Dreams are stories and images that our minds engender while we slumber. They can be regaling, fun, romantic, perturbing, frightening, and sometimes outcry.

Why do dreams occur? What causes them? Can we control them? What do they mean?

Expeditious facts on dreams

Here are some key points about dreams. More detail and fortifying information is in the main article.

Though a few people may not recollect dreaming, it is thought that everyone dreams between 3 to 6 times per night.
It is thought that each dream lasts between 5 to 20 minutes.
Around 95% of dreams are forgotten by the time a person gets out of bed.

Dreaming can avail you learn and develop long-term recollections.
Women dream more about family, children and indoor settings when compared with men.
Recalling something from last week that has appeared in your dream is called the "dream-lag effect."
There is a difference in the quality and quantity of dreams experienced in rapid ocular perceiver kineticism and non-rapid ocular perceiver kineticism slumber.

48% of people that feature in a dream are apperceived by the person dreaming.
Blind people dream more with other sensory components compared with sighted people.
Both slumber and dream quality are affected by alcohol.

Why do we dream?

A woman is lying asleep in bed.
Experts still do not thoroughly understand why we dream or the causes behind dreams.
There are several hypotheses and concepts as to why we dream. Are dreams merely part of the slumber cycle or do they accommodate some other purport?

Possible explications for why we dream include:

To represent insensate desires and wishes
To interpret desultory signals from the encephalon and body during slumber
To consolidate and process information accumulated during the day
To work as a form of psychotherapy.

From converging evidence and incipient research methodologies, researchers have notionally theorized that dreaming:

Is offline recollection reprocessing - consolidates learning and recollection tasks.79,90,91
Is a subsystem of the waking default network, which is active during mind wandering and daydreaming. Dreaming could be optically discerned as cognitive simulation of authentic life experiences.24
Participates in the development of cognitive capabilities.17
Is psychoanalytic; dreams are highly consequential reflections of insensate noetic functioning.79
Is a unique state of consciousness that incorporates three temporal dimensions: experience of the present, processing of the past, and preparation for the future.56
Provides a psychological space where inundating, contradictory, or highly involute notions can be assembled by the dreaming ego that would be unsettling while aroused. This process accommodates the desideratum for psychological balance and equilibrium.67
As with many things concerning the encephalon and insensate thought, there is so much that remains unknown about dreaming. Dreams are arduous to study in a laboratory. As technology and incipient research techniques are developed, the construal of dreams will perpetuate to grow.

Phases of slumber

There are five phases of slumber in a slumber cycle:

 Stage 1 - light slumber, ocular perceivers move gradually, and muscle activity slows. This stage forms 4-5% of total slumber
 Stage 2 - ocular perceiver kineticism ceases and encephalon waves (fluctuations of electrical activity that can be quantified by electrodes) become more gradual, with infrequent bursts of rapid waves called slumber spindles. This stage forms 45-55% of total slumber
 Stage 3 - prodigiously slow encephalon waves called delta waves commence to appear, interspersed with more minute, more expeditious waves. 4-6% of total slumber
Stage 4 - the encephalon engenders delta waves virtually exclusively. It is very arduous to wake someone during stages 3 and 4, which together are called "deep slumber." There is no ocular perceiver kineticism or muscle activity. People aroused while in deep slumber do not adjust immediately and often feel groggy and disoriented for several minutes after they arouse. This forms 12-15% of total slumber
Stage 5 - REM - breathing becomes more rapid, aberrant and shallow, ocular perceivers jerk rapidly in sundry directions, and limb muscles become ephemerally paralyzed. Heart rate increases, blood pressure elevates, and males develop penile erections. When people arouse during REM slumber, they often describe outr� and illogical tales - dreams. Forms 20-25% of total slumber time.

Slow-wave slumber refers to stages 3 and 4 of non-rapid ocular perceiver kineticism (NREM) slumber.

What are dreams?

Dreams are a universal human experience that can be described as a state of consciousness characterized by sensory, cognitive and emotional occurrences during sleep. The dreamer has reduced control over the content, visual images and activation of the memory.

Neuroscience offers explanations linked to the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep as a pinpoint for where dreaming occurs.

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Dreams: Why do we dream?
Last updated Thu 23 February 2017 By Hannah Nichols Reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, PhD, CRNP
Dreams are stories and images that our minds create while we sleep. They can be entertaining, fun, romantic, disturbing, frightening, and sometimes bizarre.
Why do dreams occur? What causes them? Can we control them? What do they mean?

You will see introductions at the end of some sections to any developments that have been covered by Medical News Today's news stories. Also look out for links to information about related conditions.

The second part of this article, discussing how we dream and why we have nightmares is available here.

Contents of this article:

Why do we dream?
What are dreams?
What do dreams mean?
Why are dreams hard to remember?
Who dreams?
Fast facts on dreams
Here are some key points about dreams. More detail and supporting information is in the main article.
Though a few people may not remember dreaming, it is thought that everyone dreams between 3 to 6 times per night.
It is thought that each dream lasts between 5 to 20 minutes.
Around 95% of dreams are forgotten by the time a person gets out of bed.
Dreaming can help you learn and develop long-term memories.
Women dream more about family, children and indoor settings when compared with men.
Recalling something from last week that has appeared in your dream is called the "dream-lag effect."
There is a difference in the quality and quantity of dreams experienced in rapid eye movement and non-rapid eye movement sleep.
48% of people that feature in a dream are recognized by the person dreaming.
Blind people dream more with other sensory components compared with sighted people.
Both sleep and dream quality are affected by alcohol.
Why do we dream?
A woman is lying asleep in bed.
Experts still do not completely understand why we dream or the causes behind dreams.
There are several hypotheses and concepts as to why we dream. Are dreams merely part of the sleep cycle or do they serve some other purpose?

Possible explanations for why we dream include:

To represent unconscious desires and wishes
To interpret random signals from the brain and body during sleep
To consolidate and process information gathered during the day
To work as a form of psychotherapy.
From converging evidence and new research methodologies, researchers have speculated that dreaming:

Is offline memory reprocessing - consolidates learning and memory tasks.79,90,91
Is a subsystem of the waking default network, which is active during mind wandering and daydreaming. Dreaming could be seen as cognitive simulation of real life experiences.24
Participates in the development of cognitive capabilities.17
Is psychoanalytic; dreams are highly meaningful reflections of unconscious mental functioning.79
Is a unique state of consciousness that incorporates three temporal dimensions: experience of the present, processing of the past, and preparation for the future.56
Provides a psychological space where overwhelming, contradictory, or highly complex notions can be brought together by the dreaming ego that would be unsettling while awake. This process serves the need for psychological balance and equilibrium.67
As with many things concerning the brain and unconscious thought, there is so much that remains unknown about dreaming. Dreams are difficult to study in a laboratory. As technology and new research techniques are developed, the understanding of dreams will continue to grow.

Phases of sleep
There are five phases of sleep in a sleep cycle:

Stage 1 - light sleep, eyes move slowly, and muscle activity slows. This stage forms 4-5% of total sleep
Stage 2 - eye movement stops and brain waves (fluctuations of electrical activity that can be measured by electrodes) become slower, with occasional bursts of rapid waves called sleep spindles. This stage forms 45-55% of total sleep
Stage 3 - extremely slow brain waves called delta waves begin to appear, interspersed with smaller, faster waves. 4-6% of total sleep
Stage 4 - the brain produces delta waves almost exclusively. It is very difficult to wake someone during stages 3 and 4, which together are called "deep sleep." There is no eye movement or muscle activity. People awakened while in deep sleep do not adjust immediately and often feel groggy and disoriented for several minutes after they wake up. This forms 12-15% of total sleep
Stage 5 - REM - breathing becomes more rapid, irregular and shallow, eyes jerk rapidly in various directions, and limb muscles become temporarily paralyzed. Heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, and males develop penile erections. When people awaken during REM sleep, they often describe bizarre and illogical tales - dreams. Forms 20-25% of total sleep time.
Slow-wave sleep refers to stages 3 and 4 of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep.

What are dreams?

Dreams are a universal human experience that can be described as a state of consciousness characterized by sensory, cognitive and emotional occurrences during sleep.27 The dreamer has reduced control over the content, visual images and activation of the memory.42

There is no cognitive state that has been as extensively studied and yet as misunderstood as much as dreaming.40,42

castle made of clouds
Dreams are full of experiences that have lifelike connections but with vivid and bizarre twists.
There are significant differences between the neuroscientific and psychoanalytic approaches to dream analysis. A neuroscientist is interested in the structures involved in dream production and dream organization and narratability. However, psychoanalysis concentrates on the meaning of dreams and on placing them in the context of relationships in the history of the dreamer.96

Reports of dreams tend to be full of emotional and vivid experiences that contain themes, concerns, dream figures, objects, etc. that correspond closely to waking life.27,28 These elements create a novel "reality" out of seemingly nothing, producing an experience with a lifelike timeframe and lifelike connections.28

Neuroscience offers explanations linked to the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep as a pinpoint for where dreaming occurs.28

Nightmares

Nightmares are distressing dreams that cause the dreamer to feel a number of disturbing emotions. Common feelings include fear and anxiety.

Nightmares or bad dreams occur in both adults and children and can be caused by:

Stress
Fear
Trauma
Emotional problems
Illness
Use of certain medications or drugs

Lucid dreams

Lucid dreaming is a state of sleep where the dreamer knows they are dreaming. As a result, the dreamer may have some measure of control over their dream.