#VIVID DREAMS MEANING OFFLINE#
#VIVID DREAMS MEANING FREE#

( Erin Wamsley, PhD, an assistant professor in the Psychology Department at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, explains all of those studies in further depth in a review article in a 2014 issue of Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports.)Īnd more research suggests that dreaming does actually help us problem solve.Ī set of experiments conducted by Wamsley’s and Stickgold’s group (when Wamsley was at Harvard) showed that when a group of 99 individuals were given the task of navigating a complex maze, those whose performance on the task improved the most when re-tested after a five-hour period were those individuals given the opportunity to take a nap - and more specifically those who reported dreaming about the maze during that nap - compared to when they were simply awake during that time (even if they reported thinking about the maze during that period of being awake).ĭuring dreaming, the visual and emotional processing areas of the brain are active Other research shows that we are more likely to remember something if we dream about it. Several studies show (what nearly everyone has probably experienced on their own) that our waking experiences show up in our dreams. “It might be that you need to bring that sleep-dependent memory processing into consciousness to be able to solve those kinds of problems that require the development of a plan or a narrative or a plot,” Stickgold says - that you need to dream to do that kind of thinking. But that type of narrative construction (building a story) still requires us to be consciously aware, Stickgold says - which is one feature of dreams. That’s what our brains can’t do in the background when we’re awake. There are certain questions that come up for which we plot a potential course of action or think through a future scenario to solve, Stickgold explains. triloks / Getty Images/iStockphoto The dreaming brain can build stories better than a brain that’s awake (And there’s a whole lot of evidence to support the idea that sleep makes learning and memory storing possible.)Īnd it might be that dreaming plays a role in that process, Stickgold says - “where the brain is trying to solve problems and complete processes that were going on during waking that it - in its waking hours - didn’t complete.” Even the really weird dreams may just be part of the brain’s process of elimination-approach to problem solving, experts say.

#VIVID DREAMS MEANING OFFLINE#

Whether you are being chased by a baddie or an animal, they both symbolise the same thing.ĭr Ramlakhan said: 'Falling dreams show you are feeling overwhelmed by the demands of life and it's all catching up with you.Our brains need offline time for processing and learning new things - and they do this during sleep. 'You are really not sure how it's all going to go.' Being chased She said: 'If you dream you are falling you are probably feeling insecure, unsure and overwhelmed about some aspect of your life. Have you ever woken up suddenly after you dreamt that you were falling off a cliff? This is extremely common, said Dr Ramlakhan. She said: 'It could be a fear of being exposed, feeling vulnerable, and wondering if you can show people the real you.' Falling We've all had that dream where we turn up to work or school with no clothes on.Īccording to Dr Ramlakhan, this represents vulnerability. 'People who have a tendency to act out their dreams are usually creative types who have to learn to manage their creative process, otherwise it literally takes them over at night.' 'Sometimes this creativity can give rise to dreams that leave us waking up feeling alarmed and distressed, or on the other side inspired or entertained.

#VIVID DREAMS MEANING FREE#

'I believe that when we sleep we return to a child-like, vulnerable state in which our unconscious mind is given free rein, becoming almost like an out of control computer with unlimited creative capacity. 'Some scientists believe that dreams are the cortex’s attempt to find meaning in the random signals that it receives during REM sleep. 'They can slide deeper into sleep, creating stories of nightmares and night terrors, or overworking muscles and waking you drenched and cold with night sweats. 'Energetic vibrations of the day are carried into your sleep, reverberating within you and keeping you awake or jolting you into sudden heart-thudding wakefulness. 'Every thought, every behaviour and every choice that we make in the day impacts what happens when our head hits the pillow at night time. She said: 'The dream process helps us to organise memories, consolidate learning and make sense of life. Dr Ramlakhan said we dream for different reasons, including to process the information of the day, to make sense of emotional upsets, trauma and stress, and to process our creativity.

Vivid dreams meaning