Why do people dream?

A+book+on+dreams+by+Larry+Kettelkamp.

Tessa Derr

A book on dreams by Larry Kettelkamp.

Kayla Massey, Staffer

Studies show that adults and babies dream for around two hours per night, even those of us who claim not to. Dreams can be fascinating, exciting, terrifying, or just plain weird. According to  verywellmind.com, researchers have found that people actually have several dreams each night. With each one typically lasting between 5 and 20 minutes. 95% of all dreams are quickly forgotten shortly after waking up.  Taylor Trotter says “You may remember them longer if they are freaky and you tell someone. For example, I remember being chased by a bear. It was so scary! It was one of those dreams where you wake up and you gasp!”

Research shows the reason why it’s difficult to remember dreams is because the changes in the brain that happens during sleep do not support the information processing and strategy needed for memory. Studies show that men are normally dream about weapons significantly more often than women do. While women dream about references to clothing more than men.  Meghan Sarge admits, that the opposite is true for her. She tends to have violent dreams. “My dreams tend to be very scary, confusing and I wake up disoriented and sweating. They tend to be terrifying and I wake up petrified.”

Not only do people dream but animals dream to. Many think that when a sleeping dog wags its tail or moves its ears, it is dreaming. Whether this is truly the case,researchers believe that it’s likely that animals do indeed dream. Just like humans, animals go through sleep stages that include cycles of REM and non-REM sleep. REM sleep is a kind of sleep that occurs at intervals during the night and is characterized by rapid eye movements, more dreaming and bodily movement, and faster pulse and breathing.