Khaberni - Have you ever had a dream that remained in your memory despite the passage of many years? While most dreams fade quickly, some, strangely, remain resistant to being forgotten. According to experts, the dreams we remember are often associated with a high degree of emotional arousal, striking sensory clarity, or occur just before waking up. But what is the scientific explanation for this phenomenon?
Why do some dreams stick in memory?
Contrary to popular belief, forgetting dreams is the rule, not the exception. It is natural for a person to awaken with no recollection of the previous night’s dreams.
Recent sleep research indicates that the brain undergoes four to five cycles of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep in one night, which is most associated with dreaming. This implies that one dreams several times each night but forgets the vast majority of these dreams upon waking. Therefore, the logical question is not: Why do we forget our dreams? But rather: Why do we remember some dreams and not others?
Neuroscience researchers believe that not remembering dreams is a natural part of how memory functions. During REM sleep, the areas responsible for storing long-term memories in the brain, especially the hippocampus, are less active compared to when awake. It explains why most dreams pass without leaving a lasting trace in conscious memory.
Nevertheless, some dreams break through this barrier and remain in the mind for hours, days, or even years. These unforgettable dreams impose themselves on consciousness. What sets these dreams apart from others?
What distinguishes unforgettable dreams?
Psychological studies suggest that memorable dreams often share a set of characteristics, notably:
• High emotional impact (fear, ecstasy, sadness, amazement).
• High sensory clarity (vivid images, sounds, sensations of movement or pain).
• Connection to personal issues or ongoing psychological conflicts.
• Occurring just before waking up.
However, one of the key concepts explaining the persistence of some dreams in memory is known in recent dream research as "carry-over effects."
Carry-over effects… when dreams seep into wakefulness
"Carry-over effects" refer to the emotions, physical responses, or psychological states that start during the dream and continue after waking. As if the dream does not completely stop upon opening the eyes, but accompanies the body and emotions into the waking world. For instance, if you dream of being chased, you might wake up with a rapid heart rate, sweating, muscle twitching, as if the chase was real. If you dream of falling into a deep hole, you might wake up feeling a real physical pull of gravity pulling you downward."
These effects transform the dream from just fleeting mental images into a comprehensive bodily experience, thus increasing the likelihood of engraving it in memory and keeping it stuck in the mind for a longer period. This phenomenon reveals that dreaming is not merely a mental activity, but a process involving multiple physiological systems, including the nervous, cardiac, muscular, and even hormonal systems. During REM sleep, these systems are active, but instead of being directed outward as in wakefulness, they are redirected inward to construct the imaginative world of dreams. When this activation is strong, it leaves an imprint after waking up, making the dream more present and difficult to forget.
Is this phenomenon just a neurological quirk?
Some researchers assume that carry-over effects might be an incidental result of random neural firing during sleep, similar to a cup overflowing when filled beyond its capacity. However, this explanation does not enjoy consensus, as other research offers deeper and more functional interpretations.
Evolutionary explanation.. risk-free training
From an evolutionary perspective, dreams can be seen as safe training grounds where the brain simulates possible scenarios without real risks. During a dream, the mind replays scenarios of threat, conflict, or loss, allowing the nervous system to practice responding to danger, making decisions, and regulating emotions in a consequence-free environment."
According to this interpretation, emotionally intense dreams—like those of being chased, falling, or confronting—are not random, but represent mental exercises that have evolved over time to help humans adapt and survive. When training is intense and emotionally charged, it increases the likelihood of the dream leaving a clear mark in memory and its echoes continuing after waking up.
Psychotherapeutic explanation.. calls from the unconscious
In the psychological approach, dreams with carry-over effects are understood as high-priority messages from the unconscious. They are not ordinary dreams, but signals to consciousness: Pay attention, there is something important"
These dreams often pertain to unresolved conflicts, suppressed feelings, or deferred decisions in waking life. Therefore, to understand these dreams, researchers recommend focusing on emotional continuity: What is the basic feeling in the dream? Fear? Longing? Ecstasy? Then we ask: Where does this feeling manifest itself in my daily life? In a relationship, job, or personal crisis? Using this method, the dream becomes a psychological diagnostic tool, not just a mysterious phenomenon."
The paradox of unforgettable dreams
High-clarity dreams present us with a striking paradox: the dream is unreal, but its effects are completely real. The threats we face during the dream do not exist in reality, but the fear we feel is real in every detail. Even though the fall never actually happened, it still leaves a tangible physical dizziness upon waking."
This paradox has historically and across different cultures been a reason to turn dreams into a constant source of reflection and spiritual, philosophical, religious interpretation, seeking to understand the nature of consciousness and the boundaries of reality, and whether what we experience in wakefulness fundamentally differs from what we experience in the world of dreams."
