Sweet dreams - an age old expression of good wishes as you head to bed. With research indicating that everybody dreams, as frequently as 3 - 6 times per night for periods of up to 20 minutes, it is no wonder that sweet dreams are what we would be chasing.
The exact purpose of dreams remains a mystery. Some believe dreams are a means for the brain to consolidate and interpret the mass of information we accumulate each day. Others see dreaming as a safe means of allowing the mind to express unexpressed emotions or as another form of therapy.
Whatever the reason, we have gathered a few fun facts about dreams for you to consider.
- Everybody dreams every night with even the most vivid forgotten within minutes of waking. Only 10% can remember their dreams 10 minutes after waking.
- Bizarre dreams are the result of the 'sensible' part of our brain shutting down while we sleep, allowing the rest of the brain to run riot.
- People dream in pictures and usually in colour. Since the introduction of colour television, fewer dreams are in black and white.
- Blind people dream. Particularly for those born blind, images are replaced by the other senses - sound, smell touch and taste.
- Animals dream too, studies show brain activity in sleeping animals similar to that of dreaming humans.
- Humans can only dream of faces they know, so a stranger in your dream may literally be a face from the crowd.
- And apparently, you cannot snore and dream at the same time.
Source boredpanda.com