep (at least in delusions, and obsessions, and produce a W e thank our resident and visiting co]-
young adults), even though it exhibits nor- state not unlike some schizophrenias. leagues at The Salk Institute for many
mal non-REM sleetis. This is the Echidna It has been postulated before that there useful discussions. W e are especially
Tachyglossusaculeatus (the spiny anteater) might be a relation between REM sleep Andy grateful to Drs Allan Hobson and Jim
found in Australia. The Echidnas and the schizophrenia, but studies have shown that Horne who made detailed comments on
duck-billed platypus are primitive egg- there is little oi no connection between the our draft manuscript, and to Dr John Hop-
laying mammals (monotremes). outward signs of REM sleep and field for communicating his work to us
Griffiths has written that . . . the schizophrenia3. However, a partial failure before publication and for helpful discus-
gyrencephalic cerebrums of the of the reverse learning mechanism would sions. This work has been supported by the
Tachyglossidae have been and are a source not necessarily alter the amount of REM J. W . Kiechkhefer Foundation, Samuel
of wonder to neurobiologists. He quotes sleep, since the control mechanisms for the Roberts Noble Foundation, US Air Force
Elliott SmithM who in ;1902 wrote The occurrence of REM sleep might be Grant number AFOSR-82-0042 and the
most,obtrusive feature of this brain is the somewhat distinct from the reverse learn- System Development Foundation. 0
relatively enormous development of the ing process itself. Thus the possibility that
cerebral hemispheres . . . The meaning of some forms of schizophrenia might be Received 8 October 1982; accepted I2 May 1983.
this large neopallium is quite incomprehen-
sible . . .. Griffiths adds: Determinants
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