Why do people dream, a theory.

I've been pondering this a couple days now, and I have a theory as to why people dream.

I've read some different reasons scientists think why we dream, and how we can solve problems in our dreams, or work out everyday issues. I thought this to be really plausible, then this afternoon I was observing one of my cats sleeping, he was dreaming at the time, and I wondered what he mint be dreaming about. Why do cats dream?

I don't think cats have much of an imagination, so I think they probably dream about everyday events, such as playing, running, maybe getting a treat. So, cats therefore don't solve problems in their sleep, nor do they work out issues of everyday life, yet, they still dream.

This got me thinking of what the brain is made up of, that we know about. Neurons, electrons, interconnected electrical impulses, and chemical inputs. So, I wonder if they only reason people, and animals dream is to keep the brain active during the dormant hours of sleep. Maybe without activity, the brain suffers from lack of use, so by dreaming, we are keeping the brain fresh and useful.

I also think some of us, that dream often, and have either dreams where we have breakthroughs to problems, or have lucid dreams in which we are aware and can influence the dreams to so e extent have begun to tap into the dormant side of sleep and use it to continue growth.

Anyway, it's just my little theory, what do y'all think?

xxxx
Prax

Sorry, but shouldn't axons be in there somewhere.

reply to post by America?


Sorry but shouldn't your reply to the OP have more substance in there somewhere?

reply to post by Praxilla


I was wondering the same thing when I watched my dog sleeping the other day. He was definitely in a dream, his legs were twitching like he was running, then he stopped and started chewing something in his sleep!!

As you can imagine this was hilarious to me, and i woke him up with a big smothering hug lol

You may want to check out one of my threads, It also has to do with sleep and what happens during the night : www.abovetopsecret.com...


Kind Regards,

GeminiSky

Even if we have slept, we need to actually dream for health. I wonder if it keeps part of our brains occupied so another part of it can work on the body and heal it, or grow when we are kids.

So many of our dreams are purely entertainment, and not solving anything. Brains needing exercise does make sense, I wonder what happens with coma patients. I remember reading about some guy that woke up after about 20 years or so, and he was healed. All that brain exercise maybe helped?

reply to post by Praxilla


Yes , i have read some of the reasons you have given as possible explanations for sleep/dreaming. It would seem that brain activity is localised when we sleep and that this lack of integrated brain activity, such as experienced during waking hours, is connected to our loss of consciousness .

I read somebody speculating that , in the dark , movement and vision are rendered virtually useless so our dreams comprise greater elements of movement and vision rather than sounds and smells. Dreaming of sounds/ smells would hinder our ability to react ,for example, to a sudden noise whilst we sleep, or the smell of something burning etc.
I don`t know about the veracity of such thoughts, but it certainly is a fascinating topic all the same.



edit:sp


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edit to add:
snowspirit:

I should of said that the levels of auditory and olfactory hallucinations would be lessened , rather than omitted entirely from dreams.
[edit on 27-6-2010 by UmbraSumus]

[edit on 27-6-2010 by UmbraSumus]

Originally posted by UmbraSumus
reply to post by Praxilla

 

I read somebody speculating that , in the dark , movement and vision are rendered virtually useless so our dreams comprise greater elements of movement and vision rather than sounds and smells. Dreaming of sounds/ smells would hinder our ability to react ,for example, to a sudden noise whilst we sleep, or the smell of something burning etc.
I don`t know about the veracity of such thoughts, but it certainly is a fascinating topic all the same.

There is still a certain amount of sound in our dreams though, or else we wouldn't be able to have conversations in our dreams. But then again, I have heard some people say they don't dream in color, that makes no sense to me, as we live in color. I dream in full color, full sensation.

But I also have 3 indoor dogs that sleep in the room with me, so maybe, my subconscious knows that I don't need to pay attention to outside stimuli, because the dogs have that duty.

reply to post by America?


You are absolutely right, hopefully they should be! I wasn't listing the the entire workings of the brain in my OP, it was just a cursory overview.



[edit on 28-6-2010 by Praxilla]

reply to post by GeminiSky


Aw, that's so cute! Yeah, I never know if I should wake my cat or not, but then I was thinking about it, and he wouldn't have much to have a nightmare about, except maybe a thunderstorm, he gets scared of those.

Thanks for the link to the thread, I will definitely check it out!

reply to post by UmbraSumus


Personally, I find that to be quite true regarding the dreams I can recall. Most of them involve quite a bit of walking, and observing, rather than using let's say the sense of smell.

I'd like to work more on remembering my dreams, I've read of a few ways to help you train yourself to. I haven't started a dream journal as of yet, but that's my next plan.

Thanks for your input.

Quite a good theory.

In the heat of summer, i tend to have very odd, sometimes lucid dreams, although lately my dreams have tended to consist of numbers and patterns and it feels like i'm solving some sort of puzzle.

This may or may not be down to the fact that i spend a lot of time on my computer (using music editing software and working out beats and time signatures)....

A few times i've dreamt of music too, although i have never been able to recreate it in waking life.

I think maybe it's the brains way of dealing with an overload of information, the dreams are the brains way of 'storing' this info into neat thoughts, maybe like a 'defrag' on a computer?

Just a thought anyway, but cheers to the OP for getting me thinking

reply to post by snowspirit


I'm an intensive care nurse, and a lot of our patients are in a "coma" state. I absolutely believe they can hear us, and I try to let them know if we have to do something for their care, even if they seem unresponsive. I've heard from some patients that they have remembered bits and pieces of things while in a chemically induced coma state, and they have also reported vivid dreams as well. Maybe the activity does help the body to heal. Of all the organs in the body, I think we still know the least about how a brain functions. It will be the area I think we will see some major breakthroughs in the future.

Thanks for your input!

reply to post by mr-lizard


Wow, that's really cool, vie never dreamt of numbers before, but it makes sense in your situation. I was intently working on a story one night, and in-between taking breaks on Twitter, just posting to give my mind a rest. So, the entire night I was writing. When I was drifting off to sleep I had this wonderful dream. The words that I had been writing earlier in the night materialized around my body. They appeared in all different sizes, and different fonts. They surrounded my body and became a cloud of words. They felt warm and comforting, and carried my body up off the bed. I don't remember any more of the dream, but it was one of my favorite dreams ever!

reply to post by Praxilla


Just a question regarding you patients in comas. I'm genuinely ignorant on this subject, so forgive me - but are there any accounts of music being a way of testing for reactions in the comatose patients?

reply to post by mr-lizard


Music, not that I'm aware of. But, I'm only speaking of the situations I encounter on my ICU floor, I'm sure that someone, somewhere is studying the benefits of music in order to communicate with someone in a "coma."

I did read an article recently that said they are doing some tests on patients whom by all accounts seem to have no responses, meaning they are nit on sedation, and haven't woken up, or moved and responded to any stimuli. Well, they tried hooking them up to a brain wave monitor, and found the patients could respond to questions asked if they told them to think of certain activities to say "yes" or "no." They told the unresponsive patient to imagine themselves walking through their home, and visualizing their house, in order to say "yes", for instance, since it lit up a certain area of the brain. They found they could rudimently communicate with the patients in this manner. This at the moment wouldn't be practical on a everyday use in a hospital setting, but it might be possible in the future. That way one could ask the patient if they were in pain, or other important questions that could be answered in this manner.

I hope this answers your question.

here is a tip that i use to have lucid dreams. As with all good discoveries it happened by accident. i'll go into detail on how i discovered this trick after i explain how to do it.

set your alarm to go off 5 to 6 hours after you go to sleep so say you lay down to sleep at 10:30 pm the alarm should go off around 6:30 or 7 am. i dont know how or why it works it just does for me anyway. once you wake up jump out of bed. you need to wake up completely if you go back to sleep it wont work. so get up out of bed and walk around have a drink of water if you like watch 10 minutes of tv do some sort of activity but you need to be fully awake for at least 10 to 15 mins.

then make yourself as comfortable as possible in bed and just doze off. while dozing off try to remain alert for as long as possible. think of it like lowering yourself into a hole, the deeper you go the darker it gets and the harder to see. if you try to stay as alert as possible you should drop into a lucid dream. the time frame of lucidity depends on how strong your focus is and with practice you should be able to maintain a decent amount of lucidity.

i discovered this technique because i used to sleep late and had to wake up to drop my ex gf off at the train station every day. i would be in a deep sleep jump out of bed drive her half asleep to the station drive back and jump right back in bed. the whole process took between 15 to 20 mins depending on traffic. i had the most amazing dreams and if they werent lucid they were vivid to the point of almost lucidity. i had total dream recall it was that intense. i cant describe how real and amazing it is to have such lucidity. its like having virtual reality trips every night.

anyway i thought i might share my experiences with you guys since this was about dreaming. if the mods feel its off topic ill start a thread on it.

if anybody has any questions feel free to u2u me.

reply to post by TiM3LoRd


Hmm, I'll try that technique out. I've had a few lucid dreams, but they don't come about that often, and I'd love to enjoy more of them! You figure we have to sleep to recharge our bodies, so it would be way more fun to have some control over how we act and shape our dreams.

If you decide to start a new thread on lucid dreaming, let me know, so I can keep up with it!

reply to post by Praxilla


Ok cool well I'll start a thread on it and hopefully we get some participation and feedback. Yeah I have always had vivid dreams and lately they have gotten lucid more often. I'll let you know when I create the thread.

did a quick search and there is already a good thread on lucid dreaming techniques and it is almost word for word of how i do it so no point in me starting one, crazy anyway here is the link.

www.abovetopsecret.com...&flagit=587418

check it out .

[edit on 28-6-2010 by TiM3LoRd]