What science guessed

Thanks to the latest medical technology, modern scientists can trace in detail the activity of various areas of the brain in sleeping people. They also know the biochemical mechanisms that are included in the work at different phases of sleep … Researchers unanimously attach particular importance to dreams: at the moment when they visit us, our brain becomes a center of increased activity. And yet, despite the accumulated experience, experts still cannot say unequivocally why dreams are needed … although there are plenty of hypotheses on this subject.

In the 60s, the French neurophysiologist Michel Jouvet demonstrated that cats dream about things like chasing mice or fighting imaginary predators*. He concluded that this is how genetically programmed instincts are “trained” during dreams. The same may be happening to human babies (we just don’t know what they dream about): in their dreams, they learn the lessons of the collective unconscious, which are necessary for the survival of man as a biological species.

According to the latest findings of science, the content of our dreams is a mixture of memories and incoming new information. So, John Allan Hobson (John Allan Hobson), an American neurophysiologist, professor of psychiatry at Harvard University (USA), suggests that in a dream our brain assimilates the data received over the past day. Moreover, it is possible that dreams are related to the mechanism of memory: we see more dreams when we are in a learning situation. Is the American psychologist David Foulkes right when he calls dreams a “replenishing act of knowing”? In one of his studies,** he notes that in children, the frequency and degree of complexity of dreams change in the same rhythm as their cognitive (cognitive) abilities. However, French neuroscientist Claude Gottesmann from the University of Nice-Sofia-Antipolis (France) objects to the American, recalling that the dream state of consciousness (paradoxical sleep phase) is similar in some mental processes and physiological parameters to that characteristic of schizophrenia ***.

So what is sleep – a path to knowledge or a mechanism that frees our psyche from tension? In response, science philosophically notes that both of these assumptions may turn out to be true …

* Through neurosurgical intervention, he released their muscle activity, usually blocked during sleep, and observed their movements. ** International Journal of Behavioral Development, vol. 3, 1990.*** “Le sommeil et le Reve”. La Recherche, hors-serie, No. 3, 2000.

Why do some people dream and others not?

Everyone sees dreams. Another thing is that not everyone remembers them! About 10% of respondents* say they remember what they saw every or almost every morning, and the same percentage of people admit that they never manage to remember anything. On average, dreams come to mind about twice a week: it is curious that some of us more often remember what we dreamed on weekdays, while others remember what we dreamed about on weekends. It is believed that women remember their dreams more often than men, in addition, this difference increases due to stress: then women dream more often, and men even less often! German psychologist Michael Schredl suggested that the reason for the difference is women’s greater openness to the world of imagination. And finally, much depends on what trace the dream leaves behind: the higher its emotional component, the more likely we are to remember it. Particular attention should be paid to the circumstances of awakening: a person who wakes up slowly, gradually, is more likely to remember his dream than one whose dream was abruptly and unexpectedly interrupted.

* C. Tart «Frequency of Dream Recall and Some Recall and Personality Measures». Journal of Consulting Psychology, vol. 26, 1962.

When and for how long do we dream of them?

Dreams begin to dream of a person even before birth: in the womb, a child sees dreams during 80% of the time of sleep. Then this proportion decreases slightly: in infants, already half the time of sleep is accompanied by dreams *. From the age of four to old age, our sleep is divided into 90-minute cycles, each of which consists of slow (orthodox) sleep and REM (paradoxical) sleep. Non-REM sleep lasts from 60 to 75 minutes and goes through several stages: falling asleep until drowsiness; falling into oblivion; superficial sleep; NREM sleep and deep NREM sleep.

The phase of REM sleep Michel Jouvet called “paradoxical sleep”, because throughout its entire duration the human brain is active, comparable in amplitude to the state of wakefulness, while the muscles of the body are completely relaxed. However, even with a relaxed state of the body, a person’s eyes make quick movements, facial expressions appear, an erection in men. The duration of this phase can vary from 15-20 minutes in the first 90-minute cycle to 45 minutes by the end of the night.

Usually dreams visit us in the phase of paradoxical sleep. In 80% of cases, waking up during or immediately after this phase, a person remembers what exactly he dreamed about. If the awakening takes place during non-REM sleep, in 30% of cases we will be able to remember what we dreamed, but we will be able to recover ideas or fragments of thoughts rather than dreamed pictures or sounds.

* E. Hartmann «The Functions of Sleep». Yale University Press, 1989; J. Hopson «Fetal Psychology». Psychology Today, vol. 10, 1998.

How are nightmares different?

It is important not to confuse nightmares and night terrors. The latter – a kind of discharge of the nervous system – usually dream at the stages of establishing a slow and deep slow sleep, do not contain detailed pictures and do not leave behind memories. Another thing with nightmares. A Canadian study* defined a nightmare as “a disturbing dream in which the imagery or emotions (mainly fear, helplessness) are so intense that the person wakes up.” Similar problems occur in 5-7% of respondents. This figure rises to 25% among those who visit psychiatric clinics and to 27% among alcoholics and substance abusers. Meanwhile, not a single mental pathology is directly related to nightmares, with the exception of post-traumatic stress syndrome: fragments of a traumatic situation can (though not always!) be dreamed of by a person again and again.

* Psychiatric Journal of the University of Ottawa, vol. 14, 1989.

What are we dreaming about?

Anything, but first of all – what worries us. So, children often dream of food (and animals), teenagers – everything related to sexuality, adults – work and family. We dream of these stories in 30-50% of cases. In other dreams, we relive what emotionally hurt us (30%), dream about the impossible, for example, about flying (in 5% of cases), we plunge into the world of abstractions or into complete absurdity (in 20% of cases)*. But, as statistical studies show, in dreams we are not much different from ourselves in real life. Over the years, we dream of similar plots and images, our dreams are filled with the same emotional content, they are always connected with everyday life, our character traits and how we change. Some researchers suggest that the content of dreams even depends on our political sympathies, while others suggest that the images of our dreams change along with the chronicle of events!

* «Our Dreaming Mind de Robert Van de Castle». Ballantine Books, 1995; D. Foulkes «Dream Research 1953–1993». Sleep, vol. 19, 2000.

Have a question?

Read more about sleep and dreams on the sites:

• www.oniros.fr Association for the Study of Dreams (France).
• www.npi.ucla.edu/sleepresearch Sleep Research Center, University of California (USA).
• www.surrey.ac.uk University of Surrey Sleep Research Center (UK).
• www.sleepmed.ru Сomnological center of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation.