10 curiosities about dreams revealed by science

The hidden side of dreams.

When we sleep, we also dream. At least in some specific phases of sleep, in which we imagine unreal situations. unreal situationsunreal situations, a product of our unconscious. These dreams can be emotional, magical or strange, and can even be chilling, like nightmares.

Although psychoanalysis has long provided the basis for dream interpretation, scientific research into the world of dreams has not yet been able to determine exactly why we dream, nor do we know what causes us to dream certain things.

About what (little) we already know about them, here we leave you with these 10 curiosities about dreams discovered by science.

10 curiosities about dreams revealed by science

Several scientific researches bring us different conclusions about the world of dreams. Let's get to know them, let's start!

1. We dream, on average, more than 6 years throughout our lives.

From the moment we are born, we dream. All people dream: it's something common in our species, and in case you're wondering, even those who say they don't dream (they simply don't remember (they simply don't remember their dreams, but that doesn't mean they don't dream). Research shows that we dream during the night in periods of between 5 to twenty minutes.

Adding up all these small periods over an average lifetime, we can say that we spend approximately six years dreaming.

2. Most dreams are quickly forgotten

The sleep scientist Allan Hobson revealed, based on his many studies on the subject, that up to 95% of dreams are forgotten. 95% of dreams are quickly forgottenwithin a few minutes after waking up.

So, the question arises: Why is it so complicated to remember the content of dreams?

The explanation has been verified in different experiments. It seems that the changes that occur in the brain during the hours when we dream are not consistent with the way we routinely process information to provide information to memory. Brain scans of individuals who sleep many hours during the night have shown that the frontal lobes, brain areas that play a key role in shaping memory and memories, remain inactive during the REM phase of sleepthe very moment when we dream.

3. Men and women: different ways of dreaming

Several studies have found certain differences in the way women and men dream. Most of all, the differences lie in the content of dreams.

Apparently, men report more cases of dreams in which they experience scenes of aggression. Women, on the other hand, tend to have slightly longer dreams, and of a somewhat greater complexity (more details, characters, situations...). In terms of who appears to us in our dreams, men dream of other men twice as often as women, men dream about other men twice as often as women do.. Women dream of characters of both sexes equally.

4. Some dreams are in black and white

Approximately eight out of ten dreams are "in color", but there is a small percentage of the population that claims to dream in black and white.but there is a small percentage of the population that claims to dream without color, that is, in black and white.

In research investigating the issue of color in dreams, experimental subjects were asked to select colors that matched the dream they had just had on a chart, and soft pastel colors were the most commonly reported. It would seem, then, that we tend to dream in pastel shades. we tend to dream in pastel shades.

5. Do animals dream? Everything points to the fact that they do

Many people have observed how their pet moves its tail, legs or mouth while sleeping. The explanation for these movements may be that animals also dream, although the fact that animals dream is a difficult hypothesis to prove. a hypothesis that is difficult to prove. Researchers believe that they do dream, and even dare to claim that they go through stages of REM and non-REM sleep, just as humans do.

One of the most important scientific evidences of dreaming comes from the study of a gorilla that mastered gestural and sign language. At a given moment when he was asleep, he communicated gesturally some images of what he was dreaming.

6. Can dreams be controlled? Lucid dreams

Have you ever heard of lucid dreams? It is the phenomenon that occurs when, despite being asleep, we are aware that we are dreaming. Those who have experienced this kind of dream are able to control and guide the content of the dream.

Approximately 50% of the population remembers having experienced a lucid dream at least once in their lives. Some people even have the ability to control their dreams on a fairly regular basis.

• Everything you need to know about lucid dreaming by reading this article: "The benefits of lucid dreaming".

7. Negative emotions are more common than positive emotions in dreams.

One of the leading exponents of dream research, Calvin Hall, recorded more than 50,000 dreams of students over half a century.

This very extensive dream archive revealed many of the emotions and sensations we experience during sleep, such as joy, fear, anger.... But the most commonly reported emotion was anxiety and, in general, negative emotions, negative emotions (fear, hopelessness, sadness) prevailed over positive emotions.

8. Blind people also dream

Blind people, in spite of not being able to see, also dream. Blind people who became blind at some point in their lives have the ability to reproduce images and visual content in their dreams. reproduce images and visual content in their dreams.

In the case of people who have been blind since birth, their dreams are somewhat different: they represent their dreams through other senses, such as smell, hearing or the sensation of touch.

9. Women also dream about sex

A study revealed that, contrary to what we usually think, women dream just as much about sex as men do.

However, it seems that the situations depicted in female and male dreams vary a littleWomen dream about famous men, while men report more dreams in which they have sex in exciting situations.

10. There are dream contents that we all dream (universal dreams).

Some dreams are common to all humans. A large number of dreams are influenced by each person's personal experiences, but although it is strange, researchers have revealed that there are certain recurring themes in our dreams, regardless of cultural differences.

For example, it seems that all people dream of being chased, being attacked, or falling into a void. Other universal dreams are experiences in the school setting, feeling immobile, or the embarrassment of finding oneself naked in public.

Bibliographical references:

• Martin Dresler, Stefan P. Koch, Renate Wehrle, Victor I. Spoormaker, Florian Holsboer, Axel Steiger, Philipp G. Sämann, Hellmuth Obrig, Michael Czisch; "Dreamed Movement Elicits Activation in the Sensorimotor Cortex." Current Biology, 21, (1-5) November 8, 2011, DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2011.09.029
• Empson, J. (2002). Sleep and dreaming (3rd ed.). New York: Palgrave/St. Martin's Press. Hall, C., & Van de Castle, R. (1966). The Content Analysis of Dreams. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
• Schredl, M., Ciric, P., Götz, S., & Wittmann, L. (2004). Typical dreams: Stability and gender differences. The Journal of Psychology 138 (6): 485.