Dreams - 2623 Words

The average amount a human will sleep in their lifetime is 229,961 hours. Part of those 229,961 hours sleeping is spent dreaming. What are dreams? This question has fascinated the human race throughout history. From the Ancient Greeks and Romans, to Sigmund Freud in the late 1800’s, till now, people have queried what the mystical stories that play out in the sleeping mind are and why we have them. The Sumerians in Mesopotamia left evidence of dreams dating back to 3100 BC. According to these stories, gods and kings, like the 7th century BC scholar-king Assurbanipal, paid close attention to dreams. In his archive of clay tablets, some accounts of the story of the legendary king Gilgamesh were found (Seligman). The Mesopotamians†¦show more content†¦During this stage, many people experience sudden muscle contractions preceded by a sensation of falling. In stage 2, eye movement stops and brain waves become slower with only an occasional burst of rapid brain wave s. When a person enters stage 3, extremely slow brain waves called delta waves are interspersed with smaller, faster waves. In stage 4, the brain produces delta waves almost exclusively. Stages 3 and 4 are referred to as deep sleep or delta sleep, and it is very difficult to wake someone from them. In deep sleep, there is no eye movement or muscle activity. This is when some children experience bedwetting, sleepwalking or night terrors. Usually, REM sleep occurs 70-90 minutes after someone has fall asleep. The first period of REM typically lasts 10 minutes. Each REM stage gets longer, and the final one may last up to an hour. A sleeping individuals heart rate and breathing quickens. People experience more intense dreams during REM sleep, since the brain is more active. Dreams are constantly occurring throughout the sleep cycle so do not believe anyone who says they do not dream. Sleep and dreaming causes improved brain activity enabling people to function more productively. Matthew Wilson, a neuroscientist at the Picower Institute at M.I.T., during the early 1990s, was recording the neuron activity in the brains of rats as they navigated through a difficult maze. The machines translatedShow MoreRelatedDreams And Dreams : Dreams1425 Words   |  6 PagesAvery Alexander English III Mr. Tarr 26 April 2015 Dreams Throughout our dreaming experience, we feel different sensations, emotions, and thoughts interpreted through images in a person’s mind. During our unconscious process, the meanings of our inner thoughts are experienced through dreams. Some psychologists believe dreams are connected to our real emotions and others may see dreams as a specific meaning related to one’s life (Young). Dreams can put us in touch with our real motives in life dueRead MoreDream And Dream - Dream Killers1012 Words   |  5 PagesDream killers You know the type, the ones who think that just because they did not make it, then you can t, the Debbie Downers who can t see beyond their pathetic existence to dream of something bigger. The one who will never achieve much because they fail to dream and dream to fail, these are the dream killers. Conversation #1 You   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I am thinking of starting my own business Them   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Why you want to do that? You   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Because I have always wanted to work for myself? ThemRead MoreDreams And Dreams1729 Words   |  7 Pagesinterpretations and true meanings of dreams has expanded and has varied over centuries and cultures. Many of the earlier studies were based on culture’s and the interpretation of dreams, but also used as a form of prophecy, inspiration, and guidance. Many people still believe this such, people today beliefs and theories have opened up to a more vast interpretation, they are made up of; dreams are rare brain activity, dreams allow people to reflect on themselves, or that dreams are too massive to be correctlyRead MoreDreams And Dreams1893 Words   |  8 PagesEvery single one of us dreams and each one is experienced at a personal level, but interpreting them and figuring what they actually mean is still a mystery to us all. The histories of dreams, dates all the way back to over 5,000 years ago. These were the times where they would still write things down on clay tablets. Even then, we were already interested in what dr eams meant. During the Greek and Roman eras, dreams were perceived in a religious sense. If they were good dreams, they would be interpretedRead MoreDreams And The Subconscious : Dreams Essay1276 Words   |  6 PagesDreams and the Subconscious Are dreams a way of processing life events, or are they really messages from the subconscious? This phenomenon has always interested me, and I am extremely grateful this opportunity has arisen for me to research dreams in more depth. Since childhood, I have been intrigued with dreams and how similar they can be for each person. For instance, many people have recurring nightmares of being chased. According to Huffington Post, being chased is one of the most common dreamsRead MoreDreams : A Lucid Dream1097 Words   |  5 PagesBeing able to understand what dreams represent and how they effect a person should be something everyone should understand. Dreams can be a small glimpse or feel so real that it is unbelievable. The issue people have the most is remembering. They can not remember if they spoke with another individual in actually life or if it was all apart of their dream they had. There is so much confusion that the person is almost embarrassed to ask if the event actually happe ned. A dream like this is considered oneRead MoreThe Dream Of A Lucid Dream1403 Words   |  6 PagesIt is said that a lucid dream is a dream that can be induced or controlled and is characterized by the dreamer being aware that he or she is dreaming (Lucid). When lucidity occurs, the dreamer â€Å"wakes up† inside the dream during fixed states of cognizance. Dreams are caused by things â€Å"†¦our mind knows, however which we cannot handle, is disturbing or something that we keep reiterating to ourselves† (Ganguly). This is why distinguishing significant dream symbols from ambient symbols is important forRead MoreDreams : What Are Dreams?1174 Words   |  5 PagesWhat are dreams? Are they the mind’s way of entertaining itself while you sleep, or are they your unconscious trying to tell you something? If you chose the ladder, you are on the right track. The mind can’t talk to you, you don t hear voices in your head unless you are a Schizophrenic. T he only way that our unconscious mind has a way to communicate, is when you are asleep. The idea that dreams are trying to tell you something is simple, but understanding what the dream is trying to say can be difficultRead MoreDreams : The Awareness Of Dreams1030 Words   |  5 PagesDreams are stories our mind creates while we are asleep. Dreams can be witty, cheerful, passionate, disturbing, horrific, and downright confusing. All my life I have always wondered what goes on in our brains when we dream. I also have wondered why our brains create dreams. Are dreams something the brain creates to make sense of what it views so it organizes images into coherent stories. Dream content also varies depending on life experience. A child will dream of candy and toys but an adult willRead MoreDreams And Its Effects On Dreams3206 Words   |  13 PagesDream content reflects aspects of waking-life experiences. After memories are made, they are often fragmentally merged with other informati on to construct larger, holistic dreams. Autobiographical memories are predominantly represented in dreams in comparison to episodic and semantic memories. Among various characteristics from waking-life experiences such as places, people, and events, emotions are highly incorporated into dream content. There is also a decreasing relationship between the cognitive