Why Do We Dream

Our dreams are so incredible that they can convince us they are authentic, evoking intense feelings of fear, dismay, love, excitement, and arousal. But why we dream is a mystery on a neurological level.

One thing that is for sure is that Greek philosopher Aristotle's idea that some dreams are caused by indigestion is inaccurate. Dreams result from an active brain during REM sleep, with high-frequency brain waves driving them.

This article explores why we dream, providing colour on research, scientific ideas, and the sleep stages responsible for dreams.

Let's jump in!

Memory and emotion consolidation

The consensus among the scientific community is that dreams help us consolidate and analyse memories and emotions. This could be a rehearsal for situations, helping us prepare mentally for stressful and unusual moments.

It is also apparent that some dreams give us déjà vu when we are awake, making it appear as though we have already done or said something.

This ties in with the idea that the brain uses dreams to prepare us for challenges, situations, and emotions, with déjà vu a sign of successful preparation. Déjà vu means your brain has successfully predicted a situation you will experience.

Research shows that during REM sleep, the hippocampus - a brain region associated with memory – jumps into overdrive.

Simply put, dreaming is necessary to process memories and emotions, so a lack of REM sleep can impact your cognitive ability. We also see hippocampus damage in Alzheimer's, a brain disorder that destroys memory and thinking skills.

Sigmund Freud’s analysis

The late famous American neurologist Sigmund Freud believed that dreams represent unconscious desires, thoughts, wish fulfillment, and motivations. Could our dreams reflect our desires in real life?

Freud's interpretation is the driving force behind people trying to find meaning in dreams, much like when people read horoscopes.

This theory has serious weight because we often dream about what we want most. For instance, dreaming about an imaginary love suggests you yearn for love or wish you paid more attention to those you love.

REM sleep and dreams

We also know that vivid dreaming occurs during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is cycled alongside NREM stage 2 and NREM stage 3 sleep.

During REM sleep, brain activity explodes to levels like when we are awake, so it makes no wonder many of our dreams are so vivid.

REM sleep is responsible for memory consolidation, driven by low-voltage, high-frequency brainwave activity as our sleep cycles continue, REM sleep increases, with our brains managing the neural connections that maintain our memory. 

NREM sleep and dreams

You can have dreams in NREM sleep and daydream in NREM stage 1. Daydreams are when we consciously think about things, such as counting sheep or going to outer space, which can lead to us falling asleep.

For example, NREM stage 1 is the lightest sleep to allow daydreaming. It lasts for around ten minutes and then cycles to NREM stage 2, which accounts for approximately 50% of total rest, with the brain producing rapid bursts of rhythmic brainwaves.

During this stage 2, you become less aware of your surroundings, your eye movements stop, and your dreams become more intense.

However, dreams in NREM sleep are less lucid and vivid, and your unconscious state alters them. REM sleep is different because it has vivid dreams that flow without any ability to pick and choose what happens.

Summing up

We dream in all sleep stages, but our dreams are most vivid during REM sleep when the brain runs high-frequency brainwaves like when awake.

Dreams are responsible for emotional processing and memory consolidation, helping prepare us for the things we experience in real life. As Sigmund Freud says, some dreams can also symbolise what we want most.

If you enjoyed this article, read these interesting facts about dreams.