When we sleep, we go through five sleep stages. The first stage is a very light sleep from which it is easy to wake up. The second stage moves into a slightly deeper sleep, and stages three and four represent our deepest sleep. Our brain activity throughout these stages is gradually slowing down so that by deep sleep, we experience nothing but delta brain waves – the slowest brain waves.

1. Articles from D.O.R. Academy
About Brain, Dreaming and Dreams Recall
2014- 11- 03 19:11:53 Adrian Culicencu
When we sleep, we go t hrough f ive sleep stages. T he f irst st age is a very
light sleep f rom which it is easy t o wake up. T he second st age moves int o a
slight ly deeper sleep, and st ages t hree and f our represent our deepest sleep.
Our brain act ivit y t hroughout t hese st ages is gradually slowing down so t hat
by deep sleep, we experience not hing but delt a brain waves – t he slowest
brain waves.
In a previous art icle we have described “How Our Dreams Work”.
Brain Waves
Our brains cycle t hrough f our t ypes of brain waves, ref erred t o as delta,
theta, alpha and beta. Each t ype of brain wave represent s a dif f erent speed
of oscillat ing elect rical volt ages in t he brain.
Delta waves are t he slowest (zero t o f our cycles per second) and are present
in deep sleep.
T heta waves (f our t o seven cycles per second) are present in st age one
when we’re in light sleep.
Alpha waves, operat ing at eight t o 13 cycles per second, occur during rapid
eye movement (REM) sleep (as well as when we are awake).
And Beta waves, which represent t he f ast est cycles at 13 t o 40 per second,
are usually only seen in very st ressf ul sit uat ions or sit uat ions t hat require very
st rong ment al concent rat ion and f ocus.
T hese f our brain waves make up t he electroencephalogram (EEG).

2. About 90 minut es af t er we go t o sleep and af t er t he f ourt h sleep st age, we
begin REM sleep.
Rapid eye movement (REM) was discovered in 1953 by Universit y of Chicago
researchers Eugene Aserinsky, a graduat e st udent in physiology, and
Nat haniel Kleit man, Ph.D., chair of physiology. REM sleep is primarily
charact erized by movement s of t he eyes and is t he f if t h st age of sleep.
We have present ed REM also in our art icle “How Our Sleep Works”.
During REM sleep, several physiological changes also t ake place.
T he heart rat e and breat hing quickens, t he blood pressure rises, we can’t
regulat e our body t emperat ure as well and our brain act ivit y increases t o t he
same level (alpha) as when we are awake, or even higher. T he rest of t he
body, however, is essent ially paralyzed unt il we leave REM sleep. T his
paralysis is caused by t he release of glycine, an amino acid, f rom t he brain
st em ont o t he mot oneurons (neurons t hat conduct impulses out ward f rom t he
brain or spinal cord). Because REM sleep is t he sleep st age at which most
dreaming t akes place, t his paralysis could be nat ure’s way of making sure we
don’t act out our dreams. Ot herwise, if you’re sleeping next t o someone who
is dreaming about playing kickball, you might get kicked repeat edly while you
sleep.
T he f our st ages out side of REM sleep are called non-REM sleep (NREM).
Alt hough most dreams do t ake place during REM sleep, more recent research
has shown t hat dreams can occur during any of t he sleep st ages. Tore A.
Nielsen, Ph.D., of t he Dream and Night mare Laborat ory in Mont real, ref ers t o
t his as “covert REM sleep” making an appearance during NREM sleep. Most
NREM dreams, however, don’t have t he int ensit y of REM dreams.

3. T hroughout t he night , we go t hrough t hese f ive st ages several t imes. Each
subsequent cycle, however, includes more REM sleep and less deep sleep
(st age t hree and f our). By morning, we’re having almost all st age one, t wo and
f ive (REM) sleep.
Let ’s look at what happens if you don’t get any REM sleep.
Dreams and REM Sleep
What happens if you don’t get any REM sleep?
Originally, researchers t hought t hat no REM sleep meant no dreams. T hey
t heorized t hat dreams were a sort of saf et y valve t hat helped your brain let
of f st eam t hat you couldn’t let of f during t he day. William Dement , MD, now at
St anf ord Universit y School of Medicine, did a st udy in 1960 in which subject s
were awakened every t ime t hey ent ered REM sleep. His f indings included mild
psychological dist urbances such as anxiet y, irrit abilit y and dif f icult y
concent rat ing. He also not ed an increase in appet it e. While some st udies
backed up t hese ideas, more and more st udies did not .
Addit ional st udies t ried t o make a connect ion bet ween dif f icult y remembering
t hings and lack of REM sleep, but t hose st udies t oo have been disproven wit h
more research. An indisput able snag in t he loss-of -memory-f unct ion t heory
was a man who had experienced a brain injury t hat result ed in him
experiencing no REM sleep. He complet ed law school and had no problems in
his day-t o-day lif e.
T he lat est ideas on REM sleep are associat ed wit h learning. Researchers are
t rying t o det ermine t he ef f ect s t hat REM sleep and t he lack of REM sleep
have on learning cert ain t ypes of skills – usually physical skills rat her t han rot e
memory. T his connect ion seems st rong in some respect s due t o t he f act
t hat inf ant s and t oddlers experience much more REM sleep t han adult s.
Interesting f acts about dreams
Most dreams last anywhere f rom f ive t o 20 minut es.
People don’tonly dream in black and whit e, as was once believed.
Even t hough t hey may not remember t hem, everyone dreams several
t imes a night . In f act , during a t ypical lif et ime, we spend about six years
dreaming.
People who have been blind f rom birt h have dreams t hat are f ormed
f rom t heir ot her senses (e.g., t ouch, smell, sound).
When people are snoring, t hey’re not dreaming.
Elephant s (and some ot her animals) sleep st anding up during non-REM
sleep, but lie down f or REM sleep.
Dream Recall

4. It is said t hat f ive minut es af t er t he end of a dream, we have f orgot t en 50
percent of t he dream’s cont ent . Ten minut es lat er, we’ve f orgot t en 90
percent of it s cont ent . Why is t hat ? We don’t f orget our daily act ions t hat
quickly. T he f act t hat t hey are so hard t o remember makes t heir import ance
seem less.
T heories
Freud t heorized t hat we f orget our dreams because t hey cont ain our
repressed t hought s and wishes and so we shouldn’t want t o remember t hem
anyway. Ot her research point s t o t he simple reason t hat ot her t hings get in
t he way. We are f orward-t hinking by nat ure, so remembering somet hing when
we f irst wake up is dif f icult .
L. St rumpell, a dream researcher of t he same era as Freud, believed t hat
several t hings cont ribut e t o our not being able t o remember dreams. For one,
he said t hat many t hings are quickly f orgot t en when you f irst wake up, such as
physical sensat ions. He also considered t he f act t hat many dream images are
not very int ense and would t heref ore be easy t o f orget . Anot her reason, and
probably t he st rongest of his t heories, is t hat we t radit ionally learn and
remember bot h by association and repetition. As dreams are usually unique
and somewhat vague t o begin wit h, it st ands t o reason t hat remembering
t hem could be dif f icult . For example, if someone speaks a phrase t o you t hat
doesn’t immediat ely click wit h anyt hing in your experience, you might need t he
person t o repeat it in order t o remember it or even underst and it . Since we
can’t go back t o our dreams t o experience somet hing again, det ails t hat are
out of our realm of experience of t en escape us.
How to Improve Your Dream Recall
T here are many resources bot h on t he Int ernet and in print t hat will give you
t ips on how t o improve your recall of dreams. T hose who believe we have a lot

5. t o learn about ourselves f rom our dreams are big proponent s of dream
journals. Here are some st eps you can t ake t o increase your dream recall:
When you go t o bed, t ell yourself you will remember your dreams
Set your alarm t o go of f every hour and half so you’ll wake up around
t he t imes t hat you leave REM sleep – when you’re most likely t o
remember your dreams. (Or, drink a lot of wat er bef ore you go t o bed t o
ensure you have t o wake up at least once in t he middle of t he night !)
Keep a pad and pencil next t o your bed.
T ry t o wake up slowly t o remain wit hin t he “mood” of your last dream.
Our art icle series about dreams will cont inue wit h “Dreams Controlling”.
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