• Question: Why do we have dreams and nightmares, and why do they seem so real, like we can sense things in them?

    Asked by anon-181897 on 24 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Laura Hemming

      Laura Hemming answered on 24 Jun 2018:

      There are lots of theories about why we have dreams. Some people think that the content of dreams is really important – Freud claimed that our dreams are a way for our subconscious thoughts to relay messages to our consciousness. Other people think that dreams are simply a by-product of neurons which fire while we’re sleeping. In short nobody really knows exactly what function dreams have yet! Check out this video below which explains a bit more about the different theories for why we dream:

    • Photo: Ashley Akbari

      Ashley Akbari answered on 24 Jun 2018:

      Such a great answer from Laura

    • Photo: Lauren Burns

      Lauren Burns answered on 26 Jun 2018:

      There are lots of theories about why dreams and nightmares occur, however we are not sure why as it is really hard to study empirically! What we can tell is, when you have a nightmare, our hearts start pounding as our mind believes we are in danger so the same response – adrenaline – is released in our bodies as when we are awake. However, you cannot be asleep and have adrenaline coursing through your veins, so you wake up!

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