Why do we forget our dreams so much?

Question

I never remember my dreams except once in a while. But when I do, I wake up remembering them, and half through the day, I don't even remember what they are about. Why is this?

Answer 1

All of us forget 95-99% of our dreams because we sleep right through them and aren't normally trying to remember anything. That's not what your brain is focused on at the time. In studies that compare people who recall several dreams a week with those who recall one a month or less, the biggest difference is that the people who recall have a greater interest in dreams and therefore a greater motivation to pay attention to them. For some reason, these people have decided that their dreams are worth remembering. The main reason we know "interest" and "motivation" are important is the high recallers say on surveys that they think dreams are important. But we also know it because some low recallers are stimulated to recall when they read about dreams or take a class on them. Some low recallers seem to be less good at tasks involving visual imagination, such as when they have to look at a picture of a building made of blocks and then construct one out of blocks that are sitting in front of them. There may be other "cognitive skills" relating to the ability to imagine things that are important, too, but the research is not yet completely convincing on this point.

To remember them, write down the dreams immediately when you wake up because the events and details of dreams fade with time. Therefore, keep a pen or pencil and a notebook near your bed. You could even use a tape recorder to document your dreams. When you wake up, immediately write down or record everything that you remember about the dream. After a few nights of sleep and dreams, you will get better at remembering what happened in the dreams.

Answer 2

To forget is a habit because some don't care. If you "tap" on the area of your brain "cortex" : get the habit to remember and write down that dream by writing it.

Answer 3

We dream during REM sleep. The only time we ever remember our dreams is when we awake from REM sleep.

Answer 4

it is the level of sleep you are in.

if you are in a light sleep, then you'll remember it better, cause your concious mind sees it too

but when you sleep heavily, it is asleep, so why could it? [i know, overexaggeration, but still]

especially nightmares. You are so close to being awake, that you remeber such vivid details!

Answer 5

If the dream is signifigant to your conscious mind - you will remember it. The rest is kind of a bath for your head. Do you ever dream of things you want or don't want to happen?

Answer 6

coz there's no NEED to remember them.
our brains are full of so much other stuff it needs a break sometime.
dreams are the work of our subconcious mind, and a way for our brain to de-stress and unload some uneccesary information.

Answer 7

OMG i would love to know the answer too! I heard you only dream when your in a really deep sleep.. is that true?

Answer 8

that is dream that's why
that is good for health.