The DOI matches its Crossref record; 28 of the 29 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The function of dream sleep
Abstract
We propose that the function of dream sleep (more properly rapid-eye movement or REM sleep) is to remove certain undesirable modes of interaction in networks of cells in the cerebral cortex. We postulate that this is done in REM sleep by a reverse learning mechanism (see also p. 158), so that the trace in the brain of the unconscious dream is weakened, rather than strengthened, by the dream.
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“Notably, Francis Crick and Graeme Mitchinson proposed an alternative purpose for dreams in 1983, which they called “reverse learning.”82,83 In this hypothesis, the point of dreaming is somehow to remove “undesirable” connections and help the brain “unlearn.””
From The overfitted brain: Dreams evolved to assist generalization (2021) · cites this paper as [82]
In the citing paper
“Overall, these findings speak against the view posed by Crick and Mitchison (236).”
From About Sleep's Role in Memory (2013) · cites this paper as [236]
Citations
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Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 29 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 9
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Diekelmann, S., & Born, J. (2010) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2762 · Cited by 3,760
Thalamocortical oscillations in the sleeping and aroused brain
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Metadata
- Authors
- Crick, F., & Mitchison, G.
- Affiliations
- Salk Institute for Biological Studies (US)
- ORCID
- Mitchison, Graeme
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 1983-07
- Volume
- 304
- Issue
- 5922
- Pages
- 111-114
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2044707217
- Cited by
- 865
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 34 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 18.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Profiles in Science (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Keywords
- REM sleep, dream function, cerebral cortex, neural network interactions, reverse learning
- MeSH terms
- Cerebral Cortex, Dreams, Humans, Models, Psychological, Neurons, Sleep, REM, Synapses
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