Dreams: Why do we dream?
    2. What are dreams?
    4. Forgetting dreams
    5. Who dreams?
   Dreams are stories and images that our minds create while we sleep.
   doctors. Why do dreams occur? What causes them? Can we control them?
   applications of dreaming.
   Fast facts on dreams
     * We may not remember dreaming, but everyone is thought to dream
     * It is thought that each dream lasts between 5 to 20 minutes.
     * Around 95 percent of dreams are forgotten by the time a person gets
     * Dreaming can help you learn and develop long-term memories.
     * Blind people dream more with other sensory components compared with
   Everyone probably dreams
   Dreams: Do they represent our unconsious desires?
   There are several theories about why we dream. Are dreams merely part
   speculated that dreaming serves the following functions:
     * cognitive simulation of real life experiences, as dreaming is a
       active during daydreaming
       complex notions can be brought together by the dreaming ego,
   Much that remains unknown about dreams. They are by nature difficult to
   help improve our understanding of dreams.
   Dreams most likely happen
   Dreams most likely happen during REM sleep.
   bizarre and illogical tales. These are dreams. This stage accounts for
   phase of sleep as a likely candidate for the cause of dreaming.
What are dreams?
   Dreams are a universal human experience that can be described as a
   The dreamer has reduced control over the content, visual images and
   yet as frequently misunderstood as dreaming.
   psychoanalytic approaches to dream analysis.
   Neuroscientists are interested in the structures involved in dream
   production, dream organization, and narratability. However,
   psychoanalysis concentrates on the meaning of dreams and placing them
   in the context of relationships in the history of the dreamer.
   Reports of dreams tend to be full of emotional and vivid experiences
   that contain themes, concerns, dream figures, and objects that
   Nightmares are distressing dreams that cause the dreamer to feel a
   Dreams and nightmares: What are they?
   Dreams and nightmares: What are they?
   FInd out more about some of the theories of dreaming and what happens
Lucid dreams
   Lucid dreaming is the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming. They may
   have some control over their dream.
   This measure of control can vary between lucid dreams. They often occur
   in the middle of a regular dream when the sleeping person realizes
   suddenly that they are dreaming.
   Some people experience lucid dreaming at random, while others have
   reported being able to increase their capacity to control their dreams.
   content of our dreams.
   For example, during exam time, students may dream about course content.
   People in a relationship may dream of their partner. Web developers may
   everyday re-emerge in dream-like imagery during the transition from
   Studies have examined the "characters" that appear in dream reports and
   how they the dreamer identifies them.
   A study of 320 adult dream reports found:
       to the dreamer.
       role (for example, policeman) or relationship to dreamer (such as a
   Another study investigated the relationship between dream emotion and
   dream character identification.
   associated with short-term memory, is less active in the dreaming brain
   undesirable memories could become suppressed in the mind. Dreams ease
   memories into dreams:
     * the dream-lag effect, involving incorporations delayed by about a
     * processing memories into dream incorporation takes a cycle of
Dream lag
   Dream-lag is when the images, experiences, or people that emerge in
   dreams are images, experiences, or people you have seen recently,
   consolidation process will appear in a dream.
   dream reports, although 65 percent of dream reports reflect aspects of
   The dream-lag effect has been reported in dreams that occur at the REM
Memory types and dreaming
   Two types of memory can form the basis of a dream.
   A study exploring different types of memory within dream content among
     * One dream (0.5 percent) contained an episodic memory.
     * Most dreams in the study (80 percent) contained low to moderate
   experienced fragmentarily and selectively during dreaming. The purpose
   A hypothesis stating that dreams reflect waking-life experiences is
   supported by studies investigating the dreams of psychiatric patients
   problems are reflected in their dreams.
   In 1900, Freud described a category of dreams known as "biographical
   dreams." These reflect the historical experience of being an infant
   traumatic dreams perform a function of recovery.
   One paper hypothesizes that the main aspect of traumatic dreams is to
   communicate an experience that the dreamer has in the dream but does
   The themes of dreams can be linked to the suppression of unwanted
   thought in dreams.
   The results demonstrate that there were increased dreams about the
   unwanted thought and a tendency to have more distressing dreams. They
   affect the emotional content of dreams.
   yielded more positively themed dreams, whereas the negative stimulus of
   rotten eggs was followed by more negatively themed dreams.
   Typical dreams are defined as dreams similar to those reported by a
   high percentage of dreamers.
   Up to now, the frequencies of typical dream themes have been studied
   typical dream themes has been stable over different sample populations.
   Some dream themes appear to change over time.
   of people who reported flying in dreams. This could reflect the
   dreams, including being an object in danger, falling, or being chased,
   Fear of embarrassment: A third group, containing dreams that involve
Brain activity and dream types
   specific dream features.
   Several bizarre features of normal dreams have similarities with
Dreams and the senses
   Dreams were evaluated in people experiencing different types of
   of dreams involving taste and smell.
   as in the biology of sleep and dreaming.
   Music in dreams is rarely studied in scientific literature. However, in
   musicians experienced twice as many dreams featuring music, when
   Musical dream frequency was related to the age of commencement of
   original music can be created in dreams.
   experienced in dreams, either through direct incorporation or from
   memories of pain. However, the frequency of pain dreams in healthy
     * Thirty-nine percent of people reported pain dreams.
     * Of those experiencing pain dreams, 30 percent of their total dreams
     * Patients with pain dreams showed evidence of reduced sleep, more
     * Patients with pain dreams also had a tendency to report more
   More than half did not report pain dreams. However, these results could
   suggest that pain dreams occur at a greater frequency in populations
   awareness in dreams.
   self-reflective awareness in dreams.
   attachment and general dream content.
   degree to which dreams about romantic partners followed.
Death in dreams
   Researchers compared the dream content of different groups of people in
   Their dreams of this group were compared with those of three control
   had were more likely to have dreams with content relating to death and
   different ways to a dream formation.
   provide dream origin while the right hemisphere provides dream
   left-handed were more likely to experience lucid dreams and to remember
   dreams within other dreams.
Forgetting dreams
   years dream between 4 and 6 times each night, but some people rarely
   remember dreaming.
   It is often said that 5 minutes after a dream, people have forgotten 50
   Most dreams are entirely forgotten by the time someone wakes up, but it
   is not known precisely why dreams are so hard to remember.
   Steps that may help improve dream recall, include:
     * focusing on the dream as much as possible upon waking
     * writing down as much about the dream as possible upon waking
     * making recording dreams a routine
Who remembers their dreams?
   dreams, how much of the dream remains intact, and how vivid it is.
   Evidence suggests that dream recall progressively decreases from the
   beginning of adulthood, but not in older age. Dream also become less
   differences in the content of dreams.
   Gender: A study of dreams experienced by 108 males and 110 females
   However, the dreams of females featured a higher number of family
   Sleep disorders: Dream recall is heightened in patients with insomnia,
   and their dreams reflect the stress associated with their condition.
   The dreams of people with narcolepsy may a more bizarre and negative
Dream recall and well-being
   One study looked at whether dream recall and dream content would
   reflect the social relationships of the person who is dreaming.
   dream recall, dream content, and other psychological measures.
     * report a dream
     * dream frequently
       their dreams
     * report a dream
     * report dreams with a higher mean number of words
   Dream recall was lowest for the "avoidant" subjects and highest for the
Who dreams?
   Everyone dreams, although we may not remember our dreams. At different
   times of life or during different experiencs, our dreams might change.
Children's dreams
   A study investigating anxiety dreams in 103 children aged 9 to 11 years
     * Females more often had dreams containing anxiety than males,
       although they could not remember their dreams as often.
     * Girls dreamt more often than boys about the loss of another person,
   Studies comparing the dreams of pregnant and non-pregnant women showed
     * During pregnancy, dreams were more likely to include the themes of
       dreams than those who were not.
   often have dreams related to that individual.
   A study following the dreams of adults that worked for at least a year
     * Patients tended to be clearly present in the dreams of caregivers,
       and the dreams were typically realistic.
     * In the dream, the caregiver typically interacted with the patient
   It is widely believed that oppressive dreams are frequent in people
   A study analyzing dream quality, as well as the linking of oppressive
   dreams in bereavement, discovered that oppressive dreams:
     * Fifty-eight percent reported dreams of their deceased loved ones,
     * Most participants had dreams that were either pleasant or both
       pleasant and disturbing, and few reported purely disturbing dreams
     * Sixty percent felt that their dreams impacted upon their
Does everyone dream in color?
   Dreams may help us consolidate memories
   Younger people are more likely to dream in color.
     * About 80 percent of participants younger than 30 years old dreamed
     * At 60 years old, 20 percent said they dreamed in color.
   The number of people aged in their 20s, 30s and 40s dreaming in color
   Another study using questionnaires and dream diaries also found older
   adults had more black and white dreams than the younger participants.
   Older people reported that both their color dreams and black and white
   dreams were equally vivid. However, younger participants said that
   their black and white dreams were of poorer quality.
Can dreams predict the future?
   Some dreams may seem to predict future events.
   Dreams may help people learn more about their feelings, beliefs, and
   values. Images and symbols that appear in dreams will have meanings and
   People looking to make sense of their dreams should think about what
   each part of the dreams mean to them as an individual.
   One study followed the dream content of people who regularly use crack
     * Almost 90 percent of individuals reported drug-related dreams
     * Almost 61 percent had drug-related dreams after 6 months, mainly of
   People with complete vision loss have fewer visual dream impressions
   tactile, gustatory, and olfactory dream components, compared with
   dream content.
   One small study explored the dream diaries of 14 people with
   showed that around 80 percent of the dream reports of participants with
   Many spoke in their dreams, while others could hear and understand
   Paraplegia: Similarly, the dream reports of those with paraplegia
   dreams, none of which they had ever done in their waking lives.
   A second study looked at the dream reports of 15 people who were either
   Their reports revealed that 14 participants with paraplegia had dreams
   in which they were physically active, and they dreamed about walking as
   tapping into these parts of the brain as they dream about tasks they
   dreams plus how it relates to the other phases of sleep that are
   Dreams and nightmares: What are they? How do we dream and what exactly
   are nightmares? What are lucid dreams, wet dreams, and which dreams do
   we remember? This article examines some of the theories behind dreaming
   and what bad dreams and nightmares could mean. It also looks at which
   medical conditions are linked to dreams, and which drugs may help. Read
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