Moving in our dreams usually feels very real to us at that time regardless of what we do. Our brains also seem to agree. Researchers have come to realize that we move in our dreams, this was after imaging the brains of people sleeping. They found that the brain waves move in the same pattern just like when we move into the real world.
How Does the Mind Create Dreams?
Researchers are not aware of how our minds create dreams since we forget them as soon as we wake up. There are some neuroscientists who wanted to discover what individuals were doing in their dreams by using imaging techniques. They will need to know how their brain looks especially when undertaking a task in the dream for them to perform this technique. This isn’t an easy thing to do since many dreamers cannot control what they’re doing while they are dreaming.
Lucid Dreaming
They are certain that dreamers encounter something called lucid dreaming, although this is very rare. Lucid dreaming means a sleeper knows that he or she is dreaming and can control the actions in the dream. Quite a number of individuals have experienced lucid dreams according to Dr. Dresler, but few people experience them regularly. Some individuals can lucidly dream more often.
When you dream, it is important that you write down your dreams. If you are lucid dreaming, this journaling can help you to know what happened. Write this down immediately when you wake up, so you don’t forget your dream and how it made you feel.
Individuals and Lucid Dreaming
Six individuals were recruited by Dresler and Czish. They had been trained in lucid dreaming. They were given instructions to dream that they were clinching either of their hands and let them fall asleep in a brain scanner. Once they started dreaming, they moved their eyes from left to right to let the researchers know. The researchers, therefore, checked them to ensure that they were actually dreaming. They then recorded their brain activity.
They found out that only two people were able to have lucid dreams in the noisy scanners. Dreams are not only represented as a visual scene, but they are represented mentally as well. To make their findings stronger, the researchers decided to bring on board more lucid dreamers to find out whether the brain responds similarly to everyone that dreams or if the brain waves respond differently.
Doctors and scientists are also hopeful to find out what really happens to the brain when dreamers undertake tasks such as walking, flying or even speaking. This will help them interpret dreams and comprehend how d why the mind creates them.
Final Thoughts
Dreaming is something that everyone does but not everyone remembers them. Just the same, not everyone lucid dreams while other people report having lucid dreams often. Finding out how dreams work has been an important science for years.
Understanding how the mind creates and processes dreams could offer significant insights into mental health. Especially in the context of lucid dreaming, the ability to remember and write down dreams might help individuals understand their subconscious better.
The study of dreams has always fascinated me. It’s intriguing to see how our brains behave similarly when we move in dreams and in real life. The use of brain imaging techniques in this research is quite promising.
Lucid dreaming is a fascinating subject. It’s interesting how only a few people can control their dreams despite most people experiencing them occasionally. I wonder if more research could help increase the frequency of lucid dreaming for individuals.
The connection between brain waves during dreaming and waking movement is a compelling discovery. This research not only advances our understanding of dreams but may also have implications for therapies involving dream interpretation and mental health.
The approach taken by Dresler and Czish in training individuals for lucid dreaming and using brain scanners is noteworthy. Although the noisy environment affected the results, expanding their research to include more participants seems like a logical next step.