Dopamine is unleashed during dreaming, freed from the restraining influence of the reality-focused H&N neurotransmitters. Activity in the H&N circuits is suppressed because sensory input from the outside world into the brain is blocked. This freedom allows dopamine circuits to generate the bizarre connections that are the hallmark of dreams. The trivial, the unnoticed, and the odd can be elevated to positions of prominence, supplying us with new ideas that otherwise would have been impossible to discover.
