Dreams are stories and images that our minds create while we sleep. They can be entertaining, fun, romantic, disturbing, frightening, and sometimes bizarre.
Why do dreams occur? What causes them? Can we control them? What do they mean?
[size=32]Fast facts on dreams[/size]
Here are some key points about dreams. More detail and supporting information is in the main article.
From converging evidence and new research methodologies, researchers have speculated that dreaming:
As with many things concerning the brain and unconscious thought, there is so much that remains unknown about dreaming. Dreams are difficult to study in a laboratory. As technology and new research techniques are developed, the understanding of dreams will continue to grow.
The measure of control a dreamer has can vary from lucid dream to lucid dream. They often occur in the middle of a regular dream when the sleeping person realizes suddenly that they are dreaming.[/size]
Why do dreams occur? What causes them? Can we control them? What do they mean?
[size=32]Fast facts on dreams[/size]
Here are some key points about dreams. More detail and supporting information is in the main article.
- Though a few people may not remember dreaming, it is thought that everyone dreams between 3 to 6 times per night.
- It is thought that each dream lasts between 5 to 20 minutes.
- Around 95% of dreams are forgotten by the time a person gets out of bed.
- Dreaming can help you learn and develop long-term memories.
- Women dream more about family, children and indoor settings when compared with men.
- Recalling something from last week that has appeared in your dream is called the "dream-lag effect."
- There is a difference in the quality and quantity of dreams experienced in rapid eye movement and non-rapid eye movement sleep.
- 48% of people that feature in a dream are recognized by the person dreaming.
- Blind people dream more with other sensory components compared with sighted people.
- Both sleep and dream quality are affected by alcohol.
[size=32]Why do we dream?[/size]
Experts still do not completely understand why we dream or the causes behind dreams.
There are several hypotheses and concepts as to why we dream. Are dreams merely part of the sleep cycle or do they serve some other purpose?
Possible explanations for why we dream include:- To represent unconscious desires and wishes
- To interpret random signals from the brain and body during sleep
- To consolidate and process information gathered during the day
- To work as a form of psychotherapy.
From converging evidence and new research methodologies, researchers have speculated that dreaming:
- Is offline memory reprocessing - consolidates learning and memory tasks.79,90,91
- Is a subsystem of the waking default network, which is active during mind wandering and daydreaming. Dreaming could be seen as cognitive simulation of real life experiences.24
- Participates in the development of cognitive capabilities.17
- Is psychoanalytic; dreams are highly meaningful reflections of unconscious mental functioning.79
- Is a unique state of consciousness that incorporates three temporal dimensions: experience of the present, processing of the past, and preparation for the future.56
- Provides a psychological space where overwhelming, contradictory, or highly complex notions can be brought together by the dreaming ego that would be unsettling while awake. This process serves the need for psychological balance and equilibrium.67
As with many things concerning the brain and unconscious thought, there is so much that remains unknown about dreaming. Dreams are difficult to study in a laboratory. As technology and new research techniques are developed, the understanding of dreams will continue to grow.
[size=32]Lucid dreams
Lucid dreaming is a state of sleep where the dreamer knows they are dreaming. As a result, the dreamer may have some measure of control over their dream.The measure of control a dreamer has can vary from lucid dream to lucid dream. They often occur in the middle of a regular dream when the sleeping person realizes suddenly that they are dreaming.[/size]
