{"id":16006,"date":"2022-08-06T05:00:35","date_gmt":"2022-08-06T03:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=125476"},"modified":"2022-08-06T05:35:10","modified_gmt":"2022-08-06T03:35:10","slug":"sandman-is-there-any-evidence-to-suggest-our-dreams-have-meaning","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/sandman-is-there-any-evidence-to-suggest-our-dreams-have-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Sandman: Is there any evidence to suggest our dreams have meaning?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Stephen Kelly\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 06 August 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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In The Sandman<\/em>, the long-awaited Netflix adaption of Neil Gaiman\u2019s dark and cerebral comic book series, dreams and nightmares are the designs of Morpheus, the king of dreams, who rules over a realm that we spend a third of our lives in \u2013 the Dreaming. In reality, however, there is no clear explanation for why you wake up in the middle of night, drenched in sweat, after having to take yet another exam you\u2019ve not studied for and \u2013 oh no! \u2013 where are your pants?! Instead, the nature and purposes of dreams are the topics of fierce debate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know the mechanics of dreaming,\u201d says Mark Blagrove, professor of psychology at Swansea University, who specialises in the study of sleep<\/a> and dreams. \u201cWe know that you\u2019re more likely to have a dream in REM [rapid eye movement] sleep than in non-REM sleep. We know that there\u2019s evidence for a \u2018hot zone\u2019 near the back of the brain, which turns dreaming on and off. But despite knowing all this, we\u2019re not clear on why it actually happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

One theory, says Blagrove, is that dreaming has no function. Instead, it could be epiphenomenal, the incidental by-product of the brain\u2019s natural processes while we\u2019re asleep. But there are many other theories that would disagree.<\/p>\n

For example, \u201cOne theory for why we have nightmares,\u201d explains Blagrove, \u201cis threat simulation theory, which suggests that we simulate threats such as, say, running away from wild animals to get practice at overcoming danger.\u201d Another is social simulation theory, which means you simulate your social world while asleep. \u201cThat is plausible,\u201d says Blagrove, \u201cbecause dreams usually have at least one more character than the dreamer themselves. There\u2019s also often emotion in the dream, along with intentions and plots.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most prominent theory however is related to the evidence that during sleep, we consolidate memories<\/a>, transforming recent memories into long-term ones. Blagrove cites a recent study that he conducted in which participants were taught a story. \u201cThey were then given a choice between spending the next two hours asleep or awake,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd the people who had a period of sleep had a better memory of the stories than the people who had a period of wakefulness.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea, continues Blagrove, is that during sleep, dreams come from the experience of the brain consolidating memories. \u201cSo we\u2019re dreaming of what the brain is doing,\u201d he says. \u201cNow, that presents two options: either the dreams are merely a by-product of the memory consolidation process, or the dreams are a necessary part of that consolidation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jenna Coleman is Joanna in Netflix\u2019s The Sandman \u00a9 Courtesy of Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

And yet, while it has not yet been proven whether dreams have an intended function, that\u2019s not to say that they don\u2019t provide insight into the dreamers themselves. In The Sandman<\/em>, Morpheus sculpts a myriad of strange creations \u2013\u00a0such as a man with teeth for eyes \u2013\u00a0that populate the land of the Dreaming. But in our minds, says Blagrove, the array of strange images and scenarios created from dreams are not the product of a mini David Lynch, directing in our skulls, but our natural inclination to think of life through story and metaphor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think metaphorically all the time,\u201d says Blagrove. \u201cSo for example, if you\u2019re in a relationship with somebody and you may use phrases like \u2018we\u2019re going through a bumpy patch\u2019. Similarly, we tend to think of love in terms of being a journey. And so the idea is that we go to sleep and then these metaphors that are in the background of our waking lives, they become environments that are visible. You actually live in the metaphor and experience it. So turning over a new leaf may see you physically turning over a new leaf.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blagrove gives the example of the children\u2019s author Michael Rosen, who he once interviewed about the dreams he experienced after COVID-19 led to him spending 40 days in an induced coma. \u201cIn one of the dreams he goes over a wall at Land\u2019s End and then he realises how dangerous it is so he gets pushed back,\u201d explains Blagrove. \u201cHe then goes through this hole to get through this wall. He\u2019s stuck in the hole and his wife is pushing him through and these two men on the other side are pulling him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dream confused Rosen, until one of Blagrove\u2019s colleagues came up with a convincing theory. \u201cShe realised \u2018ah, he\u2019s being pulled through\u2019\u2019, Blagrove says. \u201cThe dream is of him pulling through from COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n

About our expert, Prof Mark Blagrove<\/h4>\n

Prof Mark Blagrove<\/a> is a psychologist at the University of Swansea, where he researches the possible functions of sleep and of dreaming.<\/p>\n

Read more from\u00a0Popcorn Science<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n