When we sleep, too we dream At least in some specific phases of the dream, in which we imagine unreal situations, a product of our unconscious. These dreams can be emotional, magical or strange, and they can even be chilling, like nightmares.
Although Psychoanalysis has been providing the bases for the interpretation of dreams for a long time, scientific research into the world of dreams has not yet been able to determine exactly why we dream nor do we know what causes us to dream certain things in particular.
Regarding what (little) we already know about them, here we leave you these 10 curiosities about dreams discovered by science
Various scientific investigations bring us different conclusions about the world of dreams. Let’s get to know them. Let us begin!
1. We dream, on average, more than 6 years throughout our lives
Since we are born, we dream. All people dream: it is common in our species, and in case you are wondering, Those who say they don’t also dream (they simply do not remember dreams, but this does not mean that they do not dream). Research shows that we dream during the night in periods of between 5 to twenty minutes.
Adding all these small periods throughout an average life, we can say that we spend approximately six years dreaming.
2. Most dreams are quickly forgotten
Sleep scientist Allan Hobson revealed, based on his multiple studies on the subject, that even 95% of dreams are quickly forgotten a few minutes after waking up.
So, it is worth asking: Why is it so difficult to remember the content of dreams?
The explanation has been verified in different experiments. It seems that the changes that occur in the brain during the hours we dream are not consistent with the way we routinely process information to provide information to memory. Brain scans of individuals who sleep many hours a night have shown that the frontal lobes, areas of the brain that play a key role in shaping memory and memories, remain inactive during sleep. REM phase of sleep just the moment we dream.
3. Men and women: different ways of dreaming
Several studies have found certain differences in the way women and men dream. Above all, the differences lie in the dream content
Apparently, men report more cases of dreams in which they experience scenes of aggression. Women, for their part, tend to have slightly longer dreams, and of somewhat greater complexity (more details, characters, situations…). As for who appears to us in dreams, Men dream about other men twice as often as women They dream of characters of both sexes equally.
4. Some dreams are black and white
Approximately eight out of ten dreams are “in color” but there is a small percentage of the population who claims to dream without colors, that is, in black and white.
In research investigating the issue of color in dreams, experimental subjects were required to select colors that matched the dream they had just had on a chart, and soft pastel colors were the most commonly noted. It seems, then, that we tend to dream in pastel tones
5. Do animals dream? Everything points to yes
Many people have observed how their pet moves its tail, legs or mouth while sleeping. The explanation for these movements may be that animals also dream, although the fact that animals dream is a hypothesis difficult to prove Researchers believe that they do dream, and even dare to affirm that they go through, like humans, stages of REM and non-REM sleep.
One of the greatest scientific evidence that dreams come from the study of a gorilla who mastered gesture and sign language. At one point when he was asleep, he gesturally communicated some images of what he was dreaming about.
6. Can sleep be controlled? lucid dreams
Have you heard about the lucid dreaming? It is the phenomenon that occurs when, despite being asleep, we are aware that we are dreaming Those who have experienced these types of dreams are able to control and guide the content of the dream.
Approximately 50% of the population remembers experiencing a lucid dream at least once in their life. There are even people who have the ability to control their dreams quite regularly.
7. Negative emotions are more common than positive ones in dreams
One of the greatest exponents of sleep research, Calvin Hall, recorded more than 50,000 dreams of students over half a century.
This very extensive archive of dreams revealed many of the emotions and sensations that we experience during sleep, such as joy, fear, anger… But the emotion that was most commonly observed was anxiety and, in general, negative emotions (fear, hopelessness, sadness) positive emotions predominated
8. Blind people dream too
Blind people, despite not being able to see, also dream. Those blind people who became blind at some point in their lives have the ability to play images and visual content in your dreams
In the case of those who were blind from birth, their dreams are somewhat different: they represent dreams through other senses, such as smell, hearing or the sensation of touch.
9. Women also dream about sex
Research revealed that, contrary to what we usually think, women dream about sex as much as men.
However, it seems that the situations described in female and male dreams vary a little: Women dream about famous men, while men report more dreams about having sex in exciting situations.
10. There are dream contents that we all dream (universal dreams)
Some dreams are common to all humans A large number of dreams are influenced by each person’s personal experiences, but although it is strange, researchers have revealed that there are certain recurring themes in our dreams, regardless of cultural differences.
For example, it seems that all of us dream of being chased, of being attacked, or of falling into the void. Others universal dreams They are experiences at school, feeling immobile, or the shame of finding oneself naked in public.
