The meaning of dreams

Dreams

Why do we dream?

Dreams are a part of sleep – and everyone has them. The most recent science is clear: there is no sleep without dreaming. Although this is the case, many of us can no longer remember our dreams when we wake up. The reason for this seems to be that the brain needs the time just after waking up to power up fully. During this period (approximately 15 minutes), the memory is not yet firing on all cylinders, and cannot store our dreams for the long term.
But why do we dream at all, if we can barely remember our dreams anyway? In this blog article, we investigate the function of dreaming and give you some tips for dealing with nightmares.

Another form of consciousness

When we are awake, the brain produces a great many predictions, and compares them with the sensory stimuli from our surroundings. When we sleep, the brain is also uninterruptedly active. Predictions are generated in this condition too, but in this case, they cannot be compared with data from the outside world – so they are projected as dreams instead.
The hypothesis is that we primarily dream, very intensively, in the REM (rapid eye movement) phase of sleep. In general, many different parts of the brain are active when we dream. If, for example, something is said in the dream, the language centre activates; if movements are made, the motor cortex becomes active. Nature has come up with a solution to allow us to continue to lie peacefully in these intense, active phases: the impulses the brain sends to the muscle cells are actively blocked in the brainstem.

What do we dream?

Mostly we dream about things that we have experienced during the day. Of course, they are not repeated one-to-one, but are mixed with other subjects. Old information is conflated with new, and mental images are created. This is often how a very creative dream occurs. Information is processed and also stored.

Why do we dream?

Unfortunately, this question cannot be answered in full. Research hypothesises that dreaming may represent a sort of information-processing optimisation, by dismantling synaptic networks that have been created but are too weak. This could help us to sort important information from what is unimportant. Other research groups surmise that dreaming has a problem-solving function. In dreams, we can imaginatively run through different options for dealing with the issue, which could then prove helpful when we are awake.

Dream research is very challenging because, in order to obtain the dream information, you need to ask people after the event, and in that case it becomes difficult – virtually impossible, in fact – to assess whether the dream itself has an effect, or whether talking about it does.

Troubled by nightmares

Do bad dreams sometimes wake you up? We awaken with a start due to the strong negative emotions in nightmares, and we are much better able to remember this precisely because we wake up in a dream phase. Nightmares can have very different causes. One factor that can absolutely play a role is stress. If you are currently feeling stressed, you may very well have bad dreams for this reason. If so, it is important to try and reduce your stress levels. Take a look at our page about stress to get some interesting information and helpful tips.

What else can I do to prevent nightmares?

One exercise that may help you is consciously grappling with the dream. Take a few minutes and go through the dream in your head once more. You could even write it down. Then ask yourself the following questions: how can I change the situation? If, for example, you are dreaming about being chased, you could imagine that there are other people present whom you could ask for help. Or that you don’t run away, but you confront the person or being coming after you. In this way you will develop a positive coping strategy. Do this exercise for five to ten minutes per day for two weeks. As a rule, the nightmare will change as a result.

Would you like to learn more about sleep? Then take a look at our Sleep heading.

References
Mast, F. & Ellis, A. (2019). Beim Träumen das Gehirn aufräumen. UniPress, 15-17.
Romberg, J. (n.d.) Ein kleiner Wegweiser durch die Welt der Träume. GEO. https://www.geo.de/magazine/geo-magazin/485-rtkl-traeumen-ein-kleiner-wegweiser-durch-die-welt-der-traeume
Schmid Lopardo, S. (2022, 21 September). Warum wir träumen und wie wir uns an Träume erinnern. iMpuls. https://impuls.migros.ch/de/entspannung/schlafen/besser-schlafen/traeumen
Schredl, M. (2014). Warum träumen wir? - Das subjektive Erleben während des Schlafes. Academics Forschung & Lehre. https://www.academics.ch/ratgeber/warum-traeumt-man