Dreams are wonderful.
We get to explore a different world without any rules - no logical or physical laws, anything is possible in our dreams!
Sometimes, our dreams are so amazing and vivid that we are desperate to write them down when we wake up.
But when our alarm rings, we might remember the dream only for a few minutes - after that it's gone.
And even though many of you might have tried to go back to sleep and continue a dream - it's almost impossible.
So what is the reason that we forget our dreams so quickly and easily ?!
Info about Dreams
Before we can answer that question, we need to learn more about dreams.
We only dream when we are in the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage of our dreams - the last phase of our sleep cycle.
During deep sleep (phases 3 and 4), our brain activity and -waves are very low.
But during REM sleep, our brains are a lot more active, our eyes move around quickly while the rest of our body is being paralyzed to protect us.
That's mostly when we dream.
A full night's sleep has 4-5 of these REM sleep phases, so you are probably dreaming 4-5 different dreams every night.
Myth: Some people don't dream at all!
That's not true.Everybody dreams, every time they enter this phase of sleep.
It's just that most people can't remember anything from their dreams - and therefore assuming they didn't dream at all.
So Why do we forget our Dreams?
Well, as with so many things: Science doesn't have a clear answer to that just yet.
There are many different theories though:
Theory #1: The filtering brain
Our brain filters out a lot of unnecessary information every day, at all times.
This is also the general reason why we even forget things.
If our brain would realize and store every detail about a situation, we would simply go crazy with all that data!
Think about your train of thoughts while you were brushing your teeth this morning. You probably won't be able to recite the whole thought process - because the information wasn't that necessary.
Some scientists suggest that this also happens with our dreams, and that our brain sees no valid point in storing our dreams in our long-term memory.
Theory #2: Waking up helps
Studies have shown that people who wake up multiple times during the night can recall their dreams a lot more often.
That might be because the brain can then process and store the information during the short time you're awake, instead of diving right into the next phase of the sleep cycle.
Theory #3: Our dreams are too weird
Normally, we form memories through repitition, association and logical order.
Our memories of events are almost always based on a certain order - first this happened, then that, then that.
But because our dreams are so unusually structured, and they're unique every time, it's much harder for us to save them to our long-term memory.
That's also why repetitive dreams are so much clearer and easier to remember.
Theory 4: Sleep cycles
As mentioned above, the sleep phase in which we dream occurs about 4-5 times per night.
But humans only ever tend to remember their last dream of the night, right before waking up.
That's because the constantly changing sleep cycles and changing brain waves interrupt the brain's ability to save memories normally.
In conclusion ...
There is no clear answer to why we forget our dreams yet.
Scientists are still trying to figure out the solution, but until then it remains a mystery.
Most commonly though, scientists assume that this phenomenon is linked to the way we form normal memories, and how that is being disrupted due to changing brain waves, sleep cycles, and the strucutre of dreams.
Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, Sources: 1, 2, 3
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