There is hardly any person in our world to find who does not dream or nightmare at night. About dream, we are hearing fairy tale from our grandma starting from our childhood. Some people also believe that there are meaning of each and every dream. Religious belief is also there. Is it true? Lets analyze what science says about dream.
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What is dream actually?
A dream is a series of imazination, thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during REM(Rapid-eye movement) stage of sleep. During sleep we go through different stage like Awake, Light sleep, Deep sleep and REM sleep. Among four stage we will discuss a bit regarding REM sleep as this is related to dream.
What is REM stage of sleep?
REM(Rapid-eye movement) is the deepest part of your sleep cycle. At this stage eyes move rapidly in all directions. This stage lasts around 10 minutes and usually happens after having been asleep at least 90 minutes. REM stages of sleep normally get longer and longer as the night passes by, and the last REM stage can last an hour. This stage of sleep is also called the dream stage. During other stage of sleep dream may happen but in REM stage most of the dreams happen. People are more likely to remember the dream if they are awakened during the REM stage.
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Science behind dream: One of the prominent neurobiological theorys of dreaming is the “activation-synthesis hypothesis” that states that dreams do not actually mean anything, they are merely electrical brain impulses that pull random thoughts and imagery from our memories. Some other popular theories says that dreams assist in memory formation, problem solving, or simply are a product of random brain activation.At the time of REM sleep, researchers found that the brain goes through a process known as synaptic efficacy refreshment. This is observed that during this stage the brain waves in slow cycles at a rate of around 14 Hz, and consolidate the recent memories and reinforcing old memories as a result dream happens.
On an average we have three to five dreams per night, and it could rise up to seven. We forget most of the dreams immediately after seen.
Though there is scientific logic, people still believe good or bad dreams. When someone found good dreams, becomes happy and find hope. On the other hand, when there is nightmare, become worried. This is happening from the begining of our civilization to till date and will continue.
Thanks for reading.