Every time a dream ends, the person remains in deep sleep without waking up.
We only remember the dream if we wake up within ten minutes of the dream ending. “This is the time when the brain is still able to activate the memory, in the state of drowsiness, when the person is a little awake. As memory is a function of the conscious and dreams, of the unconscious, it cannot capture it if too much time passes”, says neurophysiologist Katsumasa Hoshino, from the São Paulo State University (Unesp).
Sleep has different phases. The first is the aforementioned drowsiness, in which the slightest noise makes one wake up. The second is light sleep, followed by medium and deep sleep. In these four phases of the so-called sleep cycle, a person still does not dream. “After about 90 minutes, the REM (rapid eye movement) phase begins.
It is only at this stage that we can dream. On a night’s rest, it’s normal to have about four to six REM phases. “The person, however, will only remember the last dream. But we remember more than one, when there are micro-awakenings after the dream is over, activating the memory in the middle of the night”, says Katsumasa. The people who most remember their dreams are, therefore, light sleepers, who wake up easily. Nightmares are more likely to be remembered, as they usually wake people up with a start. For psychology, this type of dream, as well as the memory and repetition of dreams in general, is related to emotional problems. “Many people dream about what bothers them. It is a way of working and overcoming the challenges that, when awake, they have difficulties in solving.
The opposite also happens. People often know they dreamed but don’t remember, or don’t even dream, because it’s a problem they think they’re incapable of solving,» says psychologist Vânia Sartori, from the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp). . Even after remembering the dream, a good tip is to take notes, as the brain dismisses the information it deems unnecessary. So, after hours or days, your memory soon evaporates.