Dreaming Makes Perfect
Definitions
REM- rapid eye movement. A stage in the normal sleep cycle during which dreams occur and the body undergoes marked changes including rapid eye movement, loss of reflexes, and increased pulse rate and brain activity. In this type of sleeping one often has bizarre dreams. Dreams can happen in both NREM and REM modes.
NREM- non-REM;
Dream- A dream is a succession of images, sounds, or emotions that the mind experiences during sleep.
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Summary
Dreams can be recognized and unexpected, wonderful or dull, and no one knows for certain why people dream, but some dreams might be connected to the mental processes that help us learn. In a recent study, scientists found a connection between naptime dreams and better memory in people who were learning a new skill. In the study, 99 college students between the ages of 18 and 30 each spent an hour on a computer, trying to get through a virtual maze, and they were also told to find a particular picture of a tree and remember where it was. For the first 90 minutes of a five-hour break, half of the participants stayed awake and half were told to take a short nap, and the participants who stayed awake were asked to describe their thoughts. Participants who took a nap were asked about their dreams before sleep and after sleep, and they were awakened within a minute of sleep to describe their dream. Four of the 50 people who slept said their dreams were connected to the maze, and some dreamed about the music that had been playing when they were working; others said they dreamed about seeing people in the maze. When these four people tried the computer maze again, they were able to find the tree faster than before their naps. The scientists suspects that the brain processes associated with learning caused the dream, and the people who had other dreams, or people who didn’t take a nap, did not show the same improvement.
Discussion
I think that if the public knew this many people would become smarter. In fact, in school when one needs to cram some vocabulary words or Spanish one can sleep on it. So perhaps one way to learn something new is to practice, practice, practice, and then sleep on it (This is not an excuse for falling asleep during class). So the next time I have to memorize tons of vocabulary I can just sleep on it.
Questions
Does NREM dreams show up only when a person finds a new task particularly difficult?
Could there be a difference in dreaming in dumb and smart people while they are sleeping?
Citations
Ornes, Stephen. Dreaming Makes Perfect. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2010.
Science Online. Science Online. N.p., n.d. Web 11 Nov. 2010.
Good job including all the parts of the blog. The title is a little vague though and does not give an accurate representation of the topic. Your definitions of REM and NREM were useful. The pictures were also accurate representations of people dreaming. I believe in this theory because of many past experiments on this topic. This could help improve grades and averages in many school districts. I also wonder if there is a difference in dreaming in dumb and smart people while they are sleeping. Overall, this is a very interesting and intricate topic in human science.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting article! :)
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this post, I had unintentionally tried cramming information right before sleeping. Surprisingly, it actually worked, but I thought it was just pure luck. I think that teachers should tell their students about this because it is an efficient studying method. Instead of having students staring at so much vocabulary and trying to absorb the information, they should try this studying skill instead. Also, students could napping in between studying sessions.