The Arms of Morpheus Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sigmund Freud

Freud was an Austrian neurologist who founded the movement of psychoanalysis. He believed that the purpose of dreams was to protect sleepers by transforming into fulfilled wishes anxieties that might otherwise keep them awake. In the context of psychoanalysis, he described dreams as "the royal road to the unconscious".

Mesmer was a German physician who postulated the theory of animal magnetism and developed a system of treatment based upon it. Maslow was an American 20th century psychologist best known for his hierarchy of needs. Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who created the school of analytical psychology based on the central concept of individuation and including notions such as the collective unconscious, and extraversion/introversion.

Answer: Oneirology

Oneirologists do not study the content of dreams but rather the physiology of dreaming, i.e. how and why we dream.

Oenology is the study of wine and wine-making. Dreamology is a word I made up. Morphology is the study of the form of things, especially in biology and linguistics.

Answer: Excessive teeth grinding

Bruxism can lead to such symptoms as tooth wear, hypersensitive teeth, jaw ache and headaches. The two main types of bruxism are sleep bruxism and awake bruxism.

The medical term for sleepwalking is somnambulism. Nightmares are unpleasant dreams that give rise to negative emotions like fear and terror. Dreams can occur in black and white or in colour.

Answer: REM sleep

It is during REM sleep that most dreams, especially vivid ones, take place. REM sleep is also associated with body movement and an alteration in brain waves as recorded by EEG.

Polyphasic sleep occurs when the subject sleeps several times during a 24-hour period. Siestas are thought to be associated with a decreased incidence of cardiovascular disease.

Answer: Hypnotics

Hypnotics are commonly referred to as sleeping pills. They are prescribed to help people fall asleep or stay asleep, but they can lead to dependence and daytime fatigue.

Narcotics are addictive drugs that are used for pain relief. I made up morphotics. Depressants are substances that have the opposite effect to stimulants.

Answer: Melatonin

Melatonin is secreted by the pineal gland in response to dim light and darkness. It induces sleep in diurnal mammals. It is available as a hypnotic medication taken to adjust the body's internal clock.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter with many functions including mood regulation. Prolactin is the hormone required for milk production. Insulin plays an important role in glucose metabolism.

Answer: Hypnosis

Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness in which the subject is highly responsive to suggestion. Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder of unknown cause in which the ability to regulate sleep/wake cycles is diminished. Somnambulism is sleepwalking. Hypersomnia is defined as excessive daytime sleepiness.

Answer: Hypnic jerk

A hypnic jerk is also known as a hypnagogic jerk, a sleep start, a night start or a sleep twitch. The other three answers are red herrings, although it is thought that this experience is a type of hallucination rather than a true dream.

Answer: Protozoan

Sleeping sickness is caused by the bite of a tsetse fly infected with the protozoan Trypanosoma brucei.

Answer: Delta waves

Delta waves are slow with high amplitude. When we dream, our brain activity as recorded by EEG is quite similar to that which occurs in the waking state and contains a mixture of theta, alpha and beta waves.