Social Cognition in Dreams

Social Cognition in Dreams
While the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex appears to be inhibited during REM, there is not a uniform deactivation of the frontal regions in the brain during states of dreaming. For example, there is a consistent increase in activity of the anterior cingulate in REM sleep (Braun et al., 1997). The anterior cingulate is a medial frontal region implicated in such functions as decision-making, conflict resolution, social cognition, and social judgment tasks which probe a subject’s theory of mind (TOM) and requires subjects to take into account the intentions and mental states of others (Devinsky, Morrell, Vogt, 1995). In fact, recent studies link activation of the anterior cingulate with capacities of a TOM module (Vogeley et al., 2001). These data suggest that aspects of cognition centering on the processing of social information are strongly activated during REM sleep.
This is particularly interesting since it is thought that our complex social interactions and the information processed in the social domain played an integral role in the development of primate’s mental capacities (Whiten and Byrne, 1988). If these pathways are active during REM sleep and this type of information is being rehearsed, then it should function to effectively strengthen the effects that processing of social information has on mental development. Further supporting this role is the tendency for a large proportion of dreams to contain other people and represent various social situations (Kahn et al., 2002).
Another example of a skill that has arguably played a pivotal role in other functional aspects of the human intellect and could serve to be shaped by dreaming is that of interpretation. As discussed by Bogdan (1997, p.108), “…key advances in interpretation, such as the recognition of belief, were accelerated by increased opportunities to interact with or manipulate subjects and slowed down by a lack of such opportunities.” As such, via teasing, play, mental rehearsal/imagery, or dreaming, the individual is given the opportunity to utilize successful strategies in dealing with these situations and further develop interpretive skills. In fact, studies of children’s dream-reports indicate that their dreams more often contain family members and close friends than adults’ dreams (Hobson, 1988), possibly due to the fact that it is more important for younger children to be practicing close interpersonal skills than it is for adults.
It, however, could be argued that the rehearsal of social situations would not play a significant role in increasing one’s fitness. In order to address this claim, it is necessary to comment on the potential benefits of being socially sophisticated. First, in terms of pure survival value, those individuals who best interact with those around them, i.e., those who interact without interpersonal conflict and confrontation, will likely have better access to resources in their social group, be it mates or food (Foley, 1989). There is wide variation between cultures in the types of traits that render an individual fit, and what makes humans a successful species is that our ability to deal with the social environment that we are thrust into is not completely pre-wired (Sapir, 1921; Whorf, 1956). Those individuals that could use feedback from the environment to effectively modify their social interactions would be best off, as individual groups often have particular social nuances. Also, clearly in our own species, the traits we have which help us deal with social situations vary greatly and under certain circumstances can be beneficial, while at other times potentially put us at risk. Due to the variable fitness of particular behaviors at particular times, we need to be adept at interpreting cultural standards when interacting with others. For example, one cultures “alpha male” could potentially be ostracized in another culture. This newly ostracized individual would be less likely to obtain mates, and would be less competitive for the resources that would influence his survival. Therefore, something that could tip the scale in allowing someone to best deal with important social interactions would likely be selected for over time.
Flanagan (2000) raises the potential criticism that dreams do not give us an accurate representation of ourselves and conspecifics, positing that there is no advantage conferred in dreams by rehearsing various social interactions. He claims that the development of a TOM module based on dreamed social interactions would be flawed, and that accurate depictions of others and ourselves is the exception rather than the rule while dreaming. While we do not disagree that in dreams ourselves and others often act in a surprising and atypical manner, overall our representation of those we know is quite impressive and accurate. From their visual appearance, to the tone of voice, to the style of speaking, by virtue of the fact that we recognize and interact with those we know in the dream-world, we have an amazing ability to unconsciously recreate dream characters from those people with which we typically interact (above and beyond any verbal description that we could give of that person). While we surely cannot say a dream character’s behavior is how that person would act in ‘real life,’ we also know that there is no way to accurately predict how that person will behave when encountering a new situation in real life. In waking life, the best that we can do is interpret overt cues and then attempt to understand a person’s intentions and predict their actions, for which dreams offer such a venue.