Can a microdynamic approach to sleep-onset imagery solve the overabundance problem of dreaming? Commentary on Tore Nielsen’s “Microdream neurophenomenology”

Nielsen proposes that a microdynamic approach to experiences occurring in the earliest stages of sleep onset, which he calls microdreams, can shed light on the process of dream imagery formation. I discuss microdreams in the context of simulation views, in which dreaming is defined as the immersive experience of a virtual world centered on a virtual self. I also evaluate his proposal to expand the dimensions included in the oneiragogic spectrum by kinesis. I conclude that while a subset of microdreams might not fulfill the conditions to count as even minimal dreams, their investigation can nonetheless help address key questions in dream research and may even constitute a distinctive pathway to the generation of full-fledged dreaming.