Preprint Review Version 2 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

How Adversarial Rem-Dreams May Facilitate Creativity, and Why We Become Aware of Them

Version 1 : Received: 11 March 2024 / Approved: 12 March 2024 / Online: 12 March 2024 (10:20:11 CET)
Version 2 : Received: 9 May 2024 / Approved: 10 May 2024 / Online: 10 May 2024 (13:24:11 CEST)

How to cite: Deperrois, N.; Petrovici, M. A.; Jordan, J.; Huber, L. S.; Senn, W. How Adversarial Rem-Dreams May Facilitate Creativity, and Why We Become Aware of Them. Preprints 2024, 2024030684. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202403.0684.v2 Deperrois, N.; Petrovici, M. A.; Jordan, J.; Huber, L. S.; Senn, W. How Adversarial Rem-Dreams May Facilitate Creativity, and Why We Become Aware of Them. Preprints 2024, 2024030684. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202403.0684.v2

Abstract

The importance of sleep for healthy brain function is widely acknowledged. However, it remains unclear how the internal generation of dreams might facilitate cognitive processes. In this perspective we review a computational approach inspired by artificial intelligence that proposes a framework for how dreams occurring during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep can contribute to learning and creativity. In this framework, REM dreams are characterized by an adversarial process that, against the dream reality, tell a discriminator network to classify the internally created sensory activity as real. Such an adversarial dreaming process is shown to facilitate the emergence of real-world semantic representations in higher cortical areas. We further discuss the potential contributions of adversarial dreaming beyond learning, such as balancing fantastic and realistic dream elements, and facilitating the occurrence of creative insights. We characterize non-REM (NREM) dreams, where a single hippocampal memory is replayed at a time, as serving a complementary role of improving the robustness of cortical representations to environmental perturbations. We finally explain how subjects can become aware of the adversarial REM dreams, but less of the NREM dreams, and how the awareness phenomenon of wake, dream and lucid dreaming may appear.

Keywords

rapid-eye-movement; sleep; learning

Subject

Medicine and Pharmacology, Neuroscience and Neurology

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0


×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.