Dreaming is a fascinating and mysterious study field that has been invigorated by the advancement in brain science in the recent few decades. As the leading psychiatrist who thrives in developing the new dream theory on extensive base of brain science, Allan J. Hobson comes to public attention with his Activation-Synthesis hypothesis. He claims to take up what Sigmund Freud, historically the best known dream investigator, has left off in the brain side of dreaming and, further, to revise this far-reaching dream speculation of Freud’s into a more scientifically valid way. However, as the psychological approach to dreams has been preoccupied with Freud’s dream theory in such an extent that the marching on neurophysiological hypothesis has inevitably brought up an uncomfortable disturbance among psychoanalysts. Dating back to twentieth century, Freud reached to the field of mental functioning based on his clinical observations of dream cases. As his censorship-disguise notion becomes outmoded along with the advancement in brain science, the contemporary Freudian psychologist, Mark Solms comes to the rescue. He tries to validate the theoretical inference that Freud has sketched with the newly released experimental data, drawing mainly from brain imaging and lesion study. In spite of the ongoing attempt to bring psychoanalysis back to its prominent role in dream study, Hobson stresses the fact that no amount of tinkering is going to improve the erroneous Freudian psychoanalysis.
Formative Approach in Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis
Intended to build up a universally applicable dream theory, Hobson has made a radical change in emphasis, from content analysis to formal analysis. This paradigm shift of focus has substantially differentiated Hobson’s theory from the previous psychoanalytic approach to dreams. It substitutes the need for interpretation of every single