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I'm wondering how our discussion of vision this week relates to dreams. We talked about how what we see is made up in part by our brains; our brain essentially fills in the gaps to make up for the holes in our vision. Vision in dreams is entirely a product of our brains, given that we are not receiving any visual input. Is the part of the brain that pieces together images in dreams the same part that fills in the gaps when we are awake? Do the visions in dreams have to come from somewhere? Is each image buried somewhere in our memory bank? For example, maybe an unfamiliar face in a dream is one that we saw in a magazine photo or television commercial long ago. Can the brain actually formulate new images and how might this affect our conception of visual art?

I am also curious as to whether the part of the brain responsible for images in dreams is the same as that which produces hallucinations. What is the real difference between the two? Is it simply being asleep versus awake? In other words, is dreaming simply hallucinating while sleeping? Why do must people not hallucinate?