People think dreams aren’t real just because they aren’t made of matter, of particles. Dreams are real. But they are made of viewpoints, of images, of memories and puns and lost hopes. ~
I agree with Mr. Gaiman to some extent. Dreams are real; we do have them. Whether they are possible to execute or fantastical is something altogether different. That is a positive in my view. Who wants to really find themselves unclothed in front of a crowd? Rhetorical question, that.
However, actual questions exist around the physiological mechanism that creates dreams and the purpose of those reels, if you will. Let’s explore both.
The Catalyst for Dream Mode
The Cleveland Clinic can help us with the first question. We are all familiar with the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) phase of our sleep cycle. What I didn’t know (or perhaps forgot since biology class) is that during REM, our brains are almost as active as they are during our waking hours. The brainstem is responsible for REM, but the forebrain fires up dreams. Experts know this because patients with brainstem damage don’t go through the REM cycle and those with forebrain injuries do not dream.
When humans have both a functioning brainstem and forebrain, the dreams that result will be different than if we have only forebrain activity. Apparently the latter produces dreams that bubble up from experiences–sensory perception. The brainstem injects thoughts, dreams, and wishes. Please note that the Clevland Clinic article references multiple studies, and they are not entirely in sync with each other. Please take a look for more details.
And Why Do We Dream?
Spoiler alert. I have some answers, but not all the answers. I’ve looked at half a dozen sites, and the opinions surrounding the causes of dreams are inconsistent. However, Scientific American (sounds creditable, right?) offers a few logical ideas.
One is that dreaming is an age-old defense mechanism, an idea labeled as a “threat simulation theory.” It proposes that the subconscious brain, at rest, practices responses to challenges we might encounter so that when they arise, we’re ready. Other studies–one by UC Berkeley–link dreaming to our need to resolve emotional experiences and determine their disposition via the amygdala and hippocampus. This is, perhaps, one way our brains decide what to retain in memory and also possible ways to approach–or handle–our experiences. The dream stories may not replicate the activities or conversations we’ve had, but studies have shown that the emotions we feel during dreams are the same as those we’re attempting to process.
Our dream stories essentially try to strip the excessive emotion out of certain experiences by creating memories of them. This way, the emotions themselves are no longer active. Either way, it seems that this brain activity is productive in the same way as wool gathering, mentioned in an April 2024 post. When we aren’t actively attempting to work our way through a problem, it may be easier for the solution to bubble up into consciousness. How many times have you thought of a word or a term when you were no longer intentionally trying to think of it?
Time to Put This One to Bed
No, no resolution. And yes, I, too, hate when I watch a police procedural and there’s no perp walk, no trial, and perhaps no missing person found. Sadly, this post is another one of those times when there’s no clean resolution. No one is completely sure of the purpose of dreams. That shouldn’t stop us from enjoying the ones with happy endings or those that provide solutions for daily life. You know, on those occasions when we are enlightened by the replay, absent the accompanying drama. If we had to have answers to all of life’s mysteries, our joy would be significantly diminished by our ignorance of common delights. We just don’t need to know it all. Do we?
Food for thought but much like jello. No one seems to know so we are left to dream up our own answer.
Nothing is going to provide meaning to our dreams. That is, I think we have a good indication of their purpose, but the interpretation thereof will always and forever be subjective.
I’m a lucid dreamer. I can actually control what happens in my dreams. I can even wake up then go back to the same dream. I do that a lot if I’m having a nightmare – like someone’s killing me and I’m losing. I’ll wake up then go back to the point where I’m about to get killed and change the outcome to me escaping. I can also have fun with my dreams sometimes. One time, I was dreaming that I was in a snowball fight, I just said I want oranges in my dreams and we started throwing oranges instead. Rick said I laugh a lot while I’m sleeping. 😂
I knew you had superpowers, but controlling your dreams? That’s a little scary.