Scottsdale Health November 2019

crazy 8s
Unraveling the mystery behind a dream
when you wake up in the morning can be a
fun yet daunting task. They can be exciting,
other times terrifying nightmares, and
sometimes they’re just downright bizarre.
While there’s no clear scientific reason that
explains why we dream, researchers have
uncovered some eye-opening facts about
the sleeping act. Here are eight of them.
Crazy Facts
About Dreams
1. We all dream. You
may not remember
all, or any, of your
dreams, but the truth
is that everyone has
several each night,
each one lasting
between five and 20
minutes.
2. Don’t move
a muscle. REM
atonia occurs while
dreaming, meaning
that your motor
neurons are not
stimulated and most
of your muscles
are paralyzed. This
prevents you from
acting out your
dreams while you’re
asleep.
3. Forget it.
According to the
National Sleep
Foundation, most
people forget about
95% of their dreams
right away. Brain
scans of people
who are sleeping
have shown that the
frontal lobes, which
play a key role in
memory formation,
are inactive during
REM sleep, the
stage in which
dreaming occurs.
4. It’s all black and
white. Some people
have claimed that
they cannot dream in
color. About 12% of
people say they only
dream in black and
white.
5. Scary dreams.
Kids have more
nightmares, with
the scary dreams
beginning between
the ages of 3 and 6.
6. Really falling
asleep. Falling
dreams usually occur
at the beginning
of the night when
you’re falling asleep.
These dreams are
often accompanied
by myoclonic jerks,
or muscle spasms.
7. Visualize it. Blind
people dream, too.
Those who were
not born blind see
images in their
dreams, while people
who were born blind
can’t see images but
have dreams that
involve their other
senses.
8. Gender
differences. Men
and women dream
differently. Men
reportedly have more
aggressive, physical
dreams while
women have longer
dreams that contain
more conversations
and characters.
40 ScottsdaleHealth 11/19