When we lay our head to slumber and our minds enter another state, the thoughts that develop are called a dream. Everyone dreams, even the people who claim that they do not , some just remember theirs better. In this article, you will learn more about dreaming and some of the theories surrounding the subject.
No one knows why some people remember the themes, details, and circumstances of their dreams and others do not. There is no way to truly tap into the mind (yet) to dig deeper on the subject. However, everything that is related to what is within a man and the things around them can play an important role in dreaming.
The curiosity behind the meanings of dreams has prompted many to seek answers to what makes their minds tick. What is known is that underlying themes are linked to symbols that repeatedly emerge in dreams. It is by identifying and gaining an understanding of these symbols that one can learn more about their dreams.
It is estimated that as much as seven years of the average 75-year-old human is spent in dreamland. It’s amazing how little in known about dreaming despite these numbers. Every human will experience between at least three to five dreams every night , the majority of which are never remembered. Some are reoccurring and mirror the same images and themes as the night before. Oftentimes, what has happened during the day can affect the course of their dreams.
It was only recently that researchers have been able to pinpoint when a dream is taking place. They are also able to learn how long a dream takes place. In 1952, a breakthrough took place when a graduate research student at the University of Chicago named Eugene Aserinsky saw that the eyes of a baby seemed to move rapidly under their eyelids while they were asleep. The eyes would move for a bit and then there would be no movement. Then, they would move again. At the time, Aserinsky did not know that babies spend much more of their sleep time dreaming than their older siblings or their parents, who spent the least amount of time.
With the help of an electroencephalograph (also known as a EEG), Aserinsky was able to monitor the various brainwaves of sleeping people while taking a look at the associated rapid eye movements (also known as REM). Faster brainwaves were noted in relation to REM. During this time, muscles would also move, breathing became irregular, and pulse rates changed. One description of the observation was that the eyes looked like they were following moving picture on the inside of their lids.
The Cycle of a Dream
The average human will fall asleep and after some time, will enter a deep sleep. After 90 minutes have passed, we enter a dream state that can last for about 10 minutes. This takes place until the dreamer falls back asleep and enters a deeper sleep again. Different levels of sleep exist, but it is in the shallowest of levels that a human will dream. Most people are in the middle of a dream or just finishing one is more likely to wake up.