Dreams

Dreams: Do they represent our unconsious desires?

There are several theories about why we dream. Are dreams merely part of the sleep cycle, or do they serve some other purpose?

Possible explanations include:

representing unconscious desires and wishesinterpreting random signals from the brain and body during sleepconsolidating and processing information gathered during the dayworking as a form of psychotherapy

From evidence and new research methodologies, researchers have speculated that dreaming serves the following functions:

offline memory reprocessing, in which the brain consolidates learning and memory tasks and supports and recordsTrusted Source waking consciousnesspreparing for possible future threatsTrusted Sourcecognitive simulation of real life experiences, as dreaming is a subsystem of the waking default network, the part of the mind active during daydreaminghelping develop cognitiveTrusted Source capabilitiesreflecting unconscious mental functionTrusted Source in a psychoanalytic waya unique state of consciousness that incorporates experienceTrusted Source of the present, processing of the past, and preparation for the futurea psychological space where overwhelming, contradictory, or highly complex notions can be brought togetherTrusted Source by the dreaming ego, notions that would be unsettling while awake, serving the need for psychological balance and equilibrium

Much that remains unknown about dreams. They are by nature difficult to study in a laboratory, but technology and new research techniques may help improve our understanding of dreams