• Question: Why Do We Dream?

    Asked by anon-199056 to Srinath, Natasha, Nana, Luisa, Gautam, Alex on 12 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: Natasha Dowey

      Natasha Dowey answered on 12 Mar 2019:

      I like to think that we dream as a way of our brain processing everything that it sees and experiences during the day. Our brain is so complex, our senses are constantly exposed to so much all around us, maybe it needs to tidy it up when we’re sleeping- I saw an article recently that said our brain gets cleaned while we sleep, perhaps dreams are a part of that cleaning process!
      https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/feb/09/best-thing-you-can-do-for-your-health-sleep-well

    • Photo: Alexander Allen

      Alexander Allen answered on 12 Mar 2019:

      Interesting question and scientists don’t know the true reason but there are a few competing ideas out there that make a lot of sense.

      As Natasha already said, dreaming is often thought of as a cleaning process for the brain allowing it to wake up uncluttered. This is not an idea of cluttered with thoughts but more cluttered with the residual chemicals that we build up through a day of thinking and controlling our bodies.

      Other ideas say that this is where loser connections can be made in the mind. You have so much stimulus all day with the things around you and you learn about the world be connecting these things. The thought process can continue while you sleep and this is especially useful in young children or babies, where new connections are made constantly.

      Dreaming is definitely in some way related to what you have seen in the recent past as people often dream of people they know and have seen recently so there is definitely evidence for that.

      Finally, also interestingly, your body paralyzes itself while it is asleep so that your body doesn’t act out the dreams. This mechanism can fail slightly in that if it doesn’t paralyse properly you can end up sleep walking. Sometimes it paralyses without you being asleep. This is something called “sleep paralysis”. Some people suffer now and again and it can be unpleasant but it’s a somewhat common phenomenon

    • Photo: Srinath Kasturirangan

      Srinath Kasturirangan answered on 13 Mar 2019:

      Dreams also helps with forming and retaining memory. You may recall an event that happened in your life, maybe even when you were quite young rather vividly in your dream that you may not give a second thought to in your awake state. I ALWAYS dream of my the day before my Physics exams and I ALWAYS wake up sweating! So you relive your worst fears (or your life’s best moments) in your dreams. Some people remember their dreams rather vividly (like I do) but others dont remember what they dreamed about even though they would have loudly vocalized it in their sleep! Interesting question!

Comments