Specific evolutionary processes enabled humans to experience dreaming for threat simulation.
Multiple studies and evolutionary frameworks support the hypothesis that dreaming evolved as a specialized mechanism for simulating threats to enhance survival and preparation.
The retrieved literature, notably foundational work like Revonsuo (2000) alongside newer studies (2023, 2024), consistently discusses and provides empirical backing for the threat-simulation theory of dreaming as an evolutionary mechanism. There are no refuting papers in the provided set.
Antti Revonsuo. The reinterpretation of dreams: An evolutionary hypothesis of the function of dreaming. 2000. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x00004015
Proposes the evolutionary threat-simulation hypothesis, arguing that dream-production mechanisms are specialized to simulate threatening events for ancestral survival advantage.
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Noor H. Abbas, David R. Samson. Dreaming during the COVID-19 pandemic: Support for the threat simulation function of dreams. 2023. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1124772
Provides empirical support for the threat simulation function of dreams by demonstrating that dreams feature higher negative and threat-related content relative to waking life.
Desjardins E, Gaber L, Larkin E, Benoit A, Boafo A, De Koninck J. The Dream Experience and Its Relationship with Morning Mood in Adolescents Hospitalized after a Suicide Attempt.. 2024. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14080804
Applies the threat simulation theory of dream formation to clinical populations, noting consistent alignment between waking threat exposures and dream content.
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