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My essay investigates the causes of vivid dreams and explores sources that offer various views on my topic. My guiding research questions are "what causes vivid dreams?" and "why do I get vivid dreams?" After a substantial amount of research, I hypothesized that they are caused by REM sleep, because it is during this sleep cycle that our dreams are intensified.  Each source above dives into vivid dreaming, a couple emphasizing REM sleep as the primary cause while another presents their own theory. Throughout my investigation, I progressively became more informed on vivid dreaming, finding the answers to my questions while also developing new questions. Now, I want to narrow my focus to vivid nightmares and also possibly discover how they can be stopped.

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I asked the same questions to a total of 24 people, half younger folks from the age 9 to early 20s and half adults ages 30s to 60s. My questions were, "Have you ever experienced a dream that was vivd, intense and felt real?" and also "Could you recall the dream well after waking up (or even right now?)" Nearly all the adults I questioned claimed they don't have memorable dreams that they could think of, but most of my younger subjects actually told me a dream of the top of their heads.

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The author introduces vivid dreams as the dreams we can remember even after a while since it happened. Scientists know that most of our heavy dreaming occurs during REM sleep. The REM sleep cycles occur every 90 minutes and last from 20 to 25 minutes. "Vivid dreams can be positive or negative, realistic or fantasy."

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Vivid Dreams: Causes and How to Stop Them

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Sometimes we wake up and have no idea that we’ve dreamed. Vivid dreams are those we can closely recall because they’re so intense. Learn more.

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This study conducted a questionnaire  amongst 28,888 participants from ages 10-79, “DRF increased from adolescence (ages 10–19) to early adulthood (20–29) and then decreased again for the next 20 years.” The data supported my findings from my individual source.

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The researchers of the article gained insights on the relationship between emotion and dreaming from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Sleep Disorder. They found that REM sleep intensified the function of the amygdala, a set of neurons located deep in the brain's medial temporal lobe that processes emotions, in the patients. "Specifically, PTSD patients report dreams with vivid images and negative emotions associated with the traumatic events."

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The author introduces his and his colleagues view called the Contemporary Theory of Dreaming. Connections are being made in our brains constantly, but when we are dreaming, these connections are made loosely. This process is guided by our emotions which can be used to measure the intensity of the imagery of our dreams. An example Hartmann uses is traumatic memories: "We have statistics showing that such intense dreams are indeed more frequent and more intense after trauma."

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Ernest Hartmann, a professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and the director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Newton Wellesley Hospital in Boston, Mass., explains.

The questions, "Why do we dream?" or "What is the function of dreaming?" are easy to ask but very difficult to answer. The most honest answer is that we do not yet know the function or functions of dreaming. This ignorance should not be surprising because despite many theories we still do not fully understand the purpose of sleep, nor do we know the functions of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is when most dreaming occurs. And these two biological states are much easier to study scientifically than the somewhat elusive phenomenon of dreaming.

Some scientists take the position that dreaming probably has no function. They feel that sleep, and within it REM sleep, have biological functions (though these are not totally established) and that dreaming is simply an epiphenomenon that is the mental activity that occurs during REM sleep. I do not believe this is the most fruitful approach to the study of dreaming. Would we be satisfied with the view that thinking has no function and is simply an epiphenomenon--the kind of mental activity that occurs when the brain is in the waking state?

Therefore I will try to explain a current view of dreaming and its possible functions, developed by myself and many collaborators, which we call the Contemporary Theory of Dreaming. The basic idea is as follows: activation patterns are shifting and connections are being made and unmade constantly in our brains, forming the physical basis for our minds. There is a whole continuum in the making of connections that we subsequently experience as mental functioning. At one end of the continuum is focused waking activity, such as when we are doing an arithmetic problem or chasing down a fly ball in the outfield. Here our mental functioning is focused, linear and well-bounded. When we move from focused waking to looser waking thought--reverie, daydreaming and finally dreaming--mental activity becomes less focused, looser, more global and more imagistic. Dreaming is the far end of this continuum: the state in which we make connections most loosely.

Some consider this loose making of connections to be a random process, in which case dreams would be basically meaningless. The Contemporary Theory of Dreaming holds that the process is not random, however, and that it is instead guided by the emotions of the dreamer. When one clear-cut emotion is present, dreams are often very simple. Thus people who experience trauma--such as an escape from a burning building, an attack or a rape--often have a dream something like, "I was on the beach and was swept away by a tidal wave." This case is paradigmatic. It is obvious that the dreamer is not dreaming about the actual traumatic event, but is instead picturing the emotion, "I am terrified. I am overwhelmed." When the emotional state is less clear, or when there are several emotions or concerns at once, the dream becomes more complicated. We have statistics showing that such intense dreams are indeed more frequent and more intense after trauma. In fact, the intensity of the central dream imagery, which can be rated reliably, appears to be a measure of the emotional arousal of the dreamer.

Therefore, overall the contemporary theory considers dreaming to be a broad making of connections guided by emotion. But is this simply something that occurs in the brain or does it have a purpose as well? Function is always very hard to prove, but the contemporary theory suggests a function based on studies of a great many people after traumatic or stressful new events. Someone who has just escaped from a fire may dream about the actual fire a few times, then may dream about being swept away by a tidal wave. Then over the next weeks the dreams gradually connect the fire and tidal wave image with other traumatic or difficult experiences the person may have had in the past. The dreams then gradually return to their more ordinary state. The dream appears to be somehow "connecting up" or "weaving in" the new material in the mind, which suggests a possible function. In the immediate sense, making these connections and tying things down diminishes the emotional disturbance or arousal. In the longer term, the traumatic material is connected with other parts of the memory systems so that it is no longer so unique or extreme--the idea being that the next time something similar or vaguely similar occurs, the connections will already be present and the event will not be quite so traumatic. This sort of function may have been more important to our ancestors, who probably experienced trauma more frequently and constantly than we (at least those of us living in the industrialized world) do at present.

Thus we consider a possible (though certainly not proven) function of a dream to be weaving new material into the memory system in a way that both reduces emotional arousal and is adaptive in helping us cope with further trauma or stressful events.

Answer originally posted July 14, 2003.

Dreams and Nightmares, by Ernest Hartmann, Perseus 2001 "The Meaning of Dreams," by Johathan Winson (Scientific American Special Edition, The Hidden Mind) is available for purchase from Scientific American Digital

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Ernest Hartmann, a professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and the director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Newton Wellesley Hospital in Boston, Mass., explains. The questions, "Why do we dream?" or "What is the function of dreaming?" are easy to ask but very difficult to answer.

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In Chapter 2 “When The Senses Are Cut Off, Does The Show Stop?” the author discusses the brain's ability to continue to create sensory experiences despite being cut off from the sensory organs. An example of this is when we are sleeping, but have such visually vivid and rich dreams. “Your eyes are closed, but you enjoy the lavish and colorful world of your dreams, believing the reality of every bit of it” (58). Our dreams can seem as vivid and real as when we are awake experiencing the world.

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Read 1,725 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Locked in the silence and darkness of your skull, your brain fashions the rich narrative...

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Highlights REM sleep as responsible for vivid dreaming. In the REM sleep, dreaming becomes more vivid compared to other sleep stages due to the eye movements that mimic those of when we are awake. The author states that, "We may dream during other sleep stages, but those dreams will feel fragmented; the types of dreams that have elaborate storylines and complex imagery are fueled by REM."

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Is there anything more disorienting that waking up from a very vivid dream? Than that moment between sleeping and waking when you're not sure if it was a dream, and you have to pause to untangle the dream events from real ones? I'm not someone who feels particularly in touch with my dream life. Most of the time, I don't remember my dreams at all, and, although once in a while I'll wake up knowing that I had a bad dream, or a good dream, or a sexy dream, the dreams themselves feel cloudy and tenuous. However, once in a blue moon, I'll have a very vivid, very real dream that leaves me confused and thrown. In my case, such dreams tend to be rooted in anxiety - visions of being chased, or of not being able to go where I want to go, or of having my teeth spontaneously fall out (Those are the WORST). I wake up feeling anxious, and the day hasn't even begun yet.

Why are some dreams more vivid than others? Why are some memorable, when others disappear instantly? The science of dreaming is not very well understood. As sleep expert Ernest Hartmann points out in Scientific American, there's a lot about sleep in general that we don't know, including what sleep is for and why we experience REM (rapid eye movement). Dreaming is only another part of this mysterious puzzle, and is even more elusive, as it's even harder to study than sleep is. Although there is no definitive word on the purpose, mechanics, and nature of dreams, scientists have been able to make inroads into the study of our non-waking lives, theorizing why some dreams are different than others and why people experience dreams differently.

Are you having unusually realistic dreams? Here's what science can tell you:

It's All About REM

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Sleep is divided into five different stages: Stages 1, 2, 3, 4 and REM. REM sleep is characterized by a high level of activity in the brain, as well as a temporary paralysis of the muscles. During REM, our heart rate increases, our breathing speeds up, and our eyes move back and forth beneath our lids. A small 2015 study found that our eye movements actually mimic those of when we're awake, only instead of responding to images out in the world, they're responding to dreams. The study found that movements corresponded with new images appearing during sleeper's dreams.

REM sleep is responsible for vivid dreams. We may dream during other sleep stages, but those dreams will feel fragmented; the types of dreams that have elaborate storylines and complex imagery are fueled by REM.

We sleep in cycles. We first experience REM 70 to 90 minutes after falling asleep, and we go through a number of sleep cycles throughout the night, with REM cycles increasing in length as the night goes on. People are best able to remember their dreams when awakened from REM (as opposed to naturally shifting to other parts of the sleep cycle). If you awake unnaturally (through an alarm, for example), and the dream you just had feels unusually vivid to you, it may be because you were still in a REM stage when you woke up.

Sleep Deprivation Can Cause Vivid Dreams...

Counterintuitively, not getting enough sleep can lead to more intense dreaming. A 2005 study found that when subjects didn't get enough REM sleep one night, their brains tried to make up for it the next, by engaging in longer periods of REM. Sleep for sleep-deprived people also tends to be more extreme; neurologist Mark Mahowald of the University of Minnesota told Scientific American, "When someone is sleep deprived we see greater sleep intensity, meaning greater brain activity during sleep; dreaming is definitely increased and likely more vivid." Scientific American terms this effect "REM rebound," and it can occur in a variety of situations.

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... As Can Low Blood Sugar...

For people with diabetes, unusually strange, vivid, or nightmarish dreams are worth paying attention to. These intense dreams can be a symptom of nocturnal hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, which can be extremely dangerous if untreated.

... And Alcohol

Alcohol, nicotine, anti-depressants, and blood pressure medication all suppress REM sleep. When people stop using these substances, they can experience REM rebound and have unusually vivid, intense dreams.

Pregnancy Can Also Cause Vivid Dreams

Pregnancy can do a number on your dreaming life. Patricia Garfield, PhD, author of Creative Dreaming, explained to WebMD, "There is a greater amount of actual dreaming and dream recall when a woman is pregnant than at any other time during her life." She adds that dreams can say a lot about the pregnancy itself, saying, "The dreams will relate to her condition of pregnancy, the trimester she is in, and what is going on in her body at the time."

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Garfield suggests that dreaming during pregnancy is affected by three main factors: First, fluctuations in hormones can affect how you dream. Second, pregnant women simply sleep a lot, and more sleep means there are more dreams to remember. Finally, pregnant women tend to get up more often in the night than other people (because they need to pee, or the baby is moving), and when you wake up frequently, you're more likely to remember your dreams throughout the night (as opposed to the one you have right before waking in the morning).

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The Truth Behind What It Means When You Have A Really Vivid Dream

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Is there anything more disorienting that waking up from a very vivid dream? Than that moment between sleeping and waking when you're not sure if it was a dream, and you have to pause to untangle the dream events from real ones? I'm not someone who...