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What is Dream?
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions,

and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, as well as a subject of philosophical and religious interest, throughout recorded history. The scientific study of dreams is called oneirology.

RAPID EYE MOVEMENT

Dreams mainly occur in the rapid-eye movement

(REM) stage of sleepwhen brain activity is high and resembles that of being awake. REM sleep is revealed by continuous movements of the eyes during sleep. At times, dreams may occur during other stages of sleep. Dreams can last for a few seconds, or as long as twenty minutes. People are more likely to remember the dream if they are awakened during the REM phase.

DREAM NATURE
Dreams have been seen as a connection to the human

subconscious. Dreams can have varying natures, such as frightening, exciting, magical, melancholic, adventurous. The events in dreams are generally outside the control of the dreamer, with the exception of lucid dreaming, where the dreamer is self-aware. Dreams can at times make a creative thought occur to the person or give a sense of inspiration.

"The Knight's Dream", 1655, by Antonio de Pereda

Dreams research
The Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, who

developed the discipline of psychoanalysis, wrote extensively about dream theories and interpretations. He explained dreams as manifestations of our deepest desires and anxieties, often relating to repressed childhood memories or obsessions

Ancient history about Dreams

The Sumerians in Mesopotamia left evidence of

dreams dating back to 3100 BC. According to these early recorded stories, gods and kings, like the 7th century BC scholar-king Assurbanipal, paid close attention to dreams. In his archive of clay tablets, some amounts of the story of the legendary king Gilgamesh were found. In this epic poemone of the earliest known storiesGilgamesh reported his recurring dreams to his goddess-mother Ninsun, who made the first known recorded dream interpretation.

 In ancient Egypt, people believed gods showed

themselves in dreams. They believed that dreams were caused by real things that were beyond interpretation or control by the conscious mind. Ancient Egyptians believed that dreams were like oracles, bringing messages from the gods. They thought that the best way to receive divine revelation was through dreaming and thus they would induce (or "incubate") dreams

Religious History
The ancient Hebrews connected their dreams heavily

with their religion, though the Hebrews were monotheistic and believed that dreams were the voice of one god alone. Jacob's dream of a ladder of angels, c. 1690, by Michael Willmann

Classical history
The Indian text Upanishads, written between 900 and

500 BC, emphasize two meanings on dreams. The first says that dreams are merely expressions of inner desires The second is the belief of the soul leaving the body and being guided until awakened.Greek philosopher, Aristotle (384-322 BC) believed dreams caused physiological activity.

Freudian view of dreams

In the late 19th century, psychotherapist Sigmund Freud

developed a theory that the content of dreams is driven by unconscious wish fulfillment.Freud called dreams the "royal road to the unconscious. According to Sigmund Freud, dreams are more often forgotten entirely, perhaps due to their prohibited character. Altogether, these problems seemed to put them beyond the realm of science.The discovery that dreams take place primarily during a distinctive electrophysiological state of sleep, rapid eye movement (REM).

Dreams in animals
REM sleep and the ability to dream seem to be

embedded in the biology of many organisms that live on Earth All mammals experience REM. Dreams as excitations of long-term memory

Dream content
From the 1940s to 1985, Calvin S. Hall collected more than

50,000 dream reports at Western Reserve University. In 1966 Hall and Van De Castle published The Content Analysis of Dreams in which they outlined a coding system to study 1,000 dream reports from college students.It was found that people all over the world dream of mostly the same things. Hall's complete dream reports became publicly available in the mid-1990s by Hall's protg William Domhoff, allowing further different analysis. Personal experiences from the last day or week are frequently incorporated into dreams

 Visuals The visual nature of dreams is generally highly

phantasmagoric; that is, different locations and objects continuously blend into each other. The visuals (including locations, characters/people, objects/artifacts) are generally reflective of a person's memories and experiences, but often take on highly exaggerated and bizarre forms. Emotions The most common emotion experienced in dreams is anxiety. Other emotions include abandonment, anger, fear, joy, happiness, etc. Negative emotions are much more common than positive ones.

 Recurring dreams While the content of most dreams is dreamt only once,

many people experience recurring dreamsthat is, the same dream narrative or dreamscape is experienced over different occasions of sleep. Color vs. black and white A small minority of people say that they dream only in black and white

Other associated phenomena

Lucid dreaming Lucid dreaming is the conscious perception of one's state

while dreaming. In this state the dreamer may often (but not always) have some degree of control over their own actions within the dream or even the characters and the environment of the dream. Dream control has been reported to improve with practiced deliberate lucid dreaming, but the ability to control aspects of the dream is not necessary for a dream to qualify as "lucid" a lucid dream is any dream during which the dreamer knows they are dreaming .The occurrence of lucid dreaming has been scientifically verified.

 Dreams of absent-minded transgression Dreams of absent-minded transgression (DAMT) are

dreams wherein the dreamer absentmindedly performs an action that he or she has been trying to stop (one classic example is of a quitting smoker having dreams of lighting a cigarette). Subjects who have had DAMT have reported waking with intense feelings of guilt. One study found a positive association between having these dreams and successfully stopping the behavior. Recalling dreams The recall of dreams is extremely unreliable, though it is a skill that can be trained

 Dreams can usually be recalled if a person is awakened

while dreaming. At least 95% of all dreams are not remembered Sleepwalking Sleepwalking was once thought of as "acting out a dream", but that theory has fallen out of favor. Daydreaming A daydream is a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions, imagined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake

 Nightmares A nightmare is an unpleasant dream that can cause a

strong negative emotional response from the mind, typically fear and/or horror, but also despair, anxiety and great sadness. The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological or physical terror. Sufferers usually awaken in a state of distress and may be unable to return to sleep for a prolonged period of time. Night terrors A night terror, also known as a sleep terror or pavor nocturnus, is a parasomnia disorder that predominantly affects children, causing feelings of terror or dread. Night terrors should not be confused with nightmares, which are bad dreams that cause the feeling of horror or fear

Some important facts about dreams

Blind People Dream.
You Forget 90% of your Dreams. Dreams Prevent Psychosis.

We Only Dream of What We Know.

Not Everyone Dreams in Color. Dreams are not about what they are about. Quitters have more vivid dreams. External Stimuli Invade our Dreams. You are paralyzed while you sleep.

 When you are snoring, you are not dreaming.

Toddlers do not dream about themselves until around

the age of 3. From the same age, children typically have many more nightmares than adults do until age 7 or 8. If you are awakened out of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, you are more likely to remember your dream in a more vivid way than you would if you woke from a full night sleep.

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