People can see monochromatic, colorful, and white dreams

• In the 1940s, almost a third of surveyed Americans claimed they only saw black-and-white dreams. Studies conducted at the beginning of the 21st century already say that people around 25 years old almost always see colorful dreams, and people over 50 still often dream in monochrome. This, among other things, is related to technological development. The lack of color in dreams could have been influenced by black-and-white televisions, from which people gained emotional impressions. With the appearance of color television and, especially, computers and smartphones, the brain started working a bit differently in dreams. Overall, about 12% of people in the world dream in monochrome.

• But experts continue to highlight the so-called white dream type. White dreams are observed when a person vaguely remembers dreaming about something but can`t precisely say what. These circumstances can also include experienced emotions and sensations during sleep. Scientist Peter Fazekas details this phenomenon in his book `White Dreams Made of Various Colors`.

• People who have quit smoking have much brighter dreams than smokers or those who have never smoked in their lives. This happens because when a person stops smoking, the brain starts compensating for the loss of serotonin and produces more than necessary. This leads to vivid dreams and nightmares.

• Very vivid dreams are seen by people with hearing impairments. When examining the dreams of people with different hearing impairments, it was found that sensory indicators (pain, taste) and emotions are stronger than in people with good hearing.
The appearance of people in dreams has its own rules

• How often women blame men for dreaming about other women! In fact, men most often see representatives of their own gender in dreams. In two out of three cases, a man fights or communicates with another man. While women dream about an equal number of men and women.

• But the idea that we can see a completely new face in a dream is a lie. We have already seen all the people who appear to us in dreams. The brain simply didn`t allow the mind to remember the face, but it existed in the subconscious. These can be random passersby, people seen on TV, etc. During a lifetime, millions of people pass by us, and the brain doesn`t lack `actors for sleep`.

Dreams help reconcile with reality and indicate the state of the psyche

• In most cases, in dreams, we experience a slight but anxious feeling. Negative emotions manifest more often in dreams than positive ones.

• Dreams allow us to reconcile with what hurts us in reality. By providing an outlet for emotions in a dream, we feel better after waking up, even though we might not remember what we dreamed about at all.

• A mentally healthy person always sees dreams, but upon waking, they might forget them immediately. It is believed that the inability to see dreams, which instruments would record, is observed in cases of mental disorders. Excessively cruel dreams can also indicate brain function disorders.

• Those who like to go to bed late and, especially, work at night, tend to see disturbing dreams and nightmares. But early risers more often have positive dreams.

Sleep and physical health are very closely related

• When a person snores, they don`t dream. Snoring and dreaming processes cannot be combined.

• Infants sleep a lot, almost 70% of the day. And they spend much more time than adults in the active sleep phase. This plays a huge role in the child`s development. Therefore, in the first years of life, sleep is extremely important for the baby`s brain to function normally.

• Sports activities, especially cardio exercises, can promote better and calmer nighttime sleep.

• A small group of people - about 1% of all the planet`s inhabitants – can get enough sleep in a few hours. There is a theory that a specific gene mutation is responsible for this. But some studies conducted on volunteers have not yet confirmed this theory.

And what strange dream have you had lately? Do you remember your dreams?