On reading the title of this article, one might expect a discourse on Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision for a racially integrated America. Rather, it is a brief foray into the realm of the subconscious mind where dreams occur. Although some dreams seem like old movies, rehashing events of the past, others offer premonitions of future, yet un-experienced events. In dreams, as in reality, the presence of color plays an important role in determining how events are experienced. Here we will discuss some physiological and psychological issues related to color in dreams.

From the time of Shakespeare to the present, color in dreams has been the subject of much study and discussion. It has been addressed from different disciplines and viewpoints and will continue to fascinate and intrigue even until there is no more sleep and no more dreaming . . . “for in that sleep of death, what dreams may come?” ¹²

References

1. Ramsey, G.V., Studies of Dreaming. The Psychological Bulletin, 1953. 50(6): p. 432-455.

2. Padgham, C.A., Colours Experienced in Dreams. British Journal of Psychology, 1975. 66(1): p. 25-28.

3. Bentley, M., The Study of Dreams. American Journal of Psychology, 1915. 26: p. 196-210.

4. Knapp, P.H., Sensory Impressions in Dreams. The Physychoanalytic Quarterly, 1956. 25: p. 325-347.

5. Berger, R.J., Experimental Modification of Dream Content by Meaningful Verbal Stimuli. British Journal of Psychiatry, 1963. 109: p. 722-740.

6. Records, R.E., Physiology of the Human Eye and Visual System. 1979, Hagerstown, MD: Harper & Row.

7. Kandel, E.R., J.H. Schwartz, and T.M. Jessell, Principles of Neural Science. 1991, New York: Elsevier.

8. Miller, D., The Wisdom of The Eye. 2000, San Diego: Academic Press.

9. Sacks, O., An Anthropologist on Mars : Seven Paradoxical Tales. 1995, New York: Knopf.

10. Strachey, J., ed. The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. 4. 1953, Hogarth Press: London.

11. Hoss, B., Working With Color in Dreams http://www.dreamgate.com/dream/hoss/index.htm, 2000.

Physiological

Psychological

References