Mesolimbic dopamine and the neuropsychology of dreaming: Some caution and reconsiderations
Fabrizio Doricchi a1andCristiano Violani a2 a1 Centro Ricerche Neuropsicologia, Fondazione IRCCS S. Lucia, 1–00179 Rome, Italy; Istituto di Psicologia “L. Meschieri,” Università; degli Studi di Urbino, Urbino I-61029 Italy
Fdoricchi@uniromal.it a2 Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università “La Sapienza,” Rome I-00185, Italy
violani@uniromal.it
Abstract
New findings point to a role for mesolimbic DA circuits in the generation of dreaming. We disagree with Solms about these structures having an exclusive role in generating dreams. We review data suggesting that dreaming can be interrupted at different levels of processing and that anterior-subcortical lesions associated with dream cessation are unlikely to produce selective hypodopaminergic dynamic impairments.
