The Oddity of Dreams / Study with amnesiacs suggests how brain uses various types of memories

October 23, 2000 By Bryn Nelson. STAFF WRITER  

IF PEOPLE CAN'T recall a recent event, will they still

dream about it? According to a new study, the answer-a surprising yes-is

raising a slew of questions about where dreams come from, what they mean and

what role they play in learning and memory.... Read the full article here

Night Terrors afflict primarily children. Unlike most other dreams, they occur during the non-REM sleep stages, and are very brief; usually consisting of a single scene. The child awakes screaming, but does not remember what scared him. Naturally, night terrors can be very traumatic to a child. Thankfully, most children outgrow them.

Nightmares cause anxiety severe enough to awaken the dreamer in distress. The dreamer has clear, detailed recollection of the scary dream, which is usually of some length (15 - 20 minutes is the average). Common nightmare themes include falling, drowning, being chased, and getting lost.

Bad Dreams are the most common type of frightening dreams.  Not scary enough to leave you crying or shaking, but certainly quite disturbing. Examples would include being nude in public, having to take a test for which you are unprepared, or hurting someone else. It is worth mentioning here that often physical illness that is not yet apparent to you or your doctors will show up in a bad dream. Be on the look out for, say, dreams of a house with a broken furnace (gastrointestinal problems) or a car with busted headlights (glaucoma or cataracts). Anything that seems somehow to represent a physical problem may be worth checking out, particularly if it is recurring. Of course, any blatant, anxiety-causing dreams of your being ill warrants a check-up.

The best way to deal with a nightmare is to turn it into a lucid dream, or to re-enter the dream. In those ways, you can not only change the ending to a better one, you can confront your fears head on and banish them. Sometimes just making the decision to "kick some nocturnal butt" is enough to narrow the point spread in your favor. Another way to go from underdog to top dog is to turn a dream foe into a friend through conversation. That dream act can bolster your self-worth in your waking life. The  Senoi actively fought their demons in their dreams.

It was once believed that the sole purpose of sleep was to rest and repair the body. Researchers proved this theory incorrect when it was shown that resting, although not sleeping, for 24 hours will rejuvenate the body just as well. Then it was suggested that it was the brain that was resting, since sleep-deprived persons feel disoriented and mentally disturbed. Actually, the brain is more active asleep than awake, though in a different way. Two distinct sleep states were observed, usually referred to as deep and light.  We now know that the primary purpose of sleep is to dream. Dreams are vital to our well-being, since they permit us to view our hopes, fears, secrets, and mundane problems in new ways. If we are to incorporate our dreams' messages into our lives, then we must learn the language of dreams.

What are Dreams?

Dreams are experiences during sleep using any of your five senses. Most remembered dreams, however, are visual. These experiences are very real to our mind and can produce psychological and physiological responses in a sleeping person. Dreams are not consciously controlled by us. Later on we will discuss lucid dreaming. During this type of dreaming, brain activity is extremely close to what it would be if you were to actually do what you were dreaming about.

Do we all dream and why?

For the most part, yes, we do.  Some of us just don’t remember.  (See our dream recall handout)

Some scientists say that dreaming is merely a by-product of sleep and serves no purpose.  Kind of like static from a radio or television which is not tuned to a station.  However many believe in one of numerous reasons for dreaming.  The most popular being that dreams are our brains way of processing the days information and other items we are thinking about.  Some also believe it is a way for our subconscious to communicate with us without our critical thinking process blocking the message.

Are all dreams symbolic?  Why?

Symbolism it is thought is used by our brains to prevent us from going crazy during our dreams.  They are too traumatic and even more so if they were all real.  Your dreams will fall into one of three other categories:

Literal Dreams - are just that. There is little mystery surrounding these dreams. They are to be interpreted literally. Your dog is your dog (not some animalistic aspect of yourself), and if you are kneading dough, it does not mean that you are in need of money. It is simply a reminder that you promised to make a loaf of bread for the church bake sale.

Symbolic Dreams - Symbolic dreams represent feelings. It is easier to express feelings with symbols rather than words or literal enactment's, so that is what your unconscious does. In these dreams, situations and objects are not to be taken literally. This is sure to be a relief; since symbolic dreams usually sound utterly ridiculous when told to someone as a simple narrative.

Literal - Symbolic - These dreams contain a mixture of literal events, with feasible scenarios and symbols. The majority of dreams are accounted for in this category, which shows that both the intellect and the heart contribute to a dream.

Can someone else interpret my dreams?

Probably not accurately unless the person knows you very well.  However, someone else can help guide you and act as a dream partner.

The first was that for weeks I would have the same dream about riding my mini-bike along the side of the canal where I grew up. I would lose control of the bike and fall into the water. Eventually, the next time I rode the mini-bike down by the canal, I did lose control and fell.

The second was simply that I had a bowling tournament that day and that my grandmother who normally drove me to the bowling alley forgot and I was late for the tournament. That exact thing happened that afternoon.