• Question: Why do we dream?

    Asked by vanessa to Paul, Mobeen, Laura, Jen, Greg on 6 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Laura Haworth

      Laura Haworth answered on 6 Mar 2016:

      This is a difficult question as we still don’t really know why we dream. There is a few theories out there but no one is a 100% and it is an area that is still being researched. We know that the majority of our dreaming occurs during the REM stage of our sleep cycle and it is suggested it is the brains way of processing the things we collect when we are awake. People also suggest dreaming occurs as a method of forming memories, or a way of expressing our emotions from the day and some theories suggest that dreaming has no purpose.

    • Photo: Greg Melia

      Greg Melia answered on 7 Mar 2016:

      Like Laura says, we don’t really know but we do know that it happens during REM sleep. Its a really intriguing question.

      Also, do you always feel like you wake up in the middle of dreams? That’s because you do! During a night’s sleep, you have several periods of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, but most of it is in the half hour just before you wake up – so you usually do wake up in the middle of a dream.

    • Photo: Paul O'Mahoney

      Paul O'Mahoney answered on 7 Mar 2016:

      I think Laura and Greg have covered this pretty well, but I do think that dreams are largely influenced by what you did during the day or what you have been thinking about.

    • Photo: Jen Lowe

      Jen Lowe answered on 7 Mar 2016:

      I think it helps our brain make sense of the things we’ve been doing and thinking about. Maybe it helps us to remember things, figure things out and make memories. Not my area of expertise tho.

    • Photo: Mobeen Ali

      Mobeen Ali answered on 15 Mar 2016:

      As the others have said, we don’t really know. We think it could be to form memories, process information from our day or to prepare us for new scenarios.

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