WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Why Do Humans Dream?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bum here with another classic for

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<v Speaker 1>you today. Dreams can be pleasant, or painful or downright perplexing.

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<v Speaker 1>My least favorite ones are the mundane ones where I

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<v Speaker 1>do dishes or fold laundry and then wake up and

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<v Speaker 1>it's not done. But why do we have dreams at all?

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<v Speaker 1>And what do they mean? Welcome to brain Stuff from

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<v Speaker 1>How Stuff Works, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bam here,

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<v Speaker 1>the human brain is a mysterious little ball of gray matter.

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<v Speaker 1>After all these years, researchers are still baffled by many

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<v Speaker 1>aspects of how and why it operates like it does.

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<v Speaker 1>Scientists have been performing sleep and dream studies for decades now,

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<v Speaker 1>and we still aren't a hundred percent sure about the

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<v Speaker 1>function of sleep or exactly how and why we dream.

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<v Speaker 1>We do know that our dream cycle is typically most

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<v Speaker 1>abundant and best remembered during the R E M stage

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<v Speaker 1>of sleep. It's also pretty commonly up did among the

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<v Speaker 1>scientific community that we all dream, though the frequency in

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<v Speaker 1>which dreams are remembered varies from person to person. The

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<v Speaker 1>question of whether dreams actually have a physiological, biological, or

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<v Speaker 1>psychological function has yet to be answered, but that hasn't

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<v Speaker 1>stopped scientists from researching and speculating. There are several theories

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<v Speaker 1>as to why we dream. One is that dreams work

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<v Speaker 1>hand in hand with sleep to help the brain sort

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<v Speaker 1>through everything it collects during the waking hours. Your brain

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<v Speaker 1>is met with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of

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<v Speaker 1>inputs every day. Some are minor sensory details, like the

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<v Speaker 1>color of a passing car, while others are far more complex,

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<v Speaker 1>like the big presentation you're putting together for your job

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<v Speaker 1>or class. During sleep, the brain works to plow through

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<v Speaker 1>all of this information to decide what to hang onto

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<v Speaker 1>and what to forget. Some researchers think that dreams play

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<v Speaker 1>a role in this process. It's not just a stab

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<v Speaker 1>in the dark. Though. There is some research to back

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<v Speaker 1>up the ideas that dreams are tied to how we

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<v Speaker 1>form memories. Studies indicate that as we're learning new things

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<v Speaker 1>in our waking hours, our dreams increase while we sleep.

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<v Speaker 1>Participants in a dream study who are taking a language

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<v Speaker 1>course showed more dream activity than those who were not.

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<v Speaker 1>In light of such studies, the idea that we use

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<v Speaker 1>our dreams to sort through and convert short term memories

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<v Speaker 1>into long term memories has gained some momentum in recent years.

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<v Speaker 1>Another theory is that dreams typically reflect our emotions during

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<v Speaker 1>the day. Our brains are working hard to make connections

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<v Speaker 1>to achieve certain functions. When posed with a tough math problem,

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<v Speaker 1>your brain is incredibly focused on that one thing, and

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<v Speaker 1>the brain doesn't only serve mental functions. If you're building

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<v Speaker 1>a bench, your brain is focused on making the right

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<v Speaker 1>connections to allow your hands to work in concert with

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<v Speaker 1>the saw in the wood to make an exact cut.

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<v Speaker 1>The same goes for simple tasks like hitting a nail

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<v Speaker 1>with a hammer. Have you ever lost focus and smashed

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<v Speaker 1>your finger because your mind was elsewhere. Some researchers have

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<v Speaker 1>proposed that while sleeping, everything slows down. We aren't required

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<v Speaker 1>to focus on anything during sleep, so our brains make

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<v Speaker 1>very loose connections. It's during sleep that the emotions of

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<v Speaker 1>the day battle it out in our dream cycle. If

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<v Speaker 1>something is weighing heavily on your mind during the day,

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<v Speaker 1>chances are you might dream about it, either specifically or

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<v Speaker 1>through some kind of imagery. For instance, if you're worried

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<v Speaker 1>about losing your job due to company downsizing. You may

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<v Speaker 1>dream that you're a shrunken person living in a world

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<v Speaker 1>of giants, or that you're wandering aimlessly through a great

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<v Speaker 1>desert Abyss. There's also a theory, definitely the least intriguing

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<v Speaker 1>of the bunch, that dreams don't really serve any function

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<v Speaker 1>at all, that they're just a pointless byproduct of the

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<v Speaker 1>brain firing wallaby slumber. We know that the rear portion

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<v Speaker 1>of our brain gets pretty active during r M sleep,

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<v Speaker 1>when most dreaming occurs. Some think that it's just the

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<v Speaker 1>brain winding down for the night, and that dreams are

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<v Speaker 1>random and meaningless firings that we don't have when we're

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<v Speaker 1>awake at the end of the day. As long as

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<v Speaker 1>the brain remains such a mystery, we probably won't be

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<v Speaker 1>able to pinpoint with absolute certainty exactly why we dream.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Charles W. Bryant, Yes Chuck

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Playing. Or more

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<v Speaker 1>on this and lots of other dreamy topics at how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio. Or more podcasts in my heart Radio, visit

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows,