F186. Neurophysiological dreams in Georges Perec’s La Boutique Obscure (1973)

Introduction La Boutique obscure (1973) relates 124 dreams that the French author Georges Perec (1936–1982) recorded from May 1968 to August 1972. During all this time Perec was working as a scientific archivist at the laboratory of Prof. Andre Hugelin (1923–2011), one of the pioneers of the Parisian neurophysiological school. This is one of Perec’s least examined books. To the best of our knowledge, the influence of his diurnal, neurophysiological job on this book is unknown. Therefore, this study was conducted in order to track the references to neurophysiology in La Boutique obscure . Methods The original French version was used. During its review, references to neurophysiology were intentionally tracked. Results The following dreams include references to neurophysiology: 30, 53, 68 and 95. Dream 30 (November 1970) is entitled Le Gaba ( GABA ). At the beginning, he mentions his boss (probably Prof. Hugelin) and later says that he fictitiously participated as experimental subject for three days. The dreamer then thinks about gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), presynaptic excitation (“which is –evidently– synaptic excitation”), and presynaptic inhibition. Dream 53 (February 1971) is entitled Le Renshaw ( The Renshaw ). Here we can read: “common word I forget//Ren-Shaw/(Shaw-Ren)/Inhibition.” Later the dreamer explains in parentheses: “Renshaw recurrent inhibition is, roughly speaking, a loop system controlling muscle contraction.” Dream 68 (May 1971) is entitled Les mots en “I” ( Words with I ). The dreamer realizes that in his file three words begin with the letter I: “Impedance/Inhibition/I?” Dream 95 (October 1971) is entitled L’hypothalamus ( The hypothalamus ). While dreaming, the dreamer decided to name this dream “l’hypothalamus” since “this is how [his] desire is structured.” Then he reconsiders and thinks that it would have been better to name it “le systeme limbique” (the limbic system) because “it is a more pertinent term for all that refers to emotional behaviors.” Conclusion In this “nocturnal autobiography,” as Perec called it, the references to his work as a scientific archivist at the laboratory of Prof. Hugelin are clear even though they are not too abundant. The influence of neurophysiology on this and other works of Perec is remarkable, since it occurred at a time when neurosciences were not of popular interest.