• Question: Could we record our dreams?

    Asked by lossielolo to Lynne, Daren on 18 Jun 2014.
    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      Some scientists are doing experiments where they put sleeping people in MRI scanners and measure their brain patterns. They then build up a sort of dictionary of brain patterns and they can match the patterns to different emotions. So yes, I think it might be possible in the future!

    • Photo: Lynne Thomas

      Lynne Thomas answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      I think this is a long way off if it is going to happen. Scientists can tell what kind of emotions you are dreaming by the places that they see things in the brain using MRI scanners but I don’t think they are anywhere near being able to make a recording of what we are actually seeing. And people seem to dream in different ways too, some see in colour, some in black and white.

    • Photo: Daren Fearon

      Daren Fearon answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      Jenny and Lynne have given good answers already. MRI scanners have also been used recently to communicate with coma patients by measuring differences in their brain activity when asked simple yes or no questions. This could be pretty useful as these patients cannot communicate in any other way.

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