Buzz
Dreaming, much like binge-watching a Netflix series, is something we all experience, yet no one truly understands its purpose. Not every sleep session results in a dream, and when we do dream, it’s often about random scenarios that don’t seem to make much sense. We may wake up with a vague memory of a dream, but it’s usually too fragmented to piece together coherently. This is why dreams are so difficult to study—they’re inconsistent, unpredictable, and often fade from memory quickly (except for those unforgettable nightmares that have haunted us since childhood). Psychologists generally agree that dreams don’t serve a direct physical function. However, some researchers propose that dreams may serve a specific emotional or fundamental purpose.
These psychologists not only investigate the causes of dreams but also explore their potential meanings. They study how dreams might influence our bodies and minds, such as whether they reveal insights into how we perceive the world or process information. Others delve into the history of dreaming, questioning whether some of our evolutionary ancestors were capable of dreaming, possibly giving them a survival advantage over those who could not.
Let’s examine the top ten theories that might explain why we dream.
10. They Help Us Consolidate Memories
A wealth of research suggests that dreams play a role in helping us store information. When we dream, our brain processes and transfers data into long-term memory storage. Neuroscientists have discovered that during the day, memories are stored in the hippocampus, a brain region associated with long-term memory. While we sleep, these memories are moved from the hippocampus to the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for processing new information and is closely linked to cognition and knowledge.
Sleep offers the brain time to relocate memories to different regions, allowing them to be recorded and sometimes even repaired. Research also shows that before memories reach the cerebral cortex, the hippocampus tends to replay our day, sometimes even in reverse order!
9. They Have Healing Properties
We’ve all had that dream that feels hauntingly familiar, or woken up from a nightmare after watching a scary movie, only to dream of a dark figure that bears an uncanny resemblance to the film's villain. Dreams help us process intense emotions, whether it’s fear, sadness, or love. Psychologists believe that dreams allow us to detach emotions from events. This detachment helps us process these emotions more effectively, as our brain can form connections between feelings and past experiences. Studies have found that these connections differ from the ones our brain would make when fully awake.
These alternative connections can foster the creation of new viewpoints by examining situations from a different perspective, potentially helping us navigate difficult circumstances by seeing them from another angle. Some researchers argue that this could be a way to address underlying emotions such as anger, sadness, fear, or joy, while others believe dreams offer a safe space to confront our deepest issues and explore our most persistent insecurities.
8. They Help Alleviate Anxiety
A 2009 study on patients dealing with depression and anxiety revealed an intriguing connection between dreaming and cognitive distortions. Five researchers studied two groups of college students: one group of 35 healthy students and another group of 20 students suffering from depression and anxiety. These students were awakened after ten minutes of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and ten minutes of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Following these sleep intervals, the students took tests on memory recall, mood, and self-assessment.
The researchers discovered that students with depression and anxiety experienced dreams with recurring themes of aggression and self-victimization more frequently than the healthy students. REM sleep might help individuals struggling with depression and anxiety process and address emotions related to self-worth, sadness, and anger.
7. They Contribute to Overall Health
A study found that patients deprived of sleep faced serious repercussions. Similar to the previous study with students, these patients were awoken just as they entered REM sleep. The researchers discovered that when these participants were prevented from dreaming, they experienced heightened tension, trouble concentrating, coordination issues, and even mild weight gain. They also exhibited a tendency to hallucinate.
Admittedly, some of these side effects could stem from an overall lack of sleep rather than an absence of dreaming. However, numerous studies have shown that most of these effects are specifically linked to a lack of REM sleep, which is the stage during which we actually dream.
6. The Absence of Dreaming May Indicate Psychiatric Disorders
Chronic sleep disturbances affect between 50% and 80% of patients diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, whereas only about 10% of the general US population experiences sleep disorders. A 2009 study conducted by researchers at Harvard University found a connection between dreaming and prevalent psychiatric conditions, such as bipolar disorder. The study revealed that both children and adults with sleep issues may be at higher risk of developing psychiatric disorders.
Disrupted REM sleep impacts the levels of neurotransmitters and stress hormones, hindering emotional regulation and altering cognitive processes. Ongoing hormonal imbalances and disrupted neurotransmitters could potentially lead to psychiatric disorders. While these findings are concerning, they have practical significance, as addressing a sleep disorder could help alleviate an existing or developing mental health condition.
5. The Information Processing Theory
A particular study discovered that during REM sleep, our brain processes new ideas and connects them to preexisting knowledge or even distant, yet related concepts. Dreaming occurs when we become aware of these connections, which often manifest as fragmented sounds, images, and motor activity. Our brain interprets these fragments and works to form a coherent narrative. This is why our dreams can seem so strange, confusing, and full of creative elements.
The creativity in our dreams comes from information already stored in our brains. As we attempt to connect new information with what we already know, we reinterpret it in fresh ways that help us better understand how the world works. The research also found that dreaming makes us more conscious of our actions and behavior in the world.
4. The Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Dreams
We can't discuss dreams without mentioning Freud, right? Although many of the ideas proposed by the renowned psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud have been disproven over time, they continue to spark interesting conversations and have influenced popular culture, including literature and music. Freud focused on the meaning of dreams, interpreting them to reveal unconscious thoughts and desires. He believed that we are driven by repressed aggressive and sexual instincts, which are manifested through our dreams, revealing our unconscious mind.
Freud believed that our dreams reveal unacceptable feelings, such as sexual attraction to our own parents. He divided dreams into manifest content, which we remember, and latent content, which is hidden. It was in this latent content that Freud claimed to uncover the true meaning of dreams.
3. The Threat Stimulation Theory
The threat stimulation theory proposes that dreams allow us to prepare for potential threats or danger. Finnish researchers from the University of Turku discovered that dream simulations of threats help individuals rehearse the cognitive skills needed to detect and avoid danger, ultimately enhancing reproductive success. They tested this theory by examining the dreams of children from both threatening and non-threatening environments.
The study revealed that children growing up in environments where their physical safety was constantly threatened experienced more intense dreams and developed a highly active threat simulation system. In contrast, children from safer households exhibited a less active system and had much calmer dreams, free from threat-related elements.
A follow-up study was conducted on traumatized and non-traumatized children. The results mirrored those of the previous research, showing that traumatized children experienced significantly more frequent dreams, many of which were filled with threats and violence. On the other hand, mentally healthy children had fewer and less intense dreams, experiencing much less distress in their dreamscapes.
2. Adaptive Theory
This theory has two components: one that addresses threats and another that focuses on the effects of sleep deprivation. Psychologists argue that sleep helps animals avoid danger. For example, when an animal sleeps, it typically seeks a secure location. Scientists believe this rest period helps prevent the animal from harm caused by its own actions, thereby preserving its life. This survival strategy, passed down through natural selection, is the basis for what we now recognize as sleep.
The aspect of this theory related to dreams focuses on the consequences of insufficient REM sleep. Studies have shown that when a person is deprived of REM sleep one night, they enter REM sleep for a longer period the next night, a phenomenon known as REM rebound. This biological reaction indicates that REM sleep is crucial for proper functioning. Animals that failed to engage in REM sleep, or did so only briefly, were gradually eliminated by evolution. Natural selection has shaped us to sleep and dream as a way to adapt to our environment and remain safe.
1. The Activation-Synthesis Model
The activation-synthesis model, proposed in 1977, suggests that dreams are the result of the brain generating signals. Rather than being triggered by our experiences or memories, this theory posits that dreams emerge from biological responses to the activation of certain parts of the limbic system, such as the amygdala.
When certain areas of the brain become active during sleep, it processes and interprets this data through dreams. In this way, dreams are a byproduct of essential biological functions. The creators of this theory, however, argue that dreams are not devoid of meaning. Instead, they believe that the brain’s interpretation of these biological signals (dreams) ultimately leads to something significant: new ideas.
