Scientists are constantly trying to penetrate deeper into our heads and sometimes they manage to find out some interesting facts about sleep. The moment the head touches the pillow, the usual conscious part of the day recedes, but this does not mean that it ends for the brain, whose activity, on the contrary, is activated. It is during REM sleep that people see the most vivid and sometimes very real dreams.
Why do some have nightmares, while others really fabulous dreams? Dreams are a very mysterious phenomenon, but sometimes scientists manage to find answers to some questions of interest to mankind. This post will focus on five interesting facts that are currently known about dreams.
Nightmares are a kind of warning
Nightmares are considered a non-physiological disorder and occur during REM sleep. Sometimes they are so real that you can feel every touch and feel unfamiliar pain. Scientists believe nightmares may be an early sign of brain diseases such as Parkinson's and dementia. The results of this study were published in the journal Neurology on July 28, 2010. The results obtained indicate that the initial stage of these neurodegenerative disorders may begin several decades earlier before the patient or his attending physician knows about it.
Nightmares are more likely to have nightmares
Sure, sometimes nightlife has its advantages, but strange dreams are not one of them. The results of a study published in 2011 in the journal Sleep & Biological Rhythms report that people who stay up late are much more likely to have nightmares than their opposite type, the so-called early risers. 264 students took part in this experiment, who, on a scale from 0 to 4, rated how often they had nightmares. The average score for night owls was 2.1, compared with 1.23 for students who fall asleep and wake up early.
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Scientists attribute the link between nightmares and sleep time to the stress hormone cortisol, which reaches its maximum level in the body in the morning before waking up, when people are more likely to be in REM sleep. Those who stay up late stay asleep during this time, and high levels of cortisol in their blood can provoke vivid dreams or nightmares.
Men have erotic dreams much more often
I recall a question from one TV show, in which one girl was interested in the question: how many times a minute do men think about “this”? There are just a lot of studies devoted to such an important question, as well as answers to it. Probably, the fact that men think much more about sex, which can be deadly in space than women, allows them to see dreams of this nature much more often.
Dreams can be controlled
Users who are interested in lucid dreaming should look towards video games. Both are a kind of representatives of augmented reality. Numerous studies have shown that gamers are more likely to have lucid dreams in which they see themselves outside the body. They can also control their character in their sleep, similar to how they do it in the game. It is believed that gamers can turn any nightmare into a carefree dream. Scientists also note that this ability may help war veterans suffering from PTSD.
Why do people dream?
Scientists have been asking this question for a very long time, and there are enough answers to it. Some share Sigmund Freud's thoughts that dreams are just a side effect of rapid eye movement (REM sleep), while others hold a different opinion. For example, Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett put forward a slightly different theory in 2010. She believes that dreams help people solve all kinds of puzzles that haunt them during the day. In her opinion, it is in a dream that people begin to think outside the box.
Vladimir Skripin