Where do dreams come from?

It may not matter.

Ready for Dreams © Kathryn LeRoy

Hello friends,

Black and white swirls move in and out. Sweaty, clammy pajamas cling to feverish skin. Fear grips the child trying to wake up and stop the rotating spirals holding the mind captive.

This dream came without warning, uninvited, every time I ran a fever. The recurring nightly visions came so often that I knew when I became sick, the dream would return. I had no words to describe the phenomenon, but have often wondered what it meant. I never told anyone.

The vivid dream seemed real and unstoppable. Most dreams have wild, bizarre, comical, and sometimes, frightening storylines. But this dream didn’t have a story—only white spirals moving in and out against a field of blackness.

Dreamlike Swirls © Kathryn LeRoy

I started thinking about this dream after reading “What Are Dreams For?” describing the research of neuroscientist, Mark Blumberg and others.  I learned a few interesting tidbits and verification of things I knew about dreams.

• Dreams occur during REM sleep and our body twitches during REM.

• Adults spend only about two hours in REM sleep, while by the third trimester, unborn fetuses are in REM for about 20 hours. Those kicks moms feel may be the body twitches that occur during REM.

• Animals display the same sleep behaviors and REM.

Blumberg’s research led to his theory that “the brain uses REM sleep to to ‘learn’ the body because  “we aren’t born with maps of our bodies.”  Those twitches, according to Blumberg, “allow you to form discrete connections that otherwise would be impossible.”

I’m not certain what my brain was learning during those spiraling dreams or any of the other vivid or lucid dreams visiting me every night. Based on a short rabbit hole adventure, I concluded that dreams remain an enigma and are subject to much speculation even with all the advanced technology tracking our brains and measuring our movements.

The human body contains so many mysteries, but when it comes to dreaming, I like Bill Bryson’s conclusion in The Body: A Guide for Occupants.

Dreaming may simply be a by-product of this nightly cerebral housekeeping. As the brain clears wastes and consolidates memories, neural circuits fire randomly, briefly throwing up fragmentary images a bit like someone jumping between television channels when looking for something to watch…we generally don’t remember dreams much despite their intensity—because they are not actually meaningful or important.

I suppose I’ll stop wondering about my childhood feverish dreams, nightmares, or any other crazy nighttime drama. But I am comforted that my brain and body continue to connect and get along.

All that said, I do enjoy a good outlandish dream story. What’s been happening in your REM world?

Flower Dreams © Kathryn LeRoy

I’m always living on the edge in dreams and one day at a time.

Neuroscientist, Erin Wamsley, gives a simple, not overly technical explanation of memories in the dreaming brain.

Need a little night music? Try one of these: “#9 Dream” by John Lennon, “All of These Dreams” by Phish, or “Wildest Dreams” by Taylor Swift.

“Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.”
— William Charles Dement

“In dreams we enter a world that’s entirely our own. Let them swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud.”
— J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban

Dreamy Reflections © Kathryn LeRoy

Find a little wonder this week and keep dreaming.

With gratitude,

Kathryn

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