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'When we dream, we have the perfect chemical canvas for intense visions'
Talking about dreams
People are compelled to talk about dreams. It is a natural impulse because dreams are emotional, affect moods, feel profound.
What is unusual is that we live in a culture where we’re expected to forget our dreams. We have this cliche that it is boring to talk about dreams.
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How to remember your dreams
Keep a dream journal. Get into a habit, set things up the night before to reinforce your goal.
Lucid dreaming
In lucid dreams, you become aware you’re dreaming. You can take control of the plot. They can be anything from a brief moment where you’re in a nightmare and tell yourself: “this is a dream” and wake up.
Dreams maintain our mental health
Dreams are an opportunity to work through things that frighten us in real life, to play out worst-case scenarios in an environment where they have no consequences.
The role of dreaming in learning
Dreaming helps us consolidate new memories: we replay salient experiences from the day, reinforcing new pathways in our brains.
In one study, people enrolled in a French-language intensive course had an increase in REM sleep and dreams while they were studying: their brains were working overtime to master a new language, and that work continued in their sleep.
Why dreams seem surreal
Most dreams are actually less bizarre than people think. When we dream, the logic centres of our brain – the frontal lobes – go dark, and chemicals associated with self-control, like serotonin and norepinephrine, drop. At the same time, the emotion centres light up: we have a perfect chemical canvas for dramatic, psychologically intense visions.
When psychologists analyzed hundreds of dream reports, they found that most of them could have passed for descriptions of the dreamers’ real lives.
Don't neglect your dreams
Dreams offer the opportunity to think in a different way and show new answers to problems,
They show us blind spots and help us home in on things we might be neglecting in our personal lives.
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Nightmares
Nightmares are broadly defined as frightening dreams that result in some degree of awakening from sleep.
Nightmares themselves contribute to disrupted sleep not only by waking th...
Night terrors
Night terrors are very intense episodes of fright during dreams. These frightening episodes are often accompanied by screaming or yelling, as well as by physical movement such as leaping out of bed or flailing in panic.
Research suggests that sleep terrors occur during non-REM sleep dreaming, while nightmares tend to happen during REM sleep.
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Everybody Dreams
Adults and babies alike dream for around two hours per night—even those of us who claim not to.
Researchers have found that people us...
You Forget Most of Your Dreams
According to one theory about why dreams so difficult to remember, the changes in the brain that occur during sleep do not support the information processing and storage needed for memory formation to take place.
Not All Dreams Are in Color
While most people report dreaming in color, there is a small percentage of people who claim to only dream in black and white.
In studies where dreamers have been awakened and asked to select colors from a chart that match those in their dreams, soft pastel colors are those most frequently chosen.
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Vivid dreams
During the 2020 pandemic, many people anecdotally reported surreal and more vivid dreams than usual.
Some theorize that the onset of vivid imagery is a result of changing sleep schedules. O...
Stress about a global pandemic
The continuity theory of dreams hypothesizes that people dream about the stuff they're thinking about and doing while they are awake.
Some researchers believe that dreams have a functional purpose that prepares us for difficult or challenging situations when we awake.
Similar types of dreams
The biggest variables that influence your dreams have to do with your regular sleep cycles. If it is a very traumatic event, people will experience nightmares.
People are also thinking more about their dreams, which makes them remember their dreams better.