Taking a Look at the Science of Dreams

Throughout history, numerous people have studied the human body and its many functions. One area of the body that causes much confusion and controversy is the mind. Many parts of the brain baffle scientists, but a specific aspect of the mind that is fascinating and puzzling is dreams and their functions. It is surprising that an average person dreams for at least six years of their life, but scientists still do not know the role of dreaming (Shaw). Several theories have been presented to provide a reason for dreaming, and attempt to explain what most do not understand. Although dream research has been prominent lately, no agreement has been reached on which theory is correct on the purpose of dreams. Some believe that dreams are only

Why do we dream? What do our dreams mean? Dreams are a sequence of images, ideas, and feelings that involuntarily occur most commonly during the REM stage of sleep. They come in a wide variety of types, from the peculiar to the downright terrifying; the dreamer has no control over what they experience in their dreams. Though neurologists have been studying the human brain for decades, we still don’t fully know why we dream or what their significance is. Some psychologists theorize that dreams are closely linked to our subconscious mind, expressing our deepest fears or desires, allowing us to be what we cannot be. Others believe that dreams serve no function at all and are simply our imaginations running wild. In the words of Sigmund Freud, the founding father of psychoanalysis, “The dream is the liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature, a detachment of the soul from the fetters of matter.” (The Interpretation of Dreams)

Dreaming, although a substantial component of our nighttime lives, remains somewhat of an enigma due to the fact that it occurs while we are unconscious. The inaccessibility of the unconscious mind weakens full analysis and comprehension of dreaming which researchers have been attempting to accomplish. However, over the years many researchers have elucidated many mysteries about dreams, such as when we dream, why we dream, and what we dream about, in order to bring forth an understanding of dreams as well as identify

To many people, dreams are the thoughts that occur while sleeping, having almost mystic qualities. For millennia the significance of dreams has escaped even the brightest of philosophers and intellectuals. Many people have speculated about why people dream and what meanings the dreams have but in recent times two theories have gained credibility in answering those questions. The first theory is Sigmund Freuds and the other is known as the cognitive theory of dreams also known as biological determinism.

As we lay ourselves down every night to put our bodies to rest, our brains begin doing something extraordinary. It begins piecing together images, creating scenarios, simulating sensory perception, and adding in emotions and fears. They can make us wake up with a smile on our face or in a cold sweat. Dreaming is such a strange and often inexplicable phenomenon, but something we all do just about every night. People have theorized the process and the utility of dreams for centuries. However, much of the accepted knowledge we have a bout dreams today is still only theory. In fact, hardly anything about the dreaming experience is concrete because it is an experience

There are many theories about why we dream, some say dreams have no meaning or purpose, others say dreams are required for emotional, physical and mental health. According to the activation- synthesis model of dreaming theory circuits in the brain become activated during the REM cycle, which causes areas in the limbic system involved in memories, emotions and sensations become activated (verywell.com/why-do-we-dream-top-dream-theories-2795931). Sigmund Freud’s theory on dreams suggested that dreams represented unconscious desires, thoughts and motivations (verywell.com/Freudian-theory-2795845). Though these thoughts are not consciously expressed, Freud suggested they make their way into awareness via dreams.

Thesis Statement: Dreams are successions of images, emotions, and sensations that occur subconsciously during sleep.

Growing up everyone has experienced dreams, but in this exploratory essay I am going to break down dreams on many different levels to form a better understanding of why it is we have them. Throughout my years of dreaming I have always wondered why do I have dreams, why do I dream about certain people, and why do I have dreams some nights while other nights I don’t have any along with many other questions. How is it that our brains can make these very realistic depictions of our real life, and transfer them into a memory as we wake up? Another very peculiar aspect of dreaming is seeing people or places that do not look familiar to us at all. Throughout my research I have discovered the answers to these questions, and many other aspects of dreams. While I was searching for answers to my questions I found that there is a lot more to learn than I originally thought. I developed even more questions to feed my research along the way.

A dream, by definition, is a sequence of emotions, ideas, images, and sensations that involuntarily occur in the mind at various times; typically during the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep (American Heritage Dictionary, 2000). Throughout history, dreams have been the cause of much speculation; holding both philosophical and religious interests (Hobson, 2009). Before the days of scientific research, opinions varied regarding dreams, and their usefulness in psychotherapy. Dreams were often viewed as either being divinely inspired or having derived from a dark, evil source. Even in today’s scientifically advanced society; dreams are still not totally understood.

During sleep, conscious experience is driven by internally generated stimuli that have no apparent behavioral consequences. According to Freud, dreams symbolizes unconscious wishes and that analysis of dream symbols could uncover our hidden desires.

Sleep is often accompanied by the hallucinogenic state of dreaming comprised of lucid thoughts which can often seem like real life. Recently recorded studies and experiments have exposed the world of dreaming to physiatrists. Dreaming parallels many life experiences and is unique to each individual person. With the recent observations of lucid dreams and the studies of the REM sleep, this field has vastly improved its understanding and knowledge.

Personally, I have always found dreams to be fascinating and the article, “Dream on, Freud” by Sue Goetinck discusses the advances made in neuroscience regarding dreams. Dr. Edward Nersessian is a psychoanalyst who discusses what the scientific community has learned about dreams since Freud’s time. Freud assumed that people dream simply because their thoughts would keep them awake at night. Dr. Edward Nersessian agrees with some of Freud’s theories but quickly argues that how we interpret dreams is different then Freud had originally thought. During the time of Freud he was the only one who would interpret the dreams while today not only are the doctors and psychoanalyst interpreting but the patients as well. Today, the scientific community

When we go to sleep at night, our mind takes us into different places. Our mind creates these images, ideas, and sensations to shed light on the events that happened throughout the day or simply just things that we are unaware that we want. I can say that from my experiences with my dreams, that they are weird and funny; most of the time I can’t even remember the full dream. However, there are other times when my dreams leave me feeling as though, whatever I had dreamt about actually happened. Leaving me in a state of confusion. Sigmund Freud, wrote a book on dreams and his theories of the nature and mechanisms of dreams.

The average person sleeps around four months a year, begging the question why do humans dedicate such a large portion of our time asleep? One of the key components of sleep are dreams, many psychologists have attempted to figure out why dreams are beneficial to us, some of these theories include: Wish-fulfillment, problem solving, replay, and activation-synthesis. Through analyses of my dream, I will demonstrate that activation-synthesis is the most logical explanation as to why we dream.

Dreams have always occupied a curious place in human history. Granted, the modern day westerner might look at dreams as simply fantasies, hallucinations, illusions of the mind that rapture us in the night. But throughout history we find no shortage of cultures who have held an interesting relationship to dreams. Countless tribal cultures (such as the Aborigine’s of Australia, for one) found tremendous value in dreams; giving dreams an especially important place in their society and its rituals. And of course Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, the founding thinkers of psychoanalysis, saw dreams as expressing “the language of the unconscious”; and (for them) it was through dreams that we came to work out our psychological struggles, or confront our most primal impulses. Still others such as Dr. Stephen LaBerge (author of “The Art of Lucid Dreaming”) see dreams as avenues for our continued conscious development—even when we are sleeping. Lucid dreaming (a term denoted by LaBerge) is the practice of becoming conscious in one’s dreams—without physically waking up from them—enabling one to “take control” of their dreams. And still others will go so far as to assert some sort of “paranormal” significance to dreams, at least in cases when (for instance) someone dreams about a relative in trouble, only to find upon wakening that, in real life, they were.