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The reinterpretation of dreams: An evolutionary hypothesis of the function of dreaming
Abstract
Several theories claim that dreaming is a random by-product of REM sleep physiology and that it does not serve any natural function. Phenomenal dream content, however, is not as disorganized as such views imply. The form and content of dreams is not random but organized and selective: during dreaming, the brain constructs a complex model of the world in which certain types of elements, when compared to waking life, are underrepresented whereas others are over represented. Furthermore, dream content is consistently and powerfully modulated by certain types of waking experiences. On the basis of this evidence, I put forward the hypothesis that the biological function of dreaming is to simulate threatening events, and to rehearse threat perception and threat avoidance. To evaluate this hypothesis, we need to consider the original evolutionary context of dreaming and the possible traces it has left in the dream content of the present human population. In the ancestral environment human life was short and full of threats. Any behavioral advantage in dealing with highly dangerous events would have increased the probability of reproductive success. A dream-production mechanism that tends to select threatening waking events and simulate them over and over again in various combinations would have been valuable for the development and maintenance of threat-avoidance skills. Empirical evidence from normative dream content, children's dreams, recurrent dreams, nightmares, post traumatic dreams, and the dreams of hunter-gatherers indicates that our dream-production mechanisms are in fact specialized in the simulation of threatening events, and thus provides support to the threat simulation hypothesis of the function of dreaming.
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“Hence, dreams not only can contribute to the consolidation of memories with a great emotional load, but it can also represent a mechanism to simulate the real world as a sort of problem-solving based on emotional coping strategies, according to Revonsuo (2000) and Revonsuo et al. (2015).”
From The Functional Role of Dreaming in Emotional Processes (2019) · cites this paper as Revonsuo (2000)
In the citing paper
“Indeed many dreams contain simulations of threats ( 62 ).”
From Prodromal dreams (2025) · cites this paper as [62]
In the citing paper
“The threat simulation theory of dreams and the social simulation theory ( 62 , 63 ) posit that dreams are biased to simulate threatening and social situations.”
From Prodromal dreams (2025) · cites this paper as [62]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Revonsuo, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Turku (FI)
- Corresponding author
- Revonsuo, Antti
- ORCID
- Revonsuo, Antti
- Venue
- Behavioral and Brain Sciences
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2000-12
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 877-901
- ISSN
- 0140-525X (ISSN-L)
- 1469-1825
- OpenAlex
- W2110375253
- Cited by
- 676
- References
- 1,410
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 49 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 43 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 38 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 3.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behavioral and Brain Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Keywords
- evolutionary hypothesis, REM sleep, dream content, threat avoidance, threat perception, nightmares, children's dreams
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Arousal, Brain, Dreams, Biological Evolution, Fear, Humans, Learning, Problem Solving, Psychophysiology, Wakefulness
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