Previously, scientists considered dreams to be a useless by-product of sleep, but recent research refutes this opinion – dreams provide us with emotional help and positively affect brain function.
We have all heard stories about how dreams inspired people to create something new or helped them find the solution they needed. Paul McCartney heard the hit Yesterday in a dream, and Dmitri Mendeleev saw the periodic table of chemical elements.
Many people think that their dreams carry a special meaning, but science is more skeptical. Some scientists consider dreams to be a meaningless consequence of sleep, a by-product of evolution from which there is no benefit.
Another thing is sleep itself. Scientists know that reduced sleep leads to dangerous diseases, such as heart disease or stroke. A growing body of research shows that sleep deprivation increases the risk of obesity and Alzheimer’s disease.
Extensive population studies reflect the sad truth: the less you sleep, the shorter the cup of life
Sleep also helps us retain memories, remember information faster, and learn new skills. Healthy sleep is important for every person and especially for children, students, athletes, pilots and doctors.
But what about dreams? Do they have a purpose? Recent research shows that dreams have a special function that is important for our well-being. There are two main areas in which dreams help us, says Matthew Walker, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of California at Berkeley, director of the Human Sleep Science Center, author of Why We Sleep: Uncovering the Power of Sleep and Dreams.
Dreams relieve emotional pain
They say that time heals wounds. But studies show that time heals precisely when you sleep and dream. Dreaming during REM sleep treats the pain of difficult, traumatic emotional episodes experienced during the day and offers an emotional resolution to the problem when you wake up the next morning.
REM sleep is the only period of time when the brain is completely free of anxiety-producing norepinephrine molecules.
Moreover, while we are dreaming, areas of the brain associated with emotions and memory are restored. Emotional memory recovery occurs when the brain is free of the stress-causing neurotransmitter. This allows us to re-process sad memories in a calmer and safer environment.
1. Emotional reaction
One study conducted at the Center for the Science of Human Sleep involved healthy young adults who were divided into two groups. All participants in the experiment were placed in turn in a magnetic resonance imaging scanner and shown a set of images that evoked various emotions. After 12 hours, the participants were shown the same images again.
For the participants in the first group, the images were shown again on the same day. For the participants of the second group, the break fell at night, and they had time to sleep.
People who slept between the two sessions showed a significant decrease in emotional response to the images. MRI results showed a significant reduction in response in the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain where painful feelings are formed.
Moreover, after sleep, there was a re-involvement of the rational area of the brain – the prefrontal cortex. It helped ease emotional reactivity
Participants in the other group, who stayed awake between sessions, showed no decrease in emotional response during the repeat experiment.
The scientists also recorded each participant’s sleep the night between two sessions of the experiments. They found specific activity in the brain that reflected a decline in the chemistry associated with dream stress. It was she who determined the success of the night “psychotherapy”.
It is likely that dreams help people reduce emotional reactivity, since the emotional content of dreams is associated with a decrease in norepinephrine in the brain.
2. PTSD
This theory is supported by data from a study conducted by Murray Raskind. He studied the problem of post-traumatic stress disorder in former combatants who were often tormented by nightmares.
As part of the experiment, participants in the first group of subjects were given prazosin, a drug that lowers blood pressure and blocks the production of norepinephrine. They experienced fewer nightmares and showed fewer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder than participants in the second group who were given a placebo.
Thus, one of the main functions of dreams is to facilitate our emotional experiences so that we can learn lessons and move on with our lives.
Dreams stimulate creativity
Research shows that during the deep sleep phase, memories move into long-term memory.
But it is during REM sleep that these memories are mixed and combined in a unique new way. When we dream, the brain analyzes large amounts of acquired knowledge and then deduces general rules and patterns. It helps us find solutions to problems that previously seemed unsolvable.
Solving creative tasks
Another study showed that it is dreams that are important, not sleep itself. Before going to bed, the participants in the experiment were given several tasks: to compose words from a set of letters arranged in a chaotic manner. Then they fell asleep, and the scientists observed their sleep and woke them up in different phases of sleep to repeat the task. Some participants were awakened during the dreaming phase, others during the deep sleep phase.
Participants awakened during deep sleep showed no creativity. They solved few problems. Participants woken up during the dreaming phase completed 15-35% more tasks than before bed. In addition, they noted that the solution just “came” in their head without much effort.
Solving logic problems
In another study, participants were presented with a series of logical chains, such as: A>B, B>C, C>D, and so on. They were then asked questions to test their understanding. For example, is it true that B>D? After completing the task, participants were given a 60 to 90 minute nap break that included REM sleep.
After sleep, they showed a significant increase in performance, as if connecting disparate pieces of a puzzle in a dream.
This way of processing information is a key feature that distinguishes our brain from a computer. It also highlights the difference between knowledge, that is, the preservation of individual facts, and wisdom, which involves understanding what they mean collectively. Wisdom is a product of the dreaming phase.
Solving Problems
Dreaming improves creativity in problem solving, according to another study. Participants learned how to navigate the virtual maze through trial and error, as well as by placing unique objects, such as Christmas trees, in specific locations. After the study session, the participants were divided into two groups.
The first group slept for 90 minutes, while the other watched videos the whole time. Sleeping participants were awakened from time to time and asked about the contents of their dreams. Participants who watched the video were also periodically asked what they thought. After that, the participants again tried to find a way out of the maze.
As expected, the participants who slept performed much better than those who watched the video
But that’s not all. Those who had dreams about the maze did 10 times better than the participants who just slept. After examining the content of the dreams, it became clear that in the dream, the participants did not accurately reproduce their learning experiences. Instead, they chose the most memorable moments and tried to connect them with the knowledge they already had. This is how dreams help us develop creativity.
Five ways to improve sleep
The benefits of dreaming are obvious, but many of us fail to get eight hours of sleep a day and experience them for ourselves. Some people think they don’t need that much sleep. But research proves otherwise. People who think that they can get little sleep without negative consequences are gravely mistaken.
If you have trouble sleeping, it is tempting to take sleeping pills. However, pills adversely affect the process of dreams, so it is better to use other methods:
1. An hour or two before going to bed, dim the lights in the room
Remove bright light sources such as computer monitors and gadget screens. You can start dimming the lights in the house even earlier to make you feel sleepy.
2. Go to bed and get up around the same time
So the body gets used to regular sleep. There is no point in sleeping on weekends. You still can’t make up for the lack of sleep accumulated during the work week.
3. Sleep in a cool room
The ideal temperature is around 18 degrees. During sleep, body temperature drops, so a cooler room temperature signals your brain that it’s time to sleep.
4. If you can’t fall asleep for a long time or wake up in the middle of the night, don’t stay awake in bed
This signals to the brain that the bed is not the place to sleep. Better get up, go to another room and read a book with dim lights. Do not turn on the computer and do not take gadgets. When drowsiness overwhelms you, go back to bed. If you don’t want to get out of bed, try meditating. Studies show that meditation helps you fall asleep faster and improves the quality of your sleep.
5. Avoid Caffeinated or Alcoholic Drinks in the Evening
Both of these disrupt sleep, making it difficult to fall asleep or causing you to wake up frequently in the middle of the night.
Sleep is the most effective way to restore the brain and maintain physical health, it cannot be replaced by anything else.
Dreams provide us with much-needed emotional help and do wonders for processing information. If we want to be as healthy, happy and creative as possible, we need to keep these facts in mind.