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Had a dream about someone you like? Scientists explain what it means
“When you sleep, your brain is figuring it out”
Dreaming about specific people is more common than you might think. Dr. Selterman’s research shows that about a quarter of reported dreams include romantic partners, and 13% even involve cheating.
Some scientists propose that dreams are merely a by-product of other processes happening in your brain while you’re asleep. Much like a light bulb emits heat, your brain activity emits visual images. A waste mother nature wanted you to forget.
However, if that explanation doesn’t cut it for you, here are a few scientific and not-so-scientific theories that could help uncover the meaning of your dream.
The ‘continuity’ theory
The simplest theory behind dream meaning is boring and unsatisfying. It suggests that dreams are simply a reflection of what happened to us while we were awake.
Example: if you played football all day, you might dream about playing football in your sleep. Whenever you go out with someone, you might keep revisiting that person in your dreams.
The theory explains some dreams, but certainly not all of them. People report most illogical, humanly impossible dreams. In your dream, you could be the Queen of England, and the next moment you’re playing football for Arsenal. That (probably) isn’t a continuation of your awake experience.
The ‘practice’ theory
One thing neuroscientists have been able to show consistently is that the brain is excellent at learning while asleep. Much like Neo in The Matrix, your dreaming brain is buzzing in its own simulated world, honing skills and figuring out riddles.
There’s one particular case that blew my mind. William C. Dement, a sleep researcher, once gave students a task: to finish a sequence of letters starting with O, T, T, F, F, […]. Here’s the dream one of the students had after the lecture:
“I was walking down the hallway of an art gallery. I began to count the paintings — one, two, three, four, five. But as I came to the sixth and the seventh, the paintings had been ripped from their frames! I stared…
