What do you dream..?
Dreams. Something that we are all very familiar with, but what exactly are dreams?
Scientifically speaking, dreams are a sequence of images, ideas, emotions, sensations etc. that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage of sleep i.e. when brain activity is high and resembles to that of being awake. Dreams can be entertaining, fun, romantic, disturbing, frightening, and sometimes even bizarre. There are a lot of theories about why we dream and what they mean, but researchers believe dreaming is just a way of our brain to process things, it pulls out random things from your memory which actually doesn't make any sense, the viewer tries to connect everything after he wakes up. Dreams have been a topic of scientific, religious and philosophical interest throughout the history. Study of dreams have also been given a platform in science for scientists and people interested to explore it, the study of dreams in medical science is called oneirology.
Opinions about the meaning of dreams have varied and shifted through time and culture. Many endorse the Freudian theory of dreams – that dreams reveal insight into hidden desires and emotions.[qualify evidence] Other prominent theories include those suggesting that dreams assist in memory formation, problem solving, or simply are a product of random brain activation.
Sigmund Freud, who developed the psychological discipline of psychoanalysis, wrote extensively about dream theories and their interpretations in the early 1900s. He explained dreams as manifestations of one's deepest desires most often sexual desires and anxieties, often relating to repressed childhood memories or obsessions. Furthermore, he believed that virtually every dream topic, regardless of its content, represented the release of sexual tension. In The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), Freud developed a psychological technique to interpret dreams and devised a series of guidelines to understand the symbols and motifs that appear in our dreams. In modern times, dreams have been seen as a connection to the unconscious mind.
We usually dream during the REM stage of our sleep which can easily be identified by the continuous movements of the eye. However dreams can also occur during the other stages of sleep, but these dreams tend to be even more less memorable than the ones we dreamt of during the REM phase of sleep.Our dreams vary in length: they may last for just a few seconds or go upto a full 40 minutes, but on an averagedreams have been known to last for between 20 and 30 minutes. The reason why some dreamers are able to recall their dreams is because they have been woken up whilst in the REM phase of sleep.
There are five phases of sleep in a sleep cycle:
Stage 1: Light sleep, slow eye movement, and reduced muscle activity. This stage forms 4 to 5 percent of total sleep.
Stage 2: Eye movement stops and brain waves become slower, with occasional bursts of rapid waves called sleep spindles. This stage forms 45 to 55 percent of total sleep.
Stage 3: Extremely slow brain waves called delta waves begin to appear, interspersed with smaller, faster waves. This accounts for 4 to 6 percent of total sleep.
Stage 4: The brain produces delta waves almost exclusively. It is difficult to wake someone during stages 3 and 4, which together are called “deep sleep.” There is no eye movement or muscle activity. People awakened while in deep sleep do not adjust immediately and often feel disoriented for several minutes after waking up. This forms 12 to 15 percent of total sleep.
Stage 5: This stage is known as rapid eye movement (REM). Breathing becomes more rapid, irregular, and shallow, eyes jerk rapidly in various directions, and limb muscles become temporarily paralyzed. Heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, and males develop penile erections. When people awaken during REM sleep, they often describe bizarre and illogical tales. These are dreams. This stage accounts for 20 to 25 percent of total sleep time.
On average, people have between three and five dreams each night, with some having up to seven; however most of our dreams are quickly forgotten. It seems that our dreams tend to last longer as the night progresses and, when we have a full eight-hour sleep, the majority of our dreams occur in the typical two hours of REM.
Dreams are also categorized, Researchers mainly classify them into
1)Daydreams 2)Normal dreams 3) Nightmares 4)Lucid dreams 5)False awakenings
Explaining each and every type of dream can go on and on forever but you can go experience them on your own :)
And if the next time you can't remember your dream which got you so hyped up, don't bother using half of your day trying to remember them, your brain didn't even store it. ;}
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