Brain Research: Everyone dreams – but not everyone remembers

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The dream is still an unexplained phenomenon for scientists in many parts. You have to have been awake for at least three minutes to remember a dream. Therefore, congratulations to all those who supposedly never dream – these people have a good, deep sleep.

The “cinema in the brain” takes place mainly in the REM (rapid eye movement) phase, in which the eyes move very quickly under the closed eyelids. In this phase, the brain works similarly actively as in the waking state. “During sleep, we fall into the REM phase every 90 minutes,” says sleep researcher Jürgen Zulley from Regensburg. “Towards morning, this becomes longer and longer, which means that we mainly remember the dreams we dreamt in the morning.”

For scientists, the dream is still an unexplained phenomenon in many parts. Researchers can’t even tell if a sleeper is dreaming or not. What they do know often comes from dream diaries of test subjects.

There is still no rule, says Zulley, about what one dreams about. They can be events from a short time ago that come up again at night, as well as impressions of days long past. “Dreaming is a creative process,” formulates the head of the Mannheim sleep laboratory, Michael Schredel.

Among the typical dreams are pursuit nightmares. This is because the actual inability to move when lying in bed and sleeping can trigger subconscious negative feelings, Schredel explains. In general, according to research findings, men dream more about violence than women. The reason for this is that they are more often forced to defend their social position in life.

Children have more anxiety dreams than adults because everything around them seems bigger, stronger and more threatening, he said. When children have bad dreams, it’s important for them to realize when they wake up: “I’m safe here, mommy and daddy are here,” says remedial teacher Dorothea Winarske from the Flattichhaus youth welfare center in Korntal near Stuttgart.

Often, it also helps children to imagine that they are in a safe place where they can feel comfortable. That place could be the land of milk and honey or a meadow in bloom. “The only important thing is that they learn: I can control my thoughts and counter the bad dreams with something beautiful,” the remedial educator advises.

Whether child or adult: there are simple rules that can contribute a lot to deep, better – and thus seemingly dreamless – sleep. Sleep researcher Jürgen Zulley advises, for example, to take the last meal at least four hours before going to bed. In addition, an easily digestible dinner supports deep sleep. Therefore, no hard-to-digest raw vegetables such as cucumbers or lettuce should be eaten in the evening.

Although alcohol initially helps you fall asleep, it then disturbs your sleep. For this reason, drink at most one glass of wine in the evening – no more. If you want to fall asleep, you should take a relaxed approach. That’s why it’s important to get some rest in time. Audio books and music help much better than the resolution: I want to fall asleep now.