Question: Why do we dream

Peter Nguhiu answered on 5 Jul 2017:

Interesting question with a variety of theories. Well, guess what – scientists don’t know exactly why!

Let’s try and give some pointers. In the ancient days people thought that dreams (and premonitions and visions etc) were means of communicating with the spiritual world. I don’t have proof of how true this is, unfortunately, but they thought it was important. So in Mesopotamia, Babylon and the early organised civilizations they sought to keep records of dreams – employing ‘expert’ dream interpreters to seek insights from these dreams. Do you know of any story from history, of such an attempt to interpret dreams? I know of a couple for instance in the Bible, the Koran…

Early in the 20th century some psychologists thought that dreams were a means to demonstrate subconscious desires and thoughts – of which the most basic (ego) are to survive and procreate. That’s why one of them (Freud) is famous for his theory of dreams – he wrote a book called The Interpretation of Dreams in 1899. I haven’t read it though.. would you be interested in reading it?

Some current theories suggest that dreaming is:
– A component and form of memory processing, aiding in the consolidation of learning and short-term memory to long-term memory storage.
– An extension of waking consciousness, reflecting the experiences of waking life.
– A means by which the mind works through difficult, complicated, unsettling thoughts, emotions, and experiences, to achieve psychological and emotional balance.
– The brain responding to biochemical changes and electrical impulses that occur during sleep.
– A form of consciousness that unites past, present and future in processing information from the first two, and preparing for the third.
– A protective act by the brain to prepare itself to face threats, dangers and challenges.

Some neuroscientists reckon that dreams come from signals originating from the brain stem (you can call this the hind brain) during a phase of sleep called Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. REM sleep is a phase of sleep that’s characterised by, well, rapid movement of eyes and other skeletal muscles. But recently other neuroscientists (one called Solms in 2000 specifically) have cast doubt on the association between REM sleep and dreams. Therefore we’re still unsure what stimulates dreams. This link here http://www.goertzel.org/dynapsyc/2005/ZhangDreams.htm provides another theory on this, that tries to combine the recent findings.

But dreams are good things! It’s thought that they help consolidate our memories, especially linking long term memories with other related memories. Others say that dreams help create a logical narrative from routine sensations, allowing us to be better at reacting to unfamiliar stimuli (and thus conferring us a survival advantage). Others have credited dreams for their innovations and creative products. Perhaps you have once dreamt that you were a scientist – and look at you now! Asking really scientific questions!

Finally, it’s important to note that drugs and alcohol can affect dreaming. Alcohol disrupts the normal, healthy sleep cycle and leads to fragmented sleep. Consuming alcohol heavily and too close to bedtime may alter and diminish time spent in REM sleep.