Our brains are amazing machines,but there is still a whole lot we don’t know about how they work. One esoteric aspect of brain function is dreaming and while we’re still not 100% on how or why we dream, scientists are finally starting to hone in.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Our brains are amazing machines, but there's still a whole lot we don't know about how
00:07they work.
00:08One more esoteric aspect of brain function is dreaming.
00:11And while we're still not 100% on how or why we dream, scientists are finally starting
00:16to hone in.
00:17What we know is that dreaming takes place during the REM cycle, or the recuperative
00:20period of sleep.
00:21That accounts for around 25% of total sleeping time.
00:25During that period, our brains consolidate memories from short-term to long-term, and
00:29we process much of the information from the day.
00:31What's wild is that despite being a period of recuperation, REM more closely resembles
00:35wakefulness than other periods of the sleep cycle.
00:38Still, chemicals are released within the body, those like serotonin and norepinephrine, and
00:42histamines are blocked.
00:44During this time, experts say neural connections are strengthened, while some which are unneeded
00:48are discarded.
00:49The process can also embolden existing memories by integrating new ones into them, meaning
00:53sleeping and dreaming is critical for retaining and remembering new and old things.