Why do we dream?
What are complex process occurs during dreaming
In the Third Millennium B.C. Mesopotamia king recorded and interpreted their dreams on wax tablets. A thousand-year ancient Egyptians wrote a dream book having hundred common dreams and their meaning. And the year scenes we haven’t pause in our quest to understand why we dream. So after a great deal of scientific research, technological advancement, and persistence we still haven’t definite answers. But we have some interesting theories. We dream to fulfill our wishes. In the early 1900 research proposed that all of our dream including nightmares are collections of images from our daily conscious life and they also have a symbolic meaning which relates to the fulfillment of subconscious wishes. Everything we remember when we wake up from a dream is a symbolic representation of our unconscious primitive thoughts urges and desires. Research and believe that by analyzing those remembering elements, the unconscious content would be revealed to our conscious mind and psychological issues stemming from its repression could be addressed and resolved.
We dream to Remember
To increase performance on certain mental tasks good sleep is good. But dreaming while sleeping is better. In 2010 researchers found that subjects are much better at getting through a complex 3D maze if they have a nap and dreamed of the 3D maze before the second attempt. There up to 10 times better at it than those who only thought of the maze while awake between attempts and those who nap but did not dream about the maze. The researcher theorized that certain memory processes can happen only when we are at sleep, and our dreams are signal that these processes are taking place.
We dream to forget
There are about 10,000 trillion neuron connections within the architecture of our brain. They are created by everything we think and everything we do. While sleeping and mainly during the REM sleep cycle, your new cortex reviews these neural connections and dumps the unnecessary one. Without this unlearning process which results in your dreams, your brain could be over-run by useless connections and parasitic thoughts can disrupt the necessary thinking you need to do while you are awake.
We dream to keep our brain working
The continual activation theory proposed that your dream resolve from your brain needs to constantly consolidate and create long-term memory to function properly. So, when an external input falls below a certain level like when you are sleeping your brain automatically triggers the generation of data from its memory storages. Which appeared to you informs of the thought and feelings experienced in your dreams. In other words, your dreams might be a random screensaver brain turns on so it doesn’t completely shut down.
We dream to rehearse
Dreams involving dangerous and threatening situations are most common, in the primitive instinct rehearsal theory holds that the content of the dream is significant to its purpose, these dreams allow you to practice your fight or flight instinct, and keep them sharp and dependable in case you need them in your real life. But it doesn’t always have to be unpleasant for instance dreams about your attractive neighbor could give you reproductive instinct in some practice too.
We dream to heal
Stress neurotransmitter in the brain is much less during the REM stage of the sleep cycle, even during dreams of dramatic experiences leading some researchers to theorize that one purpose of dreaming is to take the edge of painful experiences to allow for psychology can healing. Reviewing dramatic experiences in your dream with less mental stress may grant you clear perspectives and enhanced stability to process them in psychologically healthy ways. People with certain mood disorders and PTSD often have difficulties while sleeping leading some scientists to believe that lack of dreaming may be a contributing factor to their illnesses.
We dream to solve the problem
Unconstrained by reality and rules of the conventional logic in your dream, your mind can create a limitless scenario to help you to grapes problem and formulate solutions that you may not be considered while awake. And researchers have demonstrated the effect of dreaming in problem-solving. Renowned chemist August Kekule discovered the structure of the benzene ring while dreaming and is the reason that sometimes the solution for a problem is to sleep on it. Technology increases the capability of understanding the process of the brain. One day we may discover the definite reason for purpose of dreams.
