Dream Amnesia
By Lea Gonzalez & Justice Jones
"I Don't Dream Anymore."
- We actually have an average of five dreams every night; totaling up to about 1,825 dream per year.
Why we forget our dreams:
- According to Freud's theory of repression, dreams are products of wish fulfillment.
- So, we don't remember the dreams that we are not emotionally able to handle.
- Another theory is that our brains don't want us to remember certain things because they are too traumatic.
"How long do our dreams normally last?"
The first dream of the night is about 5 minutes long and the last dream you have before awakening can be 45 minutes to an hour long.
Another Theory
According to estimates, as much as 95 percent of all dreams are quickly forgotten shortly after waking. Why are our dreams so difficult to remember? According to one theory, the changes in the brain that occur during sleep do not support the information processing and storage needed for memory formation to take place. Brain scans of sleeping individuals have shown that the frontal lobes, the area that plays a key role in memory formation, are inactive during REM sleep, the stage in which dreaming occurs.
More Facts
While people who lost their eyesight prior to age five usually do not have visual dreams in adulthood, they still dream. Despite the lack of visuals, the dreams of the blind are just as complex and vivid as those of the sighted. Instead of visual sensations, blind individuals' dreams typically include information from the other senses such as sound, touch, taste, hearing and smell.