From Sleeping…to Dreaming…

1. From Sleeping…to Dreaming… • Why do we sleep? • How many sleep stages are there? • What brain waves are present during each stage? • How many sleep cycles do we rotate through in a normal sleep setting? • When do we dream?

2. Our dreams are frequently full of strangers who play out certain parts – did you know that your mind is not inventing those faces – they are real faces of real people that you have seen during your life but may not know or remember? The evil killer in your latest dream may be the guy who pumped petrol in to your Dad’s car when you were just a little kid. When you are snoring, you are not dreaming Dreams Prevent Psychosis - In a recent sleep study, students who were awakened at the beginning of each dream, but still allowed their 8 hours of sleep, all experienced difficulty in concentration, irritability, hallucinations, and signs of psychosis after only 3 days. When finally allowed their REM sleep the student’s brains made up for lost time by greatly increasing the percentage of sleep spent in the REM stage. You Forget 90% of your Dreams Toddlers do not dream about themselves until around the age of 3. From the same age, children typically have many more nightmares than adults do until age 7 or 8. Not Everyone Dreams in Color - 12% of sighted people dream exclusively in black and white – Red and Blue = most common colors

3. Types of Dreams… Lucid Dreams= dreaming while you know you are dreaming; being aware that you are dreaming; being in control (ex: flying) Ordinary Dreams = dreams in response to something that has happened in your day/life Recurring Dreams = is just that…the same dream occurs over and over to the dreamer. May not be exactly the same, but the theme, actions, setting, feelings and outcome virtually remain the same. Prophetic Dreams = (AKA precognition or psychic dreams) Seemingly foretell the future, See the future through your dream. Epic Dreams = So compelling, and vivid they cannot be ignored. The details of such dreams remain with you for years, as if you just dreamt it last night. Upon waking you feel you have discovered something profound or amazing about yourself or about the world. It feels like a life-changing experience.  Nightmares = disturbing dream that causes you to wake up feeling anxious and frightened

4. What are Dreams?Freudian theory Freud believed that: dreams were “the royal road to the unconscious” Dreams expose our inner desires, unconscious pains, and unacceptable wishes Dreams consist of two types of content… Manifest Content (Obvious): What you see, feel, know, hear, in the dream Latent Content (Symbolic): unconscious thoughts, feelings, and wishes Freud also believed … Unconscious id impulses – ego has blocked expression of these impulses during waking state and only come out in dreams.

5. Biological Approach • Dreams are physiologically driven • REM sleep = high brain activity • Neurons firing in brain which control movement and vision • In making sense of this random activity, the brain creates a story… a dream