Seeking an answer to the age-old question.
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The Neuroscience of Dreams
Did you know that the dreaming brain is not actually resting?
According to neuroscientists, dreaming is a highly active neurological process that demands more blood flow and brain activity than our states of wakefulness.
Neuroscience claims that dreaming is a purely chemical process.
The highly realistic multi-sensory experiences that we call dreams are the result of chemical changes within our brains during certain phases of sleep.
When our brains enter the REM phase, there is a significant change in brain chemistry.
Brain cells in charge of memory and reflective thinking get turned off.
That is why — when dreaming — our brains have a difficult time remembering activities, directing thoughts, and engaging in analytical problem-solving tasks.
As a result of these chemical changes, our brains start to generate internal hallucinatory realities.
Our thought-processing starts to become associative instead of logical.
The limbic system becomes more active, thus turning our dreams into emotional experiences.
Most neuroscientists agree that the main purpose of dreaming is to foster the advancement and consolidation of procedural learning.
Additionally, through dreaming, our brains get to update our memories and help with our survival by allowing certain scenarios to play out in our heads.
Let us pause for a moment and contemplate the following question:
How many times have you been completely still in your dreams?
The answer is probably never.
According to neuroscientists, dreams help our survival through a sense of constant movement.
Most of the time, we are looking for something, running away from someone, or traveling somewhere.
This type of dynamic engagement of our movement systems (such as fighting and fleeing) helps us revise and revive these survival aids.
In a nutshell, neuroscience tells us that dreams have an evolutionary purpose, and that it all boils down to the chemicals in our brains.
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Questions about Why Do We Dream?
Why do I have vivid dreams?
Dreams feel more vivid when you wake up during or right after REM sleep, and after stress, sleep loss or some medications. Remembering them more often also makes them seem more vivid.
How long is the Why Do We Dream? lesson?
About 20 minutes of reading in all, in short parts of about five minutes. Read one a day, or go at your own pace in the Mind app.
Is the Why Do We Dream? lesson free?
The beginning is free to read on this page. The rest comes with a Mind subscription in the app.
Do I need experience before starting the Why Do We Dream? lesson?
No. It starts from the basics and builds step by step, so you can begin today whether you are new to the topic or not.
