Fascinating Facts About Dreams: Mystery and Science

Fun facts about dreams: What about dreams?

Have you ever sat down somewhere someday and wondered why human dreams, and what exactly are dreams meant for? Well, there has been a lot of saying of course, and one of the most famous explanation is the one claimed by the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. “The dream is the (distinguished) fulfilment of a (suppressed, repressed) wish,” said Freud³. Some other theories regarding dreams stated that dreams are not from past, unresolved desires, but is in fact, a warning about our future, and one should be careful with the messages conveyed in dreams to prevent tragedy.

Figure 1: Dreaming about the future (Source: YouTube)

Nowadays, studies have shown that dreaming occurs during a state called rapid-eye movement (i.e., REM sleep), in which most, if not all the mammals experienced. Besides, many researchers have identified that dreaming actually mediates memory consolidation and mood regulation in people. Nevertheless, while the questions of “why human dreams” and “what exactly are dreams meant for” are still open to debate until this day, researchers have discovered or at least suggested some interesting facts about dreaming.

#1 Everyone dreams.

Researchers found out that people spend an average of 6 years (52560 hours!) dreaming during their lifetime². In usual cases, people can dream for one hour to two hours per night, with each dream lasting for five to twenty minutes on average. Having said that, we can have several dreams (some said four to seven dreams) in one night⁶!

#2 You forget most of your dreams.

Just like we mentioned above, everyone dreams occasionally, but why do some people claim that they have never had a dream or not remember having a dream where in fact they do? Well, it is because we forget almost 90% to 95% of the dreams soon after waking up². Most of the time, only a fraction of our dreams is remembered, and most of the details vanish quickly within 10 minutes after waking up. It is evidenced that some areas of the prefrontal cortex (involved in working memory) are inactive during REM sleep, therefore information processing and memory storage are not supported for changes in a deep sleep⁴.

Figure 3: Forgotten dreams (Source: Vector Stock)

#3 Animals probably dream too.

Figure 4: A sleeping cat (Source: Giphy)

Have you ever seen a sleeping cat? Sometimes, sleeping cats raise their heads, twitch their paws, or even arch their backs during their sleep, as if they are watching and reacting to certain images during deep sleep (REM), even though they may not be the real “dreams” that we know of⁵. Although the purpose of dreaming remains a mystery in human history, some animals, however, do experience REM sleep, and it is very likely and reasonable that animals have something similar to “dreams” during these REM sleeps that we (humans) are familiar with, because the involuntary movements of animals during sleep (i.e., twitching, low noises etc.) are believed to be the signs of dreaming⁵. Specifically, all mammals (including humans of course) have REM sleep, with some birds and reptiles also do, whereby insects and fish don’t⁷.

#4 Not everybody dreams in colour.

Figure 5: Soft pastel dream (Source: Tenor)

Research has suggested that 12% of sighted people have reported having a dream exclusively in black and white⁴. While studies before the 1950s suggest that the majority of dreams are in black and white, the statistics have changed greatly starting from the 1960s⁴. As time passes by, the number of coloured dreams is positively correlated with the years. In fact, research has stated that this correlation may be the result of the elimination of black and white television and the switch to coloured-image television. Today, with only 4.4% of the dreams reported to be in black and white among the under-25-age-group, many dreamers have recalled their dreams to be in soft pastel colour, where it is an almost neutral, soft and desaturated colour⁶.

#5 It is possible to control your dreams.

Have you ever been aware that you are dreaming during your sleep? Sometimes, you can direct and control the content of the dream, as if you are playing a game. This phenomenon is termed as lucid dreams, where it is believed to be a combination of both REM sleep and conscious state. In other words, a person who is said to be in lucid dreaming, has exhibited some or all of the following corollaries¹:

Figure 7: Dream control (Source: wikiHow)

#6 Negative emotions in dreams are common.

Figure 8: Negative emotions (Source: Medium)

According to an experiment conducted by Hall over 40 years, research has suggested that the most common emotion that people experienced in their dreams is anxiety, followed by other negative emotions, i.e., sadness, fear and anger, in general, compared to positive emotions^2;4.

#7 You are paralyzed when you’re dreaming.

Do you ever have the experience of “having a demon in your room”? That is, whether you are still in a sleeping state or have already woken up, but you find yourself “locked” on the bed, and no matter how hard you try, you are unable to move or speak for a few seconds to several minutes. This phenomenon is called sleep paralysis, where 8% to 50% of the people only experience it once or twice during their whole life, and in few cases, some may be a recurrent episode⁴. REM sleep is characterized by paralysis, where you will experience a temporary inability to move or speak⁴. Even though the experience may be terrifying, those who suffered are to be reassured that sleep paralysis is common and generally not serious, unless the circumstance has greatly influenced your daily lives². After all, the theory behind it is as simple as you can guess: Motor neurons are not yet stimulated and thus our body cannot move².

Figure 9: Common symptoms of sleep paralysis (Source: Verywell Health)

References

Barrett, D. (1992). Just how lucid are lucid dreams? Dreaming, 2(4), 221-228. doi: 10.1037/h0094362
Cherry, K. (2019). 10 interesting facts about dreams. Verywell Mind. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/facts-about-dreams-2795938
Freud, S. (1920). Dream Psychology: Psychoanalysis for Beginners. NY: Mondial.
Hurst, K. (2020). Why do we dream? 13 interesting facts about dreams. Law of Attraction. Retrieved from https://www.thelawofattraction.com/interesting-facts-about-dreams/
Langley, L. (2015). Do animals dream? National Geographic. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/09/150905-animals-sleep-science-dreaming-cats-brains/
Lina, D. (2016). 15 interesting facts about dreams. Bored Panda. Retrieved from https://www.boredpanda.com/15-interesting-facts-about-dreams-dreaming/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
Miller, K. (2012). FYI: Do animals dream? Popular Science. Retrieved from https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-01/do-animals-dream/
Psychology Today. (2020). Dreaming. Nightmares, REM. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/dreaming

Click me for FREE Mental Health Screenings

Like | Follow | Stay Connected

Facebook Instagram Twitter Be❦Live In Psychology is a mental health clinic at Empire City, Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya. Our services consist of therapy, assessment and training. WhatsApp us at +6018 – 206 7313 to make an appointment.