Dreams are the only scientific phenomenon in which almost all humans experience, and yet no scientist has figured out what starts them, why we have them, what part of the brain does it happen, etc. It's such a huge and extraordinary part of our lives - I don't understand why more people fantasize about exploring and discovering the answers to these questions. One time I sprained my ankle in a dream and woke up with, surprise, a sprained ankle - and no, it wasn't psychosomatic, the doctor checked it out. Yes yes, I know there are much more urgent medical enquiries such as cures, etc...I'm just bemused and kind of sad we haven't learned more about the stuff 'o dreams! Am I missing anything?
2007-03-15 22:00:06 · 7 answers · asked by Rain 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
But why would the nerve cells waste ATP and all thoses APs just for nocturnal entertainment? There must be a reason. Some people say there are psychic elements to the brain, and also that there's 30% of the brain that we don't know what it even does.
2007-03-16 02:09:45 · update #1
There are many examples of dreams that seemed to predict future events. Some may have been due to coincidence, faulty memory, or an unconscious tying together of known information. A few laboratory studies have been conducted of predictive dreams, as well as clairvoyant and telepathic dreams, but the results were varied, as these kinds of dreams are difficult to study in a laboratory setting
2007-03-16 04:38:30 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it's one of those questions that can't be answered fully with the current levels of technology. The brain is a complicated thing, and seems to be far more than the simple tissues and nerves it's composed of, and it's very hard to link elements of the human psyche to the physical structure of the brain. It just seems to be another aspect of 'the ghost in the machine'
ADDED:- It's entirely true that there are large parts of the brain we don't even use, perhaps it's an evolutionary dead-end, or perhaps a higher function humans cannot utilise yet.
Oh. and research indicates that dreams occur due to the parietal lobe, which is all to do with spatial awareness (I think it's mentioned in the wiki article) and the hippocampus (the area associated with memory), dreaming certainly seems to be an inexplicable phenomenon.
2007-03-15 22:24:03 · answer #2 · answered by Timbo 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
During sleep most part of the brain also takes rest. But a certain part of brain will be still active and takes care of the body, without disturbing the sleeping person, they are auto reactions. Dream are only a game played by nerve cells. Majority of dreams will fade away, particularly which occurred during deep sleep. If some gets coloured dreams some experience only " black & white ". Lot of external factor is also causes dreams, like food taken before going to sleep.
2007-03-15 23:16:51 · answer #3 · answered by manjunath_empeetech 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is a lot of reasearch into dreaming. Current thinking is that the brain uses sleeping time to sort meanful and non-meaningful things that happened during the past day or weeks or even years. Some are sorted into permanent memory and some are discarded and totally forgotten. Strange connections between unrelated happenings show up as dreams during this process.
Your waking stream of conscious is strange too, if you let it run on. Think about what you are thinking about when your brain is idling along during the day. Random weird thoughts pop up & disappear.
2007-03-16 03:07:56 · answer #4 · answered by Joan H 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My guess would be that it is difficult to run true experiments on dreams (with controls, etc). All scientists can do is monitor your physical signs and get your reports from your dream. While this can lead to some discoveries, it is difficult to manipulate the variable (other people's dreams) to truly understand them.
2007-03-15 22:09:13 · answer #5 · answered by bio rocks! 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well Dreams are powerful and tell you things that can save you help you,...etc!!
The systems needs you to depend on them for money!!!
Do you understand now.
Machines can't do this,...its much too powerful for simple machines!!
If only we knew our potential and true powers of the unknown there would be no need for companies that consistantly drain our pockets on a day-to-day basis!!
Dreams could possibly be one of the main powers a human can have.
2007-03-15 22:10:44 · answer #6 · answered by The King 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It seems to me that there is enough research already... http://www.google.com/search?q=dream+research
2007-03-15 22:14:41 · answer #7 · answered by Nikkers 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋