Informative Speeches about Dreams: Unlocking the Enigma

Introduction

For most of history, Oneirology, or the study of dreams, did not exist. Trying to study dreams proves itself extremely difficult because dreams are not something to hold, examine, or even view. Personal accounts are unreliable at best, as it's estimated that people forget 95% of all dreams they have had. With dreams being so difficult to study, it is no wonder that it took until 1953 for a man named Eugene Aserinsky to wake the world up to the phenomenon of 'rapid eye movement,' or REM.

The Science Behind Dreaming

As we sleep, our brain goes through different stages, each respectively called rapid eye movement sleep (REM) and non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM). REM sleep is the stage where most dreams take place. ("What are the Different Sleep Cycles?", 2014)The first step to sleep is the lightest stage, referred to as Stage One (or NREM 1). During this time, the body is easily awoken. Next is Stage Two (NREM 2). Here, the heart rate and body temperature begin to fall, and the muscles relax. This stage is preparation for deep sleep. Stages Three and Four (NREM 3 & 4) are deep sleep where the brain waves slow and the body is not easily awoken. During the duration of Stages Three and Four, energy is restored, tissues grow, and hormones are released. ("What Happens When You Sleep?", 2018) The final stage is REM sleep, where heart rate, eye movement, and brain activity rise.

Humans spend about 25% of the night in REM sleep, which occurs after the first 30 minutes of being asleep and reoccurs in about 90-minute intervals. Electrical activity in the brain during REM sleep almost exactly mimics the way the brain acts when it is awake. The biggest difference is the production of chemicals like Norepinephrine, serotonin, and histamine is almost completely blocked. This prevents the muscles from moving. Because of this, we can dream of running, jumping, or even fighting without our bodies actually moving. ("How Brain Paralyzes Muscles While You Sleep," 2012) Though the body remains paralyzed, the eyes dart back and forth, which is where REM (rapid eye movement) gets its name.

REM sleep is important because it actively triggers different regions of the brain used for problem-solving and learning. In infants, this is especially important as REM plays a large role in normal brain development during that time. ("What is REM Sleep?", 2016)
REM sleep is usually correlated with the most vivid of dreams. This does not mean that humans need to achieve REM sleep to have dreams at all. When scientists studied the presence of dreams in NREM with the absence of REM prior, they found a large group of people who studied DID, in fact, have dreams. However, these dreams were not emotionally significant, nor were they vivid. (Non-REM Sleep, 2018)

If a person wakes up during REM sleep, while the chemical production is limited, they may become paralyzed. This is referred to as sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis happens due to the mind being awake, but the body has not caught up yet. ("Sleep Paralysis: Overview and Facts", 2018) A person suffering from sleep paralysis may experience hallucinations, either auditory, visual, or even both. These hallucinations often bring fear to the sufferer.

Something similar can happen while one sleeps. Lucid dreaming is the phenomenon where someone knows they are dreaming while it is happening. According to the Lucidity Institute, "lucidity usually begins in the midst of a dream when the dreamer realizes that the experience is not occurring in physical reality, but is a dream." Once the dreamer comes to this realization, they can take control of the dream. In 1975, Keith Hearne became the first scientist to discover proof of lucid dreaming. In his study, a volunteer was told to, if he was lucid, move his eyes in a predetermined way. By the end of the study, they discovered that lucid dreams occur during REM sleep and are consistent after a burst of REM sleep. ("Science in Our World: Certainty and Controversy", 2015)

As one can imagine, many people are interested in learning how to lucid dream. There are two well-known triggers for lucid dreams. The first trigger is simply having something so wild and impossible happen during the dream that the dreamer becomes aware that they are dreaming. The second way to trigger lucid dreaming is to awaken and then fall back asleep without breaking consciousness. By doing so, the dreamer may be aware that they have just fallen asleep, so any dreams they are about to have are, in fact, dreams.

Theories on Why We Dream

Scientists, though they can describe exactly how sleep works and everything that goes into having a dream, cannot come up with a scientifically sound explanation as to why we dream. There are many theories as to why we dream, however. A popular theory is that when we sleep, we are reviewing and analyzing the day-to-day happenings in our lives. This could mean that we are analyzing our emotions for the day or analyzing situations that stress us out. Dreaming becomes like personal therapy and a way for our brain to interpret the human's ever-changing emotions. Many believe dreaming is the brain's way of incorporating memories, logistics, and emotions all into one and to better ourselves in our waking lives. In this light, one could consider dreaming an "epiphenomenon," as they do not serve a primary purpose but rather a result of a more primary action happening in the brain.

Primal instincts like fight or flight may also influence why we dream. This theory also includes the idea that our brains are trying to prepare us for threats we haven't faced yet. Our brains are attempting to problem-solve our way through potentially dangerous situations without the true danger in the first place. The people who lean in favor of this theory suggest dreams are a result of a simple biological function. ("In Your Dreams", 2018)

Dream Interpretations Throughout Time

Before science got its hands on dreams, different sets of cultures had different ways of interpreting their dreams. When people interpret a dream, they are assigning significance to them. Religion plays a large role in how dreams were interpreted before scientific analysis. A common theme through ancient societies was considering dreams as supernatural or as divine intervention.

To begin, in ancient Egypt, many believed the gods spoke to them while they slept. The gods would describe the best ways to worship or even speak of the future through dreams. Even the most mundane dreams would be brought to a priest in order to have them interpreted. ("Ancient Egypt for Kidsdreams, 2018) Prophesies would be laid out, and omens of death could all be found in one's dream.
The ancient Greeks also believed dreams were visions of the future. The writers of ancient Greece put dreams into two categories: significant dreams and insignificant dreams. When a dream was insignificant, it was about earthly pleasures, hopes, desires, and personal fears. However, significant dreams had three categories: visions of the future, gods, and prophesies. The Greeks would record some of these dreams by using texts, including poems and epics. ("Dreams and Prophesy in Ancient Greece, 2014)

The ancient Chinese had a different way of looking at dreams. They believed that the whole person was made up of both the waking state and the dreaming state. This meant when a person was asleep, their dreaming version of themselves was their real self, and the person asleep in the bed was a false self. When they looked for meaning in their dreams, rather than looking for divine meaning, they found everyday meaning through particular symbols of nature. ("Ancient Chinese Dream Interpretation", 2016)

In the bible, it is written that God spoke to people through their dreams, but it was not something that happened often. Now, some Christians still believe they can receive a message from God through their dreams. Not every dream is a premonition, though. Ecclesiastes 5:3 says, "A dream comes through much activity," implying that regular dreams we have day to day are natural outgrowths of the stimuli we receive in our waking hours. ("Does God Communicate with Christians Through Dreams Today?: Do My Dreams Have Spiritual Significance?", 2010) Christians believe dreaming is a time shared with only God and themselves and can be a result of daily thoughts and actions.

Conclusion

Dreams are still very much a mystery. There is no true consensus as to why we dream, and no two theories line up perfectly. Scientists today know more about the Eagle Nebula, a structure in outer space that is 6,500 lightyears away and one hundred trillion kilometers tall than they do about why humans have dreams. Dreams are an enigma, and that is what keeps them wildly interesting.

References

1. "What are the Different Sleep Cycles?" (2014). Sleep Advisor. Retrieved from https://www.sleepadvisor.org/different-sleep-cycles/

2. "What Happens When You Sleep?" (2018). National Sleep Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.sleep.org/articles/what-happens-during-sleep/

3. "How Brain Paralyzes Muscles While You Sleep" (2012). Scientific American. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-brain-paralyzes-muscles-while-you-sleep/

4. "What is REM Sleep?" (2016). Sleep Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/what-happens-when-you-sleep/what-is-rem-sleep

5. "Non-REM Sleep" (2018). National Sleep Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/nrem-non-rem-sleep

6. "Sleep Paralysis: Overview and Facts" (2018). Sleep Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/parasomnias/sleep-paralysis

7. "Science in Our World: Certainty and Controversy" (2015). Stanford University. Retrieved from https://web.stanford.edu/~bcalhoun/Agora/C&C-Stanford.htm

8. "In Your Dreams" (2018). Harvard Magazine. Retrieved from https://harvardmagazine.com/2001/07/in-your-dreams.html

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