"EXPLORING THE SCIENCE OF DREAMS"

Dreams have fascinated humans for centuries, and while they are a universal human experience, the scientific study of dreams, known as oneirology, has been challenging due to the elusive nature of dreams. Dreams cannot be held, tasted, or seen by others, and asking people to recall their dreams often leads to unreliable results, with an estimated 95% of dreams being forgotten, especially within the first 10 minutes of having them. However, researchers at the University of Chicago made a groundbreaking discovery in 1952 when they identified a unique type of electrical activity that occurs during a certain stage of a person's sleep. This stage is known as Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, and when researchers awoke people during this stage, they almost always reported that they had been dreaming. Additionally, during REM sleep, people's eyeballs move rapidly, mimicking the way the brain acts when it's awake, but with the production of certain chemicals inside the brain mostly blocked. This causes the muscles to stop moving, which is why people can dream about flying, running around, or fighting ninjas, but their body doesn't move.

While achieving a lucid dream is quite elusive, it is possible to wake up and not be able to move your body because you are still in REM atonia. On the flip side, you can also be inside a dream and know that you are dreaming, a phenomenon known as lucid dreaming. Researchers were able to deprive mice of REM sleep by using an inverted inside a tub of water, meaning that the mouse was only able to sit right on top of this little tiny surface. When mice are not allowed to achieve REM sleep, they have an incredible amount of trouble remembering things. This happens in humans too; if people remember word pairs and then don't allow them to sleep the next day, their memory for that stuff is incredibly terrible. However, if a person learns a difficult new task during the day, their brain replays those electronic impulses while they sleep that night, strengthening connections from the day before that we need in the future.

There are many popular theories about why we dream, and most of them are variations on the idea that while we sleep, the unconscious part of our brain is busy organizing memories and strengthening connections from the day before that we need in the future. This way of thinking suggests that dreams are an epiphenomenon, not a primary process that has a purpose. Instead, they are the accidental result of a more important process that is going on behind the conscious brain. Therefore, our cortex tries its best to create a cohesive story, creating a dream. This would explain why dreams are often so fantastic and seemingly random. They're not supposed to make sense; they're not an actual message from our brain.

However, some researchers believe that dreams serve a primary purpose, and that purpose is to prepare us for threats. This theory suggests that back when humans were early humans, they had no idea what kind of threats they might encounter during the day. To prepare for this, the brain would simulate anxieties while we slept to make us better prepared for that feeling in the real world. People who had terrifying dreams were better at dealing with anxiety in the real world and had stronger genes. The most prevalent emotions felt during dreams are negative, abandonment, anger, and anxiety.

The theories discussed so far are quite popular, but they do not enjoy a consensus, and not everyone agrees on them. They barely scratch the surface of scientific thought about dreams. However, that's what makes dreams so intriguing. Despite the many theories, we still don't know for sure why we dream or for what reason. Dreams remain a fascinating and elusive phenomenon, with many remaining mysteries yet to be uncovered.

In conclusion, although dreams have been studied for many years, they remain an elusive and fascinating subject. The scientific study of dreams, known as oneirology, has made some significant discoveries, such as identifying the unique electrical activity that occurs during REM sleep. While there are many theories about why we dream, no consensus has been reached. Dreams remain a universal human experience that continues to fascinate and intrigue scientists and laypeople alike.