If you ask someone about their dreams, some people can describe them in vivid detail, others can’t remember anything.
According to a comprehensive new study, THREE factors can contribute to whether someone remembers their dreams.
1. A person’s general attitude toward dreaming. People who view dreams as meaningful were more likely to remember them.
2. Their typical sleep patterns. This is the most scientific one. People who typically have longer periods of lighter sleep with less deep sleep were better at remembering their dreams.
And 3. Their tendency to let their mind wander during waking hours. The participants who regularly caught themselves daydreaming, or engaging in spontaneous thoughts during the day, were more likely to remember their dreams, even overnight.
They also found:
Younger people were better at remembering dream specifics, while older people more frequently reported “white dreams,” where you wake up knowing you definitely had a dream, but can’t remember anything about it.
And dream recall fluctuates seasonally. People remember fewer dreams during winter months compared to spring and fall.
There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding dreams, this is just another step in trying to understand how the brain processes and stores memories during sleep.
