Dreams will always remain a fascination of the human brain. Everyone dreams every night. But not everyone can always remember them. But what is certain is that in our dreams we live through the past, present and future – with our very own ideas and wishes.
While we dream, our consciousness ‘sleeps’. Our sense of space and time as well as logical thinking are largely ‘switched off’. But why do we still keep waking up drenched in sweat and frightened or relaxed and euphoric?
Sleep phases in the course of a night
Before we even begin to dream, we are initially half asleep. This first phase does not last long. After a short time, we enter light sleep. Here it is still easy to wake up without any problems. Sleep is not yet as deep. Deep sleep finally follows in the third phase. Now even loud noises can no longer wake us up. Deep sleep is followed by REM sleep, short for ‘Rapid Eye Movement’ – a term for rapid eye movements and active sleep. In the REM phase, we experience our dream more or less realistically.
Each phase has its own type of dream
We all have dreams. But there are very different types. Dreams about falling asleep are continuations of our waking thoughts – in other words, dreams in which we process the day we have experienced. REM sleep dreams are often emotional, colourful and fantastic. However, they can also be confusing and malicious. They allow us to participate directly in the dream events. Half, light and deep sleep dreams are often realistic, less intense and less spectacular. Fewer memories are stored.
Dreams: an area that has not yet been fully explored
Dreams cannot be measured or directly observed. However, researchers have discovered that brain activity in dreams can be compared with that in waking life. This allows conclusions to be drawn about the activity of the dream itself. Furthermore, scientists have recognised that a person’s eye movements in a dream directly show what they are dreaming. People experience dreams with fear and sadness much more often than with happiness and joy. We usually process traumatic experiences such as war or severe loss in dreams for many years afterwards. Dreams often last longer than we think. A dream can last several minutes.
Incidentally, people who are born blind or have lost their sight before the age of seven often dream emotions, sounds and touch rather than images.
Further information is available in the billerbeck Sleep & Health Foundation guide: ‘A GOOD DAY STARTS AT NIGHT – Better quality of life thanks to healthy sleep’.
