Do You Dream about Others?

A few more posts from my Q&A with J at HHH series. Today's question is about dreams.

"My troublous dream this night doth make me sad."

William Shakespeare, King Henry VI

Mommaof3: My husband and I have been married for 5 years, and in the past year or so I have been having some troubling dreams. I try thinking good things before bed, since everyone says that you dream what you're thinking...that doesn't help at all. I keep dreaming about cheating on my husband with 2 different people (who i know in real life). I'm not asking for an interpretation or anything like that. lol Just do you have any advice on how to deal with these dreams? My husband thinks that it is funny because one of the people I dream about is his brother, so he likes to tease me and say that I married the wrong brother. However, it really bothers me to have these dreams about these 2 guys, because then it kind of changes how I think of these people in real life. So I guess I would like to know if you can suggest any ways to stop the dreams, and also how to deal with them (or forget them!) once I wake up in the mornings. (these dreams happen like once every week or so. So not every day, but not just occasionally.) Thank you for speaking so openly about marital sex and all that goes with it! :)

Oh no, what did I dream?!

Erotic Dreams What Happens When Experiences Wet Erotic Dreams

By Leena Kiri 

What is the dream?

The first question to be clarified is the difference between Sleep and dreams. Sleep calls the state of suspension of activities conscious mind and the will, which occurs periodically (For several hours a day, usually at night) and that enables rest of the muscular system and a change of neuronal activity. Now are studying the importance of sleep period in the settlement of consolidation of memory and learning. The opposite state is the wakefulness or consciousness and will.

The passage of the monitors to sleep and vice versa is regulated by the central nervous system, with special importance reticular system which is located in the brain stem.

Sleep Throughout the body minimizes its metabolic activity, the muscles relax, the heart rate is slower, blood pressure is reduced, and the inspirations are longer and shorter expirations. However, its activity does not decrease brain psychic during sleep. Periods psychic peak phases coincide with those given in the dreams, and studies had shown that employing up Sleep 50% of a newborn, from 30% to 35% at two years, 25% in childhood, youth and adulthood, and from age 65 will be reduced progressively.

More Than 8 Million Americans Sleepwalk, Surprising Scientists

By Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer | LiveScience.com

Adult sleepwalkers are more common than previously realized, with upward of 8 million American adults prone to nighttime ambulation, a new study finds.

In fact, about 3.6 percent of U.S. adults have walked in their sleep at least once in the previous year, researchers report Monday (May 14) in the journal Neurology. One percent experienced at least two episodes of sleepwalking per month.

Dreaming May Help Relieve a Bad Day

MyHealthNewsDaily Staff Writer

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A bad day may not seem quite so painful after we dream, a new study suggests.

The results show that during nighttime dreaming, also known as REM sleep, the brain processes emotional experiences in a "safe" environment, or one in which stress chemicals are low. This processing may take the emotional edge off of difficult memories, the researchers said.

"We wake up the next day, and those experiences have been softened in their emotional strength," said study researcher Matthew Walker, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley."We feel better about them, we feel we can cope."

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."

Dreams help us solve puzzles

Scientists have long wondered why we dream, with answers ranging from Sigmund Freud's idea that dreams fulfill our wishes to the speculation that these wistful journeys are just a side rapid-eye-movement, or REM, sleep. 

Turns out, at least part of the reason may be critical thinking, according to Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett who presented her theory in 2010 at the Association for Psychological Science meeting in Boston. She has found that our slumbering hours may help us solve puzzles that have plagued us during daylight hours.

According to Barrett, it's the visual and often illogical aspects of dreams that make them perfect for out-of-the-box thinking that is necessary to solve some problems.

Night Owls More Likely to Experience Nightmares

Roxanne Khamsi, Scientific American 

Like to stay up late? The downside may be more bad dreams, research suggests. CREDIT: Dreamstime

Night owls might think staying up late is a real hoot, but a new study hints that delayed sleep might have a sinister side. People who hit the sack late might have a greater risk of experiencing nightmares, according to scientists, although they add that follow-up research is needed to confirm the link.

"It's a very interesting preliminary study, and we desperately need more research in this area," says Jessica Payne, director of the Sleep, Stress and Memory Lab at the University of Notre Dame, commenting on the new findings.

Night owls have more nightmares

Credit: Jeff Thrower | Shutterstock

Staying up late has its perks (as long as you can hit the snooze button the next morning), but light dreams is not one of them. Research published in 2011 in the journal Sleep and Biological Rhythms, revealed that night owls are more likely than their early-bird counterparts to experience nightmares.

In the study 264 university students rated how often they experienced nightmares on a scale from "0," (meaning "never") to "4" (meaning "always"). The stay-up-late types scored, on average, a 2.10, compared with the morning types who averaged a 1.23. The researchers said the difference was a significant one, however, they aren’t sure what's causing a link between sleep habits and nightmares. 

Violent dreams can be warning sign

The results suggest the incipient stages of these neurodegenerative disorders might begin decades before a person, or doctor, knows it, according to the researchers, who detail their findings online July 28 in the journal Neurology.

The researchers examined Mayo Clinic medical records to identify cases of the so-called REM sleep behavior disorder reported from 2002 to 2006. The researchers identified 27 patients who developed the REM sleep behavior disorder at least 15 years before showing symptoms of neurodegenerative ailments.

Of these patients, 13 developed what was likely dementia and mild cognitive impairment, 12 developed Parkinson's disease, one person Parkinson's-dementia, and one person multiple system atrophy (a disorder that causes symptoms similar to Parkinson's). The dementia category included dementia with Lewy bodies, which is the most common form of progressive dementia, defined partly by recurrent visual hallucinations.

Results showed the time between the start of the sleep disorder and the symptoms of the neurologic disorders ranged up to 50 years.

Scientists have estimated the REM sleep disorder has an estimated prevalence in adults of 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent and predominantly affects older adults. The main symptom of REM sleep behavior disorder is dream-enacting behavior, which can end in the person injuring themselves or a bed mate. When the person awakes, he or she might vividly recall the dream corresponding to the kicking or thrashing around. Past research has suggested a link between the dream-enacting behaviors and certain neurodegenerative ailments.

"A long-duration preclinical phase has important implications for epidemiologic studies and future interventions designed to slow or halt the neurodegenerative process," the researchers conclude.

http://www.livescience.com/8412-violent-dreams-presage-brain-disorders-decades.html