Though we didn’t focus on something specific, we dream! Even
if we tried anything, no guarantee that it occur! We know every one of us dream,
but none can recall everything. Doesn’t it very strange part of life..? This is
the one of the big, long lasting and very curious question kept pending, intern
this was supposed to be my first blog post, but unfortunately dragged since
2010. No luck yet (I meant no answer!) Then what this post for..? Might be
because of this it was dragged so far and led to impotent in cutting
the sources which I researched. Again all I can say is articles on psychologytoday.com
Dreams are highly visual, focused, confusing and unclear. Dreams have been seen as a connection to the unconscious. It can include any of the thoughts, images and emotions that are experienced during sleep. (Briefed why it is unclear in physiological theory below)
When it occurs?
In the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep - when brain activity is high and resembles that of being awake; but our muscles suffer temporary paralysis. REM sleep is revealed by continuous movements of the eyes during sleep. At times, dreams may occur during other stages of sleep. However, these dreams tend to be much less memorable.
Dreams can last for a few seconds, or as long as twenty minutes. People are more likely to remember the dream if they are awakened during the REM phase. The average person has about 3 to 5 dreams per night, but some may have up to 7 dreams in one night. The dreams tend to last longer as the night progresses. During a full 8-hour night sleep, two hours of it is spent dreaming.
What makes us to dream?
Two different theories that support, as to why we dream:
physiological and the psychological theory
The
physiological theory centers upon how
our body, specifically our brains functions during the REM phase of sleep.
Proponents of this theory believe that we dream to exercise the synapses, or
pathways, between brain cells, and that dreaming takes over where the active
and awake brain leaves off. When awake, our brains constantly transmit and
receive messages, which course through our billions of brain cells to their
appropriate destinations, and keep our bodies in perpetual motion. Dreams
replace this function.
Two
underpinning physiological facts go towards supporting this theory of dreams.
The first lies in the fact that the first two or so years of one’s life, the
most formative ones for learning, are also the ones in which the most REM sleep
occurs. It follows that during this time of the greatest REM sleep, we
experience the greatest number of dreams. The second physiological fact that
lends credence to this theory is that our brain waves during REM sleep, as
recorded by machines measuring the brain's electrical activity, are almost
identical in nature to the brain waves during the hours we spend awake. This is
not the case during the other phases of sleep.
Psychological
theories of dreams focus upon our
thoughts and emotions, and speculate that dreams deal with immediate concerns
in our lives, such as unfinished business from the day, or concerns we are
incapable of handling during the course of the day. Dreams can, in fact, teach
us things about ourselves that we are unaware of.
Our knowledge as to what causes us to dream is limited to the fact that dreams occur during the REM stage of sleep.