Trend to reverie, sleep habits, age … A team of researchers highlights the many factors that influence the ability to remember their dreams.
- A study reveals that the ability to remember dreams depends on three key factors: the positive attitude towards dreams, the tendency to reverie during the day and sleep habits (those with lighter sleep remember their better night experiences).
- Age and seasons also influence the memory of dreams. Young adults remember their dreams better than older people, and participants remembered less of their dreams in winter compared to spring and fall.
- These discoveries could clarify the role of dreams in mental health and pave the way for new research in neurology and psychiatry.
Every morning, some remember their dreams with precision, while others have only a vague feeling of having dreamed without any detailed memory. However, these differences would not simply be a question of chance, according to a study published in the journal Psychology communicationswhich highlights the many factors influencing the memorization of dreams.
Are you inclined to remember your dreams?
Between 2020 and 2024, Italian researchers analyzed the sleep of 217 adults aged 18 to 70 by combining cognitive tests, sleep sensors and the recording of brain activity, explains a press release. Unlike most previous studies, which focused only on the paradoxical sleep phase (REM, known to be that of dreams), this research studied the different sleep cycles and their impact on dreamlike memorization. Rather than using simple dream newspapers, participants had to describe their memories when you wake up using voice recorders, a method deemed more reliable.
Scientists have identified three key factors influencing the ability to remember their night experiences:
– Attitude towards dreams : Participants who consider dreams to be significant and useful were more likely to remember. “Dreams are a way to learn about my real feelings”affirmed one of the statements of their questionnaire, to whom the sleeping people subject to good memories of dreams responded favorably.
– The tendency to mental rambling : Those who often let their mind wander during the day had better retention of dreams. This link seems logical, because reverie and night dreams mobilize the same brain networks involved in introspection and the creation of interior mental experiences.
– Sleep habits : people spending more time in slow light and less slowly dormant deeply remembered their dreams better. Deep sleep, which promotes memory consolidation, could make the retention of dreamlike memories more difficult, while light sleep maintains a brain activity closer to the state of awakening.
An effect of age and seasons
That’s not all: age also seems to influence the memorization of dreams. Young adults remember their dreams better than older people, who declare “white dreams” more frequently, that is to say a feeling of having dreamed without being able to remember the details. Another surprising education: the participants remembered less of their dreams in winter compared to spring and fall. “Although the exact cause is uncertain, it could be linked to the seasonal variation of the exposure to light and its impact on brain chemistry”suggests the study.
“Our results show that the memory of dreams is not only chance, but reflects the interaction between personal attitudes, cognitive and dynamic sleep characteristics”summarize the researchers. Understanding these mechanisms could clarify the role of dreams in human consciousness, but also pave the way for clinical studies exploring the links between the characteristics of dreams and certain neurological or psychiatric disorders.
