The Brain’s Hot Zone and What It Means to Your Dreams

“Nothing happens unless first we dream,” Carl Sandburg is quoted as saying.  Dreaming and why we dream is one of science’s great unanswered questions. It’s also a source of fascination for most of us. We wonder endlessly about what our dreams mean, and it often has us questioning who we are and our very purpose.

A new study has recently found the dream center of the brain, known as the “hot zone,” that offers a better understanding of how and when we dream.  Why we dream and what dreams mean can be discovered by writing them down in a classroom notebook, many experts have suggested, and it may even help some of them come true.

What exactly happens in the brain during the four to six times per night that we all dream has been a mystery until now. The University of Wisconsin School of Public Health conducted a study that has found a “hot zone” in the back of the brain. This discovery gives a better understanding of how and when we dream, which areas of the brain are involved, and what that contributes to the content of your dreams.

The neuroscientists found that dreams and dreamless sleep occur in both Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep when brain activity is slower.

The study also found that when dreams contained speech or movement or other activities, those brain regions were activated, similar to when someone is awake. Participants in the study were also given EEGs while they slept.

Based on the EEG readings, whether the sleepers would report a dream or not when they awakened, researchers were able to predict the presence of dreaming 92 percent of the time and the absence of dreaming 81 percent of the time. Not only does the research give us a better understanding of how and when we dream, it could lead to ways of inducing sleep and even altering dreams, for those who struggle with nightmares and insomnia.

Even with this scientific advancement, remembering dreams and understanding how they came to be is best solved by writing them down as soon as you wake up. Writing down your dreams gives you the opportunity to reflect on your feelings and do a little soul-searching to try to figure out why you are having a certain type of dream.

Many psychologists believe that writing about your dreams can help you become happier and help identify what is really important to you. It’s easy to do and simply requires a bound notebook and a pen that you leave next to your bed. You have to make it a habit.  Think of it as your own science experiment.

Call Scientific Notebook Company today at 800-537-3028 and let us help you find the best way to record your data so you can be on your way to making your own discovery.