Finley, Caroline

Finley, Caroline

Caroline Finley was a medical doctor (decorated for her activities as a surgeon during the First World War) and dream researcher who, contrary to the prevailing Freudianism of her time, emphasized the physiological dimensions of dreaming. In a 1921 paper she reported on the impact of endocrine gland therapy with a middle-aged influenza patient. Given an extract of pituitary gland on a daily basis, after about a week and a half the patient began to have highly pleasant dreams. The same patient was later given an extract of adrenal gland, which within a few days changed the nature of her dreams to tense nightmares. Finley concluded that this case study clearly demonstrated the purely physiological origins of many dreams.