• Question: how do we dream? but then can never remember it?

    Asked by jackgold to Carol, Ellie, John, Philip, Rebecca on 2 Jul 2012. This question was also asked by gabby1996.
    • Photo: Rebecca Lacey

      Rebecca Lacey answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      Hi jackgold

      Our memory is made up of several parts. One of the purposes of dreaming is to wipe clean the short-term memory bank of the brain. Dreams fade away very quickly following waking because they are the product of short-term memory. This is why they are difficult to remember and more difficult remember the longer it is from the time you woke up.

    • Photo: Carol White

      Carol White answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      If you want to remember your dreams better, scientists think you should describe them as soon as you wake up and then throughout the day you’ll remember more as you think about that key piece of information!

    • Photo: John Welford

      John Welford answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      Dreaming is one of those strange areas of psychology that I won’t claim to understand at all.

      Here are some weird related phenomena that are interesting too:

      Sleepwalking – you’ve probably heard of
      Lucid dreaming – being aware that it’s is a dream and being able to control it
      Sleep paralysis – your brain waking up but your body remaining asleep
      False awakening – dreaming that you have woken up

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