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EDULEARN24
EDULEARN25 Proceedings
17th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies
Palma, Spain. 6/30~7/2, 2025.
NESEP Conference/Competition ISBN: 979-8-89480-847-5
ISBN 2: 979-8-89480-848-2
Annual Conference
Publisher: NESEP

Dreaming Through the Lens of the Mind: A Neuropsychological Inquiry into Trauma, Culture, and Emotional Symbolism
by Ahyun Chang

October 23, 2025

 

Abstract :

Dreams create a special combination of emotional responses and memory storage and cognitive functions which enables researchers to study the subconscious mind through these dreams. The research investigates the author's dream story(attached in Appendix) about a drowning aunt and silent infants comparing other similar cases via article reviews to study how brain functions interact with psychological symbols and cultural elements during dream creation. The research demonstrates that dreams function as structured emotional narratives which help people manage their emotions and work through their hidden psychological battles. The brain activity during REM sleep specifically in the amygdala and hippocampus produces the dream content which includes strong emotional responses and memories. The dream contains symbolic elements which according to psychodynamic analysis represent hidden feelings of guilt and family duties and powerlessness. The research investigates how Korean cultural norms about family duties and gender roles affect the dream content to create a symbolic challenge against social expectations. The research combines multiple perspectives to demonstrate that dreams function as essential therapeutic processes which reveal ancestral trauma while enabling subconscious self-exploration of personal identity and strength. The research demonstrates that dream analysis requires a unified method to understand human mental processes.

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