Dreams: Want To Remember More of your Dreams - Curio Facts

Dreams whether they involve falling from the top of the building, crying on the death of beloved ones or running away from the clown who haunts you. Sometimes it’s the most painful thing to remember and sometimes it fun. Why is that some people seem to always remember their dreams and other don’t. 

Dreams are still mysterious to scientists and dreamers alike, but researchers reveal that there could be some fundamental differences between those who remember their dreams and those who don’t. 

1. Their Gender:

Researchers aren’t sure why is that, but Harvard psychology professor Dr. Deirdre Leigh Barrett told Mental Floss in 2018 that women tend to recall their dreams more often than men. Dream recall tends to peak in 20’s and then it drops off as you get older.

2. Then It's Their Personality:

More psychologically minded people, more practical and externally focused people tend to have higher dream recall.

According to an article in “On the Brain” from Harvard Medical School, those who fall asleep and wake up slowly are more likely to remember their dreams. A regular dreaming period occurs when a sleeper enters REM sleep which is a dream ready phase that happens with the physiological changes in the blood pressure, breathing and heart rate. Near the end of REM, the body prepares to wake up through the sleep stages again. Those who wake up towards the end of REM phase are more likely to remember their dream.

If you want to remember your dreams, there is still a hope for you to do that. Scientists think some simple tricks would help you to increase recall rate of your dreams. In 2017, Harvard Medical School professor and sleep expert Robert Stickgold said, “I would predict that 80 percent people who initially said they never dream would say they do now”. 

Here Are Three Main Things He Recommended:

1. Drink three full glasses of water, but not bear or wine as they suppress REM and then go to sleep. You will wake more frequently, that could help you remember your dreams.

2. Put dreams on your to do list. Repeat the phrase “I am going to remember my dreams” three times before going to sleep. Your brain likes to work on important things before sleep, and this habit list your dreams as priority.

3. Wake up slowly! The worst thing you can do is wake up, turn to your partner or any person near to you at that moment and say, “I just had the coolest dream”. Do that, and you might forget it forever. Instead, stay half asleep replay your dreams as best as you can. Replaying it will help you to store the memory differently, so you’ll remember it for a long time.

4. If those methods don’t help you try to sleep more. The most important part of dreaming is being asleep. The longer you sleep, the more SEM time you have, and the more chances you will dream and remember. Don’t forget that REM gets longer through the night, so if you are sleeping 4 hours instead of eight, you are missing 80 percent of the REM time that could get you a dream. Try waking up late.