The Strange Science Of Dreams

The dream in which August Kekule discovered the chemical structure of benzene is one of the most well-known dreams in history. But for most of us, dreaming is more than just finding new chemistry. People have been trying to figure out why we dream for years and we have yet to find the answer.

According to researchers, dreams could serve a range of functions that affect our chances of surviving, our IQ, and even our degree of success! In fact, we dream for about two hours each night. It seems obvious that dreams serve a natural purpose, or else we wouldn't dream for so long. Women are more likely than men to remember dreams on a daily basis, with nearly 50% of us being able to recollect at least one dream per week.

While we sleep, the brain goes through many processes that are repeated throughout the night. As we go from awake to sleep in the first stage, you begin to relax and your breathing slows down. When your body temperature drops and your breathing gets even slower, you enter a light slumber. Afterwards, you enter the deep sleep stage, which is identified by the presence of delta waves. Then, the "rapid eye movement" (REM) sleep stage starts.

Your eyes dart around, and your breathing starts to quicken. REM sleep is when dreams happen. Additionally, your brain is incredibly busy during this phase—nearly as active as it is while you are awake! Almost all other animals sleep, such as wombats, whales, and wildebeests. Many of them also experience REM sleep.

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the prevalent perspective on dreams was that they contained secret meanings that needed to be understood or deciphered. Sigmund Freud released his seminal work "Interpretation of Dreams" in 1900. He asserted in it that understanding unconscious wants may be achieved through dream interpretation. It was a simple theory that revolved around the idea that our dreams reflect our wants that remain unfulfilled while we are awake.

Carl Jung also further developed Freud's ideas. He believed that dreams could be understood more easily if we could figure out how to decipher the language of dreams, which involved universal symbols many people envisioned. Dreams served two purposes, according to Jung: they made up for things that the dreamer suppressed or ignored, and they also provided clues about potential future events.

Still, science has evolved past Freud and Jung. Researchers are currently examining the potential benefits and purposes that dreaming may have for our brains. Initially, scientists thought that the bizarre combination of images, narratives, and occurrences we dreamed were the byproducts of fundamental biological functions in our brains. Researchers hypothesized that in an attempt to make sense of the chaos, other brain regions created that crazy presentation into a narrative. This theory of dreaming is known as the Activation-Synthesis Theory.

However, research has shown that dreams are not purely arbitrary. We are more likely to see certain things in our dreams than others. This leads people to believe that dreams aren't just nonsense and instead actually necessary for brain health. Oftentimes, our dreams are related to our waking activities—especially when we're learning something new. Think about this: Only when our everyday experiences are repeatedly replayed in our dreams—can they possibly become ingrained in our long-term memory.

Brain activity patterns immediately following a dream bear similarities to the way our brains store memories. Therefore, dreams might be a kind of memory replay of our experiences, with a bizarre layer for entertainment value. In order to test this, researchers had participants play Tetris for seven hours over the course of three days. After playing Tetris for a long time, the participants said they saw themselves playing the game again, trying to ingrain different new skills into their long-term memory.

But it's not just about games and entertainment. Nightmares can also emerge from our dreams. So why do our imaginations recreate our scariest fears? The Threat-Simulation Theory states that dreams allow us to "practice" potentially dangerous situations and events. This explains why some people's dreams replay tragic events. The brain practices in this way to make us prepared for frightening situations.

In addition, we also rehearse social scenarios when we dream. That is the dream's Social Simulation Theory. Scientists found out that our dreams are heavy on social situations: a fight with a best friend, a date with a crush, a conflict with a coworker, or not wearing pants to school. It would have been an evolutionary advantage to have practiced these scenarios because social interaction is vital to the human species.

Dreams are a peculiar experience that can also be utilized to solve problems. A quarter of college students who were given a homework assignment to work on before going to bed each night imagined the solution in less than a week. Because dreams aren't constrained by logic or physics, for example, they're an excellent place to solve problems and come up with original, often bizarre, answers! Researchers are even testing a technique called "Dream Incubation" to stimulate the brain's creative faculties prior to sleep.

Now, you might be wondering which theory is correct then? Is it for survival, practicing various situations, seeing the future, or is it just helpful for problem solving? Research is still ongoing for dreams because scientists are unsure if these theories will turn out to be accurate. One of the most difficult issues in psychology and neuroscience is trying to understand how the brain functions while we sleep, yet one dream at a time, we're gaining a deeper and deeper understanding of the science of dreaming!