Dear friends!!

This is a sequel to my previous post in this edition of the 'Why' bug, on dreams.

A lot of why's were asked and I tried looking for reasons and answers.

This is going to be in a different pattern when compared to the other series of this edition.

A typical Q&A manner.

• It is the Hippocampus in the brain that aids memory as well as having dreams.

  
  




• Do babies dream?

  
  

Yes, they most certainly do. They have the same imaginary lines as adults do.

New born infants do not have imagery dream as their senses are not active.

Their vision improves and gains clarity only after 3 months. Until 3 months the perception of colours, depth and sizes are not understood or seen. Thus, their auditory senses are the most active and so they dream from what they hear.

When some babies cry for no reason when they are sleeping, it seems God comes in their dream and says that its mother is being taken away. So, once you place a palm on the baby's stomach, it automatically stops crying. The placing of palm acts as an assurance to the baby!! Its a gradma's explanation to it...for all you know it might be true:)!!

1. Are dreams colourful?

Yes, most definitely. It is what we see and hear is what comes in our dreams. Dreams are a haphazardly placed comprehension of what our senses register.

1. Do blind people also dream?

Yes, they do. Their auditory senses[sounds and its conceptions] form images in the brain. Hence, they also dream.

------------Below is some information I found on the net and thought it would be of some help!

This is the answer given by a blind girl, Laurie.

"Yes, blind people do dream. What they see in their dreams depends on how much they could ever see. If someone has been totally blind since birth, they only have auditory dreams. If someone such as I, has had a measure of sight, then that person dreams with that measure of sight. I still dream as though I can see, colors included. For people I’ve met since, their faces are just blurs or how I imagine they look. To me, someone like my mother looks forever 30. "

An "auditory dream" is a dream with only sounds and no images. Basically, the dreams of someone who’s been blind from birth are just like the dreams that you have - just without the pictures.

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Every one of us dream! And its a beautiful world out there!!

All that our senses gain from the environment, immaterial of how its gained or what is it, it automatically gets registered in the STM- short term memory! Any amount of comprehension of anything. will contribute to dreams!!

1. Do animals dream?

Yes, animals dream. Researchers Dr. Matthew Wilson and Kenway Louie at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology selected four lucky rats. They implanted micro-electrodes into the hippocampus, the region of the brain associated with memory. Then they monitored the firing patterns of the neurons hooked up to micro-electrodes.

The patterns were the same whether the rat was dreaming about running around on a track or actually running around on a track. In fact, by just looking at the patterns, the scientists could tell whether the creature was dreaming about running or just sitting around.

Their dreams are actually connected to real experiences. Rapid Eye Movement (REM)

sleep, which is known as the dreaming sleep, appears in rats, cats, monkeys, opossums, elephants, and even birds. It is known that REM sleep usually happens every 25 minutes in cats, while humans have REM sleep every 90 minutes.

[this answer has been sourced from the internet]

Surprisingly, birds dream too!!

Hope this has been informative and has solved ur 'Why' bug!!!

Thanks again for all the encouragement!!

Love,

Suj