Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Dreams can take the edge off


Credit: Dreamstime



Taking the edge off may require, not a stiff drink, but a trip to la-la land. UC Berkeley scientists report in the Nov. 23, 2011, issue of the journal Current Biology that during the dream phase of sleep (also called REM sleep), participants' brains showed decreased levels of certain chemicals associated with stress.

"We know that during REM sleep there is a sharp decrease in levels of norepinephrine, a brain chemical associated with stress," study researcher Matthew Walker, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, said in a statement. "By reprocessing previous emotional experiences in this neuro-chemically safe environment of low norepinephrine during REM sleep, we wake up the next day, and those experiences have been softened in their emotional strength. We feel better about them, we feel we can cope."
The findings, Walker and colleagues say, may explain why people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as war veterans, have such a tough time recovering from painful experiences and suffer reoccurring nightmares. They also provide at least one explanation for why we dream. 

from  :  7 Mind-Bending Facts About Dreams

Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor

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