Why Do We Dream?-The BBC Horizon documentary filmtells us a very detailed account of what sleep is and the types that are normally associated with it. We are told that there are two kinds of sleep; REM and non-REM. REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement, and this is the kind of sleep in which intense and really vivid dreams are generated. REM accounts for about one third of the entire sleep duration, during REM the brain’s amygdale is a lot more active and the eyes are rapidly moving inside the sockets. Usually nightmares and other highly depressive dreams come during this time which usually starts early in the morning.
Non-REM dreams are not so vivid, and usually do not have such strong repercussions on a person’s psychology. It has been shown that dreams highly influence the events of everyday life, experiments showed that a person who predominantly had bad dreams about women eventually ended up getting divorced. Dreams are also reconstructions of living moments, and they help you in coping with the situation better after you’ve dreamt it (as in the case of video games, the brain reconstructs it in your dream and the next time you play it, you’ll obviously be better).
Dreams are in many ways beneficial for us, since many modern inventions and even classic art was created as a result of dreaming. Scientists and artists obsessed about something and eventually they figured out a way to do it right.
Dreams 'can help with learning'Napping after learning something new could help you commit it to memory - as long as you dream, scientists say.
They found people who dream about a new task perform it better on waking than those who do not sleep or do not dream.
Volunteers were asked to learn the layout of a 3D computer maze so they could find their way within the virtual space several hours later.
Those allowed to take a nap and who also remembered dreaming of the task, found their way to a landmark quicker.
The researchers think the dreams are a sign that unconscious parts of the brain are working hard to process information about the task.
Dr Robert Stickgold of Harvard Medical School, one of the authors of the paper, said dreams may be a marker that the brain is working on the same problem at many levels.
He said: "The dreams might reflect the brain's attempt to find associations for the memories that could make them more useful in the future."
Study tips
Co-author Dr Erin Wamsley said the study suggests our non-conscious brain works on the things that it deems are most important.
"Every day we are gathering and encountering tremendous amounts of information and new experiences," she said.
"It would seem that our dreams are asking the question, 'How do I use this information to inform my life?"
The research, published in the academic journal Cell Biology, could have practical implications.
The scientists say there may be ways to take advantage of this phenomenon for improving learning and memory.
For example, students might be better studying hard before bedtime, or taking a nap after a period of afternoon study.