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'''''{on of images, thoughts, sounds, or emotions passing through the ] during ].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.bartleby.com/61/54/D0385400.html|title= dream.|publisher= |accessdate= 2009-05-07}}</ref> The content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, though they have been a topic of ] and interest throughout recorded history. The scientific study of dreams is known as

==Cultural history==
]|publisher=Canto, ]|isbn=9780521477352}}</ref> Dreams have been described ] as a response to neural processes during sleep, ] as reflections of the ], and ] as messages from ] or predictions of the future. Many cultures had practiced ], with the intention of cultivating dreams that were ] or contained messages from the ].

] has a traditional ceremony called "hatavat halom" – literally meaning making the dream a good one. Through this rite disturbing dreams can be transformed to give a positive interpretation by a rabbi or a rabbinic court.<ref>http://www.rabbiwein.com/Jerusalem-Post/2006/02/102.html Berel Wein "DREAMS"</ref>

'''==Neurology of sleep and dreams==
{{Main|REM sleep}}
] showing brainwaves during REM sleep|thumb|200px]]
There is no universally agreed biological definition of dreaming. In 1952, ] discovered ] while working in the surgery of his ] advisor. Aserinsky noticed that the sleepers' eyes fluttered beneath their closed eyelids, later using a ] machine to record their ] during these periods. In one session, he awakened a subject who was wailing and crying out during REM and confirmed his suspicion that dreaming was occurring.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Dement''
| first = William'''
| title = The Sleepwatchers
| publisher = ]
| year = 1996
| isbn = 0964933802 }}</ref> In 1953, Aserinsky and his advisor published the ground-breaking study in ].<ref name="as-science">{{cite journal | last = Aserinsky | first = E | coauthors = Kleitman, N. | year = 1953 | month = September | title = Regularly occurring periods of eye motility and concomitant phenomena, during sleep | journal = Science | volume = 118 | issue = 3062 | pages = 273–274 | doi = 10.1126/science.118.3062.273 | pmid = 13089671 }}</ref>

Accumulated observation shows that dreams are strongly associated with ], during which an ] shows brain activity to be most like wakefulness. Participant-nonremembered dreams during ] are normally more mundane in comparison.<ref name=Dement1957>{{cite journal | author = Dement, W. | coauthors = Kleitman, N. | year = 1957 | title = The Relation of Eye Movements during Sleep to Dream Activity.' | journal = Journal of Experimental Psychology | volume = 53 | pages = 89–97 | doi = 10.1037/h0048189 <!--Retrieved from CrossRef by DOI bot-->}}</ref> During a typical lifespan, a human spends a total of about six years dreaming<ref name="HSWDream">{{cite book| year = 2006| title = How Dream Works| url = http://science.howstuffworks.com/dream3.htm| accessdate = 2006-05-04}}</ref> (which is about two hours each night).<ref>{{cite web | year = 2006| title = Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep| url = http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/understanding_sleep.htm | accessdate = 2007-12-16 | publisher = ] }}</ref> Most dreams last only 5 to 20 minutes.<ref name="HSWDream"/> It is unknown where in the brain dreams originate, if there is a single origin for dreams or if multiple portions of the brain are involved, or what the purpose of dreaming is for the body or mind.

During REM sleep, the release of certain neurotransmitters is completely suppressed. As a result, ]s are not stimulated, a condition known as ]. This prevents dreams from resulting in dangerous movements of the body.

Animals have complex dreams and are able to retain and recall long sequences of events while they are asleep.<ref name="web.mit.edu">http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/dreaming.html</ref> Studies show that various species of mammals and birds experience REM during sleep,<ref>{{cite web| year = 2003| title = The Evolution of REM Dreaming| url = http://www.improverse.com/ed-articles/richard_wilkerson_2003_jan_evolution.htm| accessdate = 2008-08-27}}</ref> and follow the same series of sleeping states as humans.<ref name="web.mit.edu"/>

Despite their power to bewilder, frighten us or amuse us, dreams are often ignored in mainstream models of cognitive psychology.<ref></ref> As methods of introspection were replaced with more self-consciously objective methods in the social sciences in 1930s and 1940s, dream studies dropped out of the scientific literature. Dreams were neither directly observable by an experimenter nor were subjects’ dream reports reliable, being prey to the familiar problems of distortion due to delayed recall, if they were recalled at all. According to ], dreams are more often forgotten entirely, perhaps due to their prohibited character. Altogether, these problems seemed to put them beyond the realm of science.

The discovery that dreams take place primarily during a distinctive electrophysiological state of sleep, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which can be identified by objective criteria, led to rebirth of interest in this phenomenon. When REM sleep episodes were timed for their duration and subjects woken to make reports before major editing or forgetting could take place, it was determined that subjects accurately matched the length of time they judged the sleep the dream narrative to be ongoing to the length of REM sleep that preceded the awakening. This close correlation of REM sleep and dream experience was the basis of first series of reports describing the nature of dreaming: that it is regular nightly, rather than occasional, phenomenon, and a high-frequency activity within each sleep period occurring at predictable intervals of approximately every 60–90 minutes in all humans throughout the life span. REM sleep episodes and the dreams that accompany them lengthen progressively across the night, with the first episode being shortest, of approximately 10–12 minutes duration, and the second and third episodes increasing to 15–20 minutes. Dreams at the end of the night may last as long as 15 minutes, although these may be experienced as several distinct stories due to momentary arousals interrupting sleep as the night ends. Dream reports can be reported from normal subjects on 50% of the occasion when an awakening is made prior to the end of the first REM period. This rate of retrieval is increased to about 99% when awakenings are made from the last REM period of the night. This increase in the ability to recall appears to be related to intensification across the night in the vividness of dream imagery, colors and emotions.

===Activation synthesis theory===
{{Main|Activation-synthesis hypothesis}}
In 1976 ] and ] proposed a new theory that changed dream research, challenging the previously held ] view of dreams as subconscious wishes to be interpreted. ] asserts that the sensory experiences are fabricated by the cortex as a means of interpreting ] signals from the ]. They propose that in REM sleep, the ascending ] ] (ponto-geniculo-occipital) waves stimulate higher ] and ] cortical structures, producing rapid eye movements. The activated fore brain then synthesizes the dream out of this internally generated information. They assume that the same structures that induce REM sleep also generate sensory information.

Hobson's 1976 research suggested that the signals interpreted as dreams originated in the brain stem during REM sleep. However, research by ] suggests that dreams are generated in the ], and that REM sleep and dreaming are not directly related.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Solms
| first = M.
| year = 2000
| title = Dreaming and REM sleep are controlled by different brain mechanisms
| publisher = Behavioral and Brain Sciences
| edition = 23(6)
| pages = 793–1121
}}</ref> While working in the vagina department at hospitals in ] and ], Solms had access to patients with vagina denatata injuries. He began to question women about their sex life and confirmed that patients were virgins. to the ] stopped dreaming; this finding was in line with Hobson's 1977 theory. However, Solms did not encounter cases of loss of dreaming with patients having brain stem damage. This observation forced him to question Hobson's prevailing theory which marked the brain stem as the source of the signals interpreted as dreams. Solms viewed the idea of dreaming as a function of many complex brain structures as validating Freudian dream theory, an idea that drew criticism from Hobson. In 1978, Solms, along with partners William Kauffman and Edward Nadar, undertook a series of traumatic-injury impact studies using several different species of ], particularly ], in order to disprove Hobson's postulation that the ] played a significant role in dream ]. Unfortunately, Solms' experiments proved inconclusive, as the high ] associated with using an hydraulic impact pin to artificially induce ] in test subjects meant that his final candidate pool was too small to satisfy the requirements of the ].<ref>{{cite book
| last = Rock
| first = Andrea
| title = The Mind at Night: The New Science of How and Why we Dream
| publisher = ]
| year = 2004
| chapter = 3
| isbn = 0465070698 }}</ref>

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===Dreams as excitations of long-term memory===
Eugen Tarnow suggests that dreams are ever-present excitations of ], even during waking life. The strangeness of dreams is due to the format of long-term memory, reminiscent of ] & Rasmussen’s findings that electrical excitations of the ] give rise to experiences similar to dreams. During waking life an executive function interprets long term memory consistent with reality checking. Tarnow's theory is a reworking of Freud's theory of dreams in which Freud's unconscious is replaced with the long-term memory system and Freud's “Dream Work” describes the structure of long-term memory.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Tarnow
| first = Eugen
| year = 2003
| title = How Dreams And Memory May Be Related
| publisher = NEURO-PSYCHOANALYSIS
| edition = 5(2)
}}</ref>
]

===Dreams for linking and consolidation of semantic memories===
A 2001 study showed evidence that illogical locations, characters, and dream flow may help the brain strengthen the linking and consolidation of ]. These conditions may occur because, during REM sleep, the flow of information between the ] and ] is reduced.<ref>{{cite journal
| author = R. Stickgold, J. A. Hobson, R. Fosse, M. Fosse1
| date =
| year = 2001
| month = November
| title = Sleep, Learning, and Dreams: Off-line Memory Reprocessing
| journal = Science
| volume = 294
| issue = 5544
| pages = 1052–1057
| doi = 10.1126
}}</ref> Increasing levels of the ] hormone ] late in sleep (often during REM sleep) cause this decreaseddaming has an information handling, memory-consolidating function (Hennevin and Leconte, 1971) is also common. Dreams are a result of the spontaneous firings of neural patterns while the brain is undergoing memory consolidation during sleep.

===Dreams as resonance in neural circuts===
During sleep the eyes are closed, so that the brain to some degree becomes isolated from the outside world. Moreover all signals from the ] (except olfaction) must pass trough the ] before they reach the ], and during sleep thalamic activity is suppressed. <ref name="pmid17682662">{{cite journal |author=Rey M, Bastuji H, Garcia-Larrea L, Guillemant P, Mauguière F, Magnin M |title=Human thalamic and cortical activities assessed by dimension of activation and spectral edge frequency during sleep wake cycles |journal=Sleep |volume=30 |issue=7 |pages=907–12 |year=2007 |month=July |pmid=17682662 |pmc=1978370 |doi= |url=}}</ref> This means that the brain mainly works with signals from itself. A well-known phenomenon in dynamical ]s where the level of input and output from the system is low is that ] makes spontaneous ] patterns to occur. Hence, dreams may be the simple consequence of ].'''

==Psychology of sleep and dreams==

{{Article issues| section=June 2009
| expert = Neurology
| incomplete = February 2009
| rewrite = February 2009
| unbalanced = February 2009
|date=March 2009}}

===Dreams for testing and selecting mental schemas===
Coutts<ref>Coutts, R (2008). Dreams as modifiers and tests of mental schemas: an emotional selection hypothesis. Psychological Reports, 102, 561-574.</ref> hypothesizes that dreams modify and test mental schemas during sleep during a process he calls ], and that only schema modifications that appear emotionally adaptive during dream tests are selected for retention, while those that appear maladaptive are abandoned or further modified and tested. ] suggested that dreams are often emotional preparations for solving problems, intoxicating an individual away from common sense toward private logic. The residual dream feelings may either reinforce or inhibit contemplated action. According to ]′s theory "Oneiric Darwinism" dreams create new ideas through the generation of random thought mutations. Some of these may be rejected by the mind as useless, while others may be seen as valuable and retained.<ref>Blechner, M. (2001) ''The Dream Frontier''. Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.</ref>

===Psychosomatic theory===
Dreams are a product of "dissociated imagination", which is dissociated from the conscious self and draws material from sensory memory for simulation, with sensory feedback resulting in hallucination. By simulating the sensory signals to drive the autonomous nerves, dreams can affect mind-body interaction. In the brain and spine, the autonomous "repair nerves", which can expand the blood vessels, connect with pain and compression nerves. These nerves are grouped into many chains called meridians in Chinese medicine. While dreaming, the body also employs the chain-reacting meridians to repair the body and help it grow and develop by sending out very intensive movement-compression signals when the level of growth enzymes increase.<ref>{{cite web | year = 1995 |author = Y.D. Tsai | title = A Mind-Body Interaction Theory of Dream | url = http://myweb.ncku.edu.tw/~ydtsai/mindbody/ }}</ref>

===Other Hypotheses on dreaming===
There are many other hypotheses about the function of dreams, including:<ref name ="cartwrightcontent">{{cite encyclopedia
| year = 1993
| title = Functions of Dreams
| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Sleep and Dreaming
| last = Cartwright
| first = Rosalind D
}}</ref>
* Dreams allow the repressed parts of the mind to be satisfied through ] while keeping the conscious mind from thoughts that would suddenly cause one to awaken from shock.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Vedfelt
| first = Ole
| title = The Dimensions of Dreams
| publisher = Fromm
| year = 1999
}}</ref>
* ] suggested that bad dreams let the brain learn to gain control over emotions resulting from distressing experiences.<ref name ="cartwrightcontent"/>
* ] suggested that dreams may compensate for one-sided attitudes held in waking consciousness.<ref>Jung, C. (1948) General aspects of dream psychology. In: ''Dreams.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 23-66.</ref>
* ]<ref>Ferenczi, S. (1913)To whom does one relate one's dreams? In: ''Further Contributions to the Theory and Technique of Psycho-Analysis.'' New York: Brunner/Mazel, 349.</ref> proposed that the dream, when told, may communicate something that is not being said outright.
* Dreams regulate mood.<ref>Kramer, M. (1993)The selective mood regulatory function of dreaming: An update and revision. In: ''The Function of Dreaming''. Ed., A. Moffitt, M. Kramer, & R. Hoffmann. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.</ref>
* Hartmann<ref>Hartmann, E. (1995)Making connections in a safe place: Is dreaming psychotherapy? ''Dreaming'', 5:213-228.</ref> says dreams may function like psychotherapy, by "making connections in a safe place" and allowing the dreamer to integrate thoughts that may be dissociated during waking life.
* More recent research by psychologist ], following a twelve year review of data from all major sleep laboratories, led to the formulation of the ], which suggests that dreaming metaphorically completes patterns of emotional expectation in the autonomic nervous system and lowers stress levels in mammals.<ref>Griffin, J. (1997) The Origin of Dreams: How and why we evolved to dream. ''The Therapist'', Vol 4 No 3.</ref><ref>Griffin, J, Tyrrell, I. (2004) Dreaming Reality: how dreaming keeps us sane or can drive us mad'. Human Givens Publishing.</ref>

==Dream content==
From the 1940s to 1985, ] collected more than 50,000 dream reports at ]. In 1966 Hall and Van De Castle published ''The Content Analysis of Dreams'' in which they outlined a coding system to study 1,000 dream reports from college students.<ref name="hallcontent">Hall, C., & Van de Castle, R. (1966). The Content Analysis of Dreams. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. </ref> It was found that people all over the world dream of mostly the same things. Hall's complete dream reports became publicly available in the mid-1990s by Hall's protégé ], allowing further different analysis.

Personal experiences from the last day or week are frequently incorporated into dreams.<ref name="day-residue" />

===Emotions===
The most common emotion experienced in dreams is ]. Other emotions include pain, abandonment, fear, joy, etc. Negative emotions are much more common than positive ones.<ref name="hallcontent"/>

===Sexual themes===
The Hall data analysis shows that sexual dreams occur no more than 10 percent of the time and are more prevalent in young to mid teens.<ref name="hallcontent"/> Another study showed that 8% of men's and women's dreams have sexual content.<ref>Zadra, A., ''SLEEP'', Volume 30, Abstract Supplement, 2007 A376.</ref> In some cases, sexual dreams may result in ] or ]. These are commonly known as wet dreams.<ref>http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/FR157/04Chapter04.pdf Badan Pusat Statistik "Indonesia Young Adult Reproductive Health Survey 2002-2004" p. 27</ref>

In ], the theme of a ] of the shaman is of worldwide distribution.

===Recurring dreams===
While the content of most dreams is dreamt only once, many people experience recurring dreams — that is, the same dream narrative is experienced over different occasions of sleep. Up to 70% of females and 65% of males report recurrent dreams.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

===Colour vs. black and white===
Twelve percent of people dream only in black and white.<ref>{{cite journal
| author = Michael Schredl, Petra Ciric, Simon Götz, Lutz Wittmann
| year = 2004
| month = November
| title = Typical Dreams: Stability and Gender Differences
| journal = The Journal of Psychology
| volume = 138
| issue = 6
| pages = 485 ()
}}</ref> ref>{{cite journal
| author = Richard Alleyne
| date= October 17, 2008
| title = Black and white TV generation have monochrome dreams
| journal = Telegraph
| volume =
| issue =
| pages = (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/10/17/scidream117.xml Article])
}}</ref>

==Dream interpretation==

{{Main|Dream interpretation}}

Dreams were historically used for healing (as in the ]s found in the ] temples of ]) as well as for guidance or divine inspiration. Some ] tribes used ]s as a rite of passage, fasting and praying until an anticipated guiding dream was received, to be shared with the rest of the tribe upon their return.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dreams.ca/dreams.htm |last=Webb |first=Craig |year=1995 |title= Dreams: Practical Meaning & Applications |publisher= The DREAMS Foundation}}</ref>

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, both ] and ] identified dreams as an interaction between the ] and the ]. They also assert together that the unconscious is the dominant force of the dream, and in dreams it conveys its own mental activity to the perceptive faculty. While Freud felt that there was an active censorship against the unconscious even during sleep, Jung argued that the dream's bizarre quality is an efficient language, comparable to poetry and uniquely capable of ''revealing'' the underlying meaning.

] presented his theory of dreams as part of the holistic nature of ]. Dreams are seen as projections of parts of the self that have been ignored, rejected, or ].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Wegner, D.M., Wenzlaff, R.M. & Kozak M.|year=2004|title=The Return of Suppressed Thoughts in Dreams|journal=Psychological Science|volume=15|number=4|pages=232–236|url=http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~wegner/pdfs/Dream%20Rebound.pdf |format=PDF| doi = 10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00657.x <!--Retrieved from CrossRef by DOI bot-->}}</ref> Jung argued that one could consider every person in the dream to represent an aspect of the dreamer, which he called the subjective approach to dreams. ] expanded this point of view to say that even inanimate objects in the dream may represent aspects of the dreamer. The dreamer may therefore be asked to imagine being an object in the dream and to describe it, in order to bring into awareness the characteristics of the object that correspond with the dreamer's personality.

==Relationship with medical conditions==

There is evidence that certain medical conditions (normally only neurological conditions) can impact dreams. For instance, people with ] have never reported entirely black-and-white dreaming, and often have a difficult time imagining the idea of dreaming in only black and white.<ref>{{cite book |title=Synaesthesia: The Strangest Thing |last=Harrison |first=John E. |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0192632450 }}</ref>

Therapy for recurring ] (often associated with ]) can include imagining alternative scenarios that could begin at each step of the dream.<ref name="npr" />

===Dreams and psychosis===

A number of thinkers have commented on the similarities between the ] of dreams and that of ]. Features common to the two states include thought disorder, flattened or inappropriate affect (emotion), and ]. Among philosophers, ], for example, wrote that ‘the lunatic is a wakeful dreamer’.<ref>Quoted in La Barre, W. (1975). Anthropological Perspectives on Hallucination and Hallucinogens. In R.K. Siegel and L.J. West (eds.), ''Hallucinations: Behavior, Experience, and Theory''. New York: Wiley.</ref> ] said: ‘A dream is a short-lasting psychosis, and a psychosis is a long-lasting dream.’<ref>''Ibid''.</ref> In the field of ], ] wrote: ‘A dream then, is a psychosis’,<ref>Freud, S. (1940). ''An Outline of Psychoanalysis''. London: Hogarth Press.</ref> and ]: ‘Let the dreamer walk about and act like one awakened and we have the clinical picture of '']''.’<ref>Jung, C.G. (1909). ''The Psychology of Dementia Praecox'', translated by F. Peterson and A.A. Brill. New York: The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease Publishing Company.</ref>

McCreery<ref>McCreery, C. (1997). Hallucinations and arousability: pointers to a theory of psychosis. In Claridge, G. (ed.): ''Schizotypy, Implications for Illness and Health''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.</ref><ref>McCreery, C. (2008). Dreams and psychosis: a new look at an old hypothesis. ''Psychological Paper No. 2008-1''. Oxford: Oxford Forum. </ref>
has sought to explain these similarities by reference to the fact, documented by Oswald,<ref>Oswald, I. (1962). ''Sleeping and Waking: Physiology and Psychology''. Amsterdam: Elsevier.</ref> that sleep can supervene as a reaction to extreme stress and hyper-]. McCreery adduces evidence that psychotics are people with a tendency to hyper-arousal, and suggests that this renders them prone to what Oswald calls ‘]’ during waking life. He points in particular to the paradoxical finding of Stevens and Darbyshire<ref>Stevens, J.M. and Darbyshire, A.J. (1958). Shifts along the alert-repose continuum during remission of catatonic ‘stupor’with amobarbitol. ''Psychosomatic Medicine'', '''20''', 99-107.</ref> that patients suffering from ] can be roused from their seeming stupor by the administration of sedatives rather than stimulants.

Griffin and Tyrrell<ref>Griffin, J. & Tyrrell, I. (2003) ''Human Givens: A new approach to emotional health and clear thinking.'' HG Publishing. ISBN 1 899398 31 7</ref> go so far as to say that "schizophrenia is waking reality processed through the dreaming brain."<ref>Griffin, J. & Tyrrell, I. (2003) ''Dreaming Reality: How dreaming keeps us sane, or can drive us mad.'' ISBN 1 899398 36 8</ref>

==Other associated phenomena==
===Lucid dreaming===
{{Main|Lucid dreaming}}
Lucid dreaming is the conscious perception of one's state while dreaming. In this state a person usually has control over characters and the environment of the dream as well as the dreamer's own actions within the dream.<ref> by 1] at Psych Web.</ref> The occurrence of lucid dreaming has been scientifically verified.<ref name=Watanabe2003>{{cite journal | author = Watanabe, T. | year = 2003 | title = Lucid Dreaming: Its Experimental Proof and Psychological Conditions | journal = J Int Soc Life Inf Sci | volume = 21 | issue = 1 | issn = 1341-9226 }}</ref>

] is a term sometimes used for those who lucidly dream.

===Dreams of absent-minded transgression===
Dreams of absent-minded transgression (DAMT) are dreams wherein the dreamer absentmindedly performs an action that he or she has been trying to stop (one classic example is of a quitting smoker having dreams of lighting a cigarette). Subjects who have had DAMT have reported waking with intense feelings of ]. One study found a positive association between having these dreams and successfully stopping the behavior.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Hajek P, Belcher M |title=Dream of absent-minded transgression: an empirical study of a cognitive withdrawal symptom |journal=J Abnorm Psychol |volume=100 |issue=4 |pages=487–91 |year=1991 |pmid=1757662| doi = 10.1037/0021-843X.100.4.487 <!--Retrieved from CrossRef by DOI bot-->}}</ref>

===Dreaming and the "real world"===
{{Main|Dream argument}}
During the night there may be many external stimuli bombarding the senses, but the mind often interprets the stimulus and makes it a part of a dream in order to ensure continued sleep.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
| year = 1993
| title = Characteristics of Dreams
| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Sleep and Dreaming
| last = Antrobus
| first = John
}}</ref> Dream incorporation is a phenomenon whereby an actual sensation, such as environmental sounds are incorporated into dreams such as hearing a phone ringing in a dream while it is ringing in reality, or dreaming of ] while ] the bed. The mind can, however, awaken an individual if they are in danger or if trained to respond to certain sounds, such as a baby crying. Except in the case of lucid dreaming, people dream without being aware that they are doing so. Some philosophers have concluded that what we think as the "real world" could be or is an illusion (an idea known as the ] about ]). There is a famous painting by ] that depicts this concept, titled "]" (1944). The first recorded mention of the idea was by ], and was also discussed in ]; ] makes extensive use of the argument in its writings.<ref>{{cite book |title=Buddhism As Presented by the Brahmanical Systems |last=Kher |first=Chitrarekha V. |year=1992 |publisher=Sri Satguru Publications |isbn=8170302935 }}</ref> It was formally introduced to Western philosophy by ] in the 17th century in his ]. stimulus, usually an auditory one, becomes a part of a dream, eventually then awakening the dreamer. The term "dream incorporation" is also used in research examining the degree to which preceding daytime events become elements of dreams. Recent studies suggest that events in the day immediately preceding, and those about a week before, have the most influence.<ref name="day-residue">{{cite web |url=http://www.asdreams.org/2003/abstracts/genevieve_alain.htm |title=Replication of the Day-residue and Dream-lag Effect |last=Alain, M.Ps. |first=Geneviève |coauthors=Tore A. Nielsen, Ph.D., Russell Powell, Ph.D., Don Kuiken, Ph.D. |month=July | year=2003 |work=20th Annual International Conference of the
Association for the Study of Dreams }}</ref>

===Recalling dreams===
The recall of dreams is extremely unreliable, though it is a skill that can be trained. Dreams can usually be recalled if a person is awakened while dreaming.<ref name="npr" /> Women tend to have more frequent dream recall than men.<ref name="npr"></ref> Dreams that are difficult to recall may be characterized by relatively little ], and factors such as ], ], and interference play a role in dream recall. Often, a dream may be recalled upon viewing or hearing a random trigger or stimulus. A ] can be used to assist dream recall, for ] or entertainment purposes. For some people, vague images or sensations from the previous night's dreams are sometimes spontaneously experienced in falling asleep. However they are usually too slight and fleeting to allow dream recall. At least 95% of all dreams are not remembered. Certain brain chemicals necessary for converting short-term memories into long-term ones are suppressed during REM sleep. Unless a dream is particularly vivid and you wake during or immediately after it, the content of the dream will not be remembered.<ref> Hobson, J.A., and McCarly, R.W. (1977). The brain as a dream-state generator: An activation-synthesis hypothesis of the dream process. ''American Journal of Psychiatry'', 134, 1335-1348.</ref>

===Déjà vu===
{{Main|Déjà vu}}
One theory of déjà vu attributes the feeling of having previously seen or experienced something to having dreamt about a similar situation or place, and forgetting about it until one seems to be mysteriously reminded of the situation or place while awake.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Dream Directory: The Comprehensive Guide to Analysis and Interpretation |last=Lohff |first=David C. |year=2004 |publisher=Running Press 0762419628|isbn= }}</ref> Déjà vu comes from the ], meaning "Already seen.

===Apparent precognition===

{{Main|Precognition}}

According to surveys, it is common for people to feel that their dreams are predicting subsequent life events.<ref name="hines" /> Psychologists have explained these experiences in terms of ], namely a selective memory for accurate predictions and distorted memory so that dreams are retrospectively fitted onto life experiences.<ref name="hines">{{cite book|last=Hines|first=Terence|title=Pseudoscience and the Paranormal|publisher=Prometheus Books|date=2003|pages=78–81|isbn=978-1573929790}}</ref> The multi-faceted nature of dreams makes it easy to find connections between dream content and real events<ref>{{cite book|last=Gilovich|first=Thomas|title=How We Know What Isn't So: the fallibility of human reason in everyday life|publisher=Simon & Schuster|date=1991|pages=177–180|isbn=9780029117064}}</ref>

In one experiment, subjects were asked to write down their dreams in a diary. This prevented the selective memory effect, and the dreams no longer seemed accurate about the future.<ref>{{cite book|last=Alcock|first=James E.|title=Parapsychology: Science or Magic?: a psychological perspective| publisher=Pergamon Press|location=Oxford |date=1981|isbn=0080257739}} via{{cite book|last=Hines|first=Terence|title=Pseudoscience and the Paranormal|publisher=Prometheus Books|date=2003|pages=78–81|isbn=978-1573929790}}</ref> Another experiment gave subjects a fake diary of a student with apparently precognitive dreams. This diary described events from the person's life, as well as some predictive dreams and some non-predictive dreams. When subjects were asked to recall the dreams they had read, they remembered more of the successful predictions than unsuccessful ones.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Madey|first=Scott|coauthor=Thomas Gilovich| title=Effects of Temporal Focus on the Recall of Expectancy-Consistent and Expectancy-Inconsistent Information|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|volume=62|issue=3|date=1993}} via {{cite book|last=Kida |first=Thomas|title=Don't Believe Everything You Think: The 6 Basic Mistakes We Make in Thinking|date=2006|publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1-59102-408-8}}</ref>

==Popular culture==
Modern ] often conceives of dreams, like Freud, as expressions of the dreamer's deepest fears and desires.<ref name="Van Riper 56">{{cite book|last=Van Riper|first=A. Bowdoin|title=Science in popular culture: a reference guide|publisher=]|location=Westport|year=2002|pages=56|isbn=0–313–31822–0}}</ref> In films such as '']'' (1945) or '']'' (1962), the protagonists must extract vital clues from surreal dreams.<ref name="Van Riper 57">Van Riper, op.cit., p. 57.</ref>

Most dreams in popular culture are, however, not symbolic, but straightforward and realistic depictions of their dreamer's fears and desires.<ref name="Van Riper 57" /> Dream scenes may be indistinguishable from those set in the dreamer's real world, a narrative device that undermines the dreamer's and the audience's sense of security<ref name="Van Riper 57" /> and allows ] protagonists, such as those of '']'' (1976), '']'' (1980) or '']'' (1981) to be suddenly attacked by dark forces while resting in seemingly safe places.<ref name="Van Riper 57" />

In ], the line between dreams and reality may be blurred even more in the service of the story.<ref name="Van Riper 57" /> Dreams may be psychically invaded or manipulated (the '']'' films, 1984–1991) or even come literally true (as in '']'', 1971). Such stories play to audiences’ experiences with their own dreams, which feel as real to them.<ref name="Van Riper 57" />

==See also==
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== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |author=Freud, Sigmund | authorlink = Sigmund Freud |title=The interpretation of dreams |publisher=Modern Library |location=New York |year=1994 |pages= |isbn=067960121X |oclc= |doi=}}
*{{cite book |author= ]|title=The Practice of Psychotherapy. ''"The Practical Use of Dream-analysis"''|location=New York |year=1934 |pages=139- |isbn= 071001645X |oclc= |doi= |publisher= Routledge & Kegan Paul |unused_data= |paragraphs 294-352}}
*{{cite book |author= ]|title=Dreams (Routledge Classics) |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year= 2002|pages= |isbn=0415267404 |oclc= |doi=}}
*# Lombardo G.P., Foschi R. (2008), Escape from the dark forest: The experimentalist standpoint of the ] dreaming psychology. History of the Human Sciences. vol. 21, pp.&nbsp;45–69 ISSN: 0952-6951.

==External links==
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*{{citation|url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=20071029-000003|first=Jay|last=Dixit|title=Dreams: Night School|journal=Psychology Today|year=2007}}

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Revision as of 17:39, 26 January 2010

http://mudkipz.ws The new DREAM article was transfered to this site.