Despite appearing monotonous and unremarkable, sleep is evidently one of the most necessary functions of the body, yet the reason why is intensely obscure. Even more enigmatic than sleep, are dreams. Dreams are a central part of sleep, but the reason for their existence is hard to divulge. Neuroscience has always been an intricate and perplexing subject matter; although research for such a complicated topic is getting easier, we are only at the tip of the iceberg. But what are the effects of dreams? Where are they coming from and why? The science is a big secret; we do not even know where to begin. Neuroscientifically, dreams are a result of hyperactive imagination at the forebrain during the REM stage of the circadian sleep cycle, and are…show more content… The challenge lies in the subjective features that overshadow the objective facts. There are two common neuroscientific theories that correlate with a person’s unconscious thoughts and conscious actions. The first of which is the Neurocognitive Dream Theory (NDT) which accounts for strong correlation between dreams and emotional state. It proposes that dreams are a way for the conscious to express itself during the REM stage of the circadian sleep cycle. The brain processes as well as stores daily experiences, and dreams are capable of reflecting the information even though they do not always have symbolic meaning. The Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis, (ASH) on the other hand, disagrees with the NDT and states that there is no real significance to dreams. While ASH acknowledges that dreams are affected and created by memories, experiences, and emotions, it states that dreams may be a result of brain cell activity that is blocked and interpreted by the unconscious brain in the form of a dream. Dreams would be the result of an unconscious brain trying to create conscious thoughts but interpreting the “new” information completely wrong. In most general cases, the NDT carries more weight than ASH because it has more psychological proof. Dreams use one’s thoughts and experiences to create a living landscape inside our subconscious. (York) Neurologically, each of these theories are built on research on brain functioning during REM sleep as well as psychological testing. Another current neurological theory is that the hippocampus of the brain, responsible for collecting short-term memories, “teaches” other regions of neural networks to store memories by persistent repetition during sleep. This interminable loop of recorded activity during consciousness may be a process that the brain uses to help remember
