What dreams are for: the concept of sleep, structure, functions, benefits and harms. What is sleep and dreams scientifically? The most interesting facts about sleep. Interesting facts about sleep and dreams

Today, more than ever, we understand the value of sleep from a scientific point of view. Preclinical and clinical studies have shown that the functioning of almost all body systems - especially the brain - depends on the quality and quantity of sleep. Among its many proven benefits are its ability to regulate how much we eat, how fast our metabolism is, whether we get fat or thin, whether we can fight off infections, how creative and insightful we can be, how well we handle stress, how fast we can process information. , gain new knowledge, organize memories and store them. Healthy sleep, which for most of us involves at least seven consecutive hours, also affects our genes.

In early 2013, British scientists found that lack of sleep for one week changed the work of 711 genes, including those responsible for stress, inflammation, immunity and metabolism. Anything that negatively affects these important bodily functions also affects the brain. We depend on these genes - after all, they provide a constant supply of proteins responsible for the restoration of damaged tissue. Although we may not always notice side effects of poor sleep at the genetic level, we certainly feel the signs of a chronic lack of it: confusion, memory impairment, confusion, decreased immunity, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and depression. All these states are closely related to the brain.

We have come to terms with the fact that some of us are forgoing sleep in favor of other bodily needs. Experts today concentrate not only on its quantity, but also on its quality, that is, on its ability to restore the brain. Which is better: sleeping soundly for six hours or eight but restless? It may seem to some that such questions are easy to answer, and that we know everything that is necessary about sleep. But science is still trying to figure out what effect it has on men and women. Just as I was writing this chapter, a new study was published on the "surprising effect of sleep on appetite." As it turns out, the hormones affected by lack of sleep differ between men and women. Although the outcome is similar for both sexes - a tendency to overeat - the underlying impulse to satisfy hunger differs. For men, lack of sleep leads to increased levels of ghrelin, a hormone that increases appetite. In women, sleep deprivation has no effect on ghrelin, but it does decrease levels of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP1), an appetite-suppressing hormone. Of course, the fine line may seem insignificant, because as a result we still come to a similar outcome - we start eating more, but it is this fact that confirms how little we are aware of how the biochemistry of the body as a whole reacts to sleep.

If there's anything we know for sure about him, it's that it gets harder to sleep with age. This fact is due to a number of reasons, many of which are associated with medical conditions that can disrupt even the most sound sleep. 40% of older people are deprived of sound sleep due to chronic problems such as sleep apnea and insomnia.

A link between sleep disorders and cognitive decline has been proven. Christine Yoffe, a psychiatrist at the University of California, studies people at risk for developing cognitive impairment and dementia. In her clinic for memory disorders, she found a common denominator for the most common complaints of patients - they all find it difficult to fall asleep and not wake up during the night. Patients report that they feel tired throughout the day and have to take short breaks to sleep. When Yoffe conducted several studies analyzing more than 1,300 adults over 75 over five years, she noted that people with sleep breathing problems or sleep apnea were twice as likely to develop dementia over time. Patients suffering from natural jet lag, or those who frequently woke up in the middle of the night, were also at increased risk.
The daily biorhythm is the heart and soul of our well-being. As early as around six weeks of age, we develop a pattern of repetitive activity associated with the day/night cycle that persists throughout our lives. Like sunsets and sunrises, these rhythms repeat themselves roughly every twenty-four hours. We live according to a variety of cycles that coincide with the 24-hour solar day: from the sleep-wake cycle to the established biological rhythms - the increase and decrease in hormone levels, changes in body temperature, and the increase and decrease in the number of certain molecules that have a positive effect on our health. When our rhythm is not in harmony with the twenty-four-hour solar day, we feel overwhelmed or tired: this is what happens at the moment when we cross time zones, forcing the body to quickly adapt to a new cycle.

It seems that many people do not realize how deeply their biorhythm is ingrained in sleep habits and to what extent it is controlled by the brain. The most obvious example is body temperature, which rises during the day, drops slightly in the afternoon (hence the desire to take a nap in the afternoon), peaks in the evening, and then drops at night - all due to the activity of certain hormones in the body. . Temperatures are at their lowest in the early morning, symbolizing the start of a new cycle. This is due to the fact that cortisol levels peak in the morning and decrease during the day. People who work in shifts are at increased risk of developing serious illnesses.

Therefore, the next time you feel unreasonably tired, mood swings, hunger, thirst, mental retardation, memory problems, or even anxiety, aggression or arousal, think about how you sleep lately to understand the true reason for such a condition. . Suffice it to say that we need a reliable model of wakefulness and healthy sleep in order to regulate hormones.
We will focus on one of them, which almost everyone forgets about, underestimating its importance - leptin. This is the permanent coordinator of the body's inflammatory response, which is under the huge influence of sleep and helps to understand whether we are experiencing the need for carbohydrates.

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Sorcerers and ghosts, instantaneous movements in space and the transmigration of souls, abductions by aliens and encounters with the Loch Ness monster... How we would like to believe that in our everyday life there is a place for the inexplicable!

The less this or that phenomenon is studied, the more myths and fables surround it. For many hundreds of years, sleep has remained the object of absolutely fantastic conjectures. Recently, I came across information that up to 80% of the Russian population believes that prophetic dreams are true ... Being a somnologist, I cannot ignore this topic full of delusions. And, of course, I intend to argue with those who believe in the mysticism of prophetic dreams.

What are dreams?

First, let's figure out what dreams are. Dreams are called "shards of the day." It is believed that this is by-product brain activity, which is formed at night during the processing of information received during the day. Separate fragments of this information flow add up, mix with each other, giving birth to our dreams. From this point of view, the origin of dreams was very well described by I.M. Sechenov, who described them as "unprecedented combinations of experienced impressions."

The content of dreams is determined not only by fresh, but also by earlier memories. For example, it happens that a sleeping person suddenly sees in a dream a person whom he has not met for several years. Why is this possible? The fact is that during sleep, the subcortical layer is disinhibited and chaotic excitation of neurons belonging to different parts of the brain is observed. For this reason, long-standing memories can be “embedded” in dreams, including even those that a person would seem to have long forgotten about.

Thus, there is no mysticism in the origin of dreams. Are there prophetic dreams that can predict the future? Most likely this is a hoax. Moreover, we can say with confidence: it is everyday reality that “predicts” our dreams, and not vice versa.

Why do dreams sometimes come true

Sometimes even the most inveterate skeptics suddenly begin to believe in miracles: there comes a moment in their life when, for some unknown reason, some dream comes true. How can this be explained?

Coincidence

The simplest answer to the question of why prophetic dreams are dreaming is a common coincidence. Every night a person sees several dozen separate dreams, their number reaches several thousand a year, so sooner or later one of them may, quite by chance, repeat itself in reality.

Singer Irina Otieva, confident that prophetic dreams really exist, once said that at the age of 10 she saw herself in a dream, already an adult, singing in a huge concert hall. She realized that this dream was prophetic when, many years later, she performed in the Rossiya Concert Hall - in the very one from her dream.

However, after I started questioning her, we found out two things. Firstly, she dreamed of a singing career from early childhood, and secondly, even before her dream, she had already been to Russia with her parents. Impressions from the concert, dreams of creativity and fame - this is how, apparently, this “prophetic” dream turned out.

Even those dreams, the plot of which does not relate to everyday life at all, can be attributed to a coincidence. The reason for this is the information flows that fall on a person every day. Television, radio, the Internet… The information load from the outside is simply colossal, sometimes we don’t even record everything we see and hear, but information, regardless of our will, enters the brain, and in the process of its processing, the most unusual dreams arise. Some are interested in: what to do to have a prophetic dream? According to this logic, the answer to the question is simple: live an ordinary life, look around, pay attention and remember.

Once I spoke with a woman who claimed that a few days before the fire in the Ostankino tower she had a dream that the tower had already burned down. Was it a prophetic dream? On the eve of her dream, this lady could well walk past the TV tower on her way to work, then watch some story about a fire on TV, and then, quite naturally, see a “cocktail” of a tower and a fire in a dream.

Subconscious information analysis

Are you familiar with the concept of enlightenment? There's a problem in front of you, you don't know how
to solve it, and at one moment the decision suddenly comes as if by itself. This is the result of the analytical abilities of our brain. We may not focus on thinking, but the brain still automatically “thinks for us” and sometimes delivers the results of its activities in such an unexpected and pleasant way.

Analysis and the search for solutions are processes that take place in our head all the time, and immersion in sleep does not stop them. That is why the intuitive, predictive guesses of the brain are sometimes reflected in our dreams. Unconscious analysis of information is another answer to the question of why prophetic dreams occur.

One man told the story of how a "prophetic dream" helped him find the missing value. During a business trip in a hotel, his watch disappeared. He left the room in the morning for the pool, and when he returned a couple of hours later, they were not on the bedside table near the bed, although he clearly remembered that he had taken them off and put them there before leaving.

The man turned to the hotel security, he was assured that no one entered the room in his absence. Suspecting a universal conspiracy, he searched the entire room and did not find the loss. Tired of searching, he lay down on the bed and accidentally dozed off. He did not think how to see a prophetic dream - he just fell asleep. In a dream, he saw how he looked into the bag with swimming trunks and a towel, which he took with him, and saw a watch there. Waking up and doing the same thing in reality, he actually found his "treasure".

At the time of the story, this gentleman believed that he was faced with a double riddle: firstly, he did not understand how the watch could get into the package, and secondly, he allegedly saw a prophetic dream. However, by restoring the chain of events that happened on that mysterious morning, he had to debunk his belief in miracles.

It turns out that before leaving for the pool, the dreamer had a fleeting intention to look after swimming in a fitness bar, so he took his wallet with him. Or rather, I thought that I had taken it, but in reality, out of absent-mindedness, I grabbed a watch from the bedside table. He never went to the bar - he was tired of swimming and forgot. But during sleep, his brain “remembered” this, analyzed the information and provided him with a ready-made solution, telling him where the lost item was. Did this person see a prophetic dream? In a way, yes. But there was nothing mystical about it. Everything can be explained scientifically...

In the situation described above, the prophetic dream is, as it were, turned into the past, but still I would like to predict the future. Analysis and forecast are, in a certain sense, a prediction of the future based on past experience. We plan our lives, we expect that something will happen in the future, and in connection with this, we somehow prepare for this. This is precisely the uniqueness of the human brain, that it has abstract thinking, it can think and predict the future.

But for some reason, we absolutize such predictions in a dream. Therein lies the problem. Any forecast of events in the future is probabilistic. An event may or may not occur with a certain probability. For example, if you dreamed that you would go to work tomorrow (like all the previous weeks, months and years) - will this be a prophetic dream? 99% of people will say no. But how not? You dreamed about the future!

And here is another example. You dreamed that you were leaving the house and an icicle would fall on your head. You went out and she really fell! Most people will say that this is a prophetic dream. But in fact, this happened an event that could happen, albeit with an extremely low probability. The brain predicted it, as a person looked at the weather forecast the day before, which spoke of a thaw, icicles and black ice.

If you dream of some potential trouble in the future, then it is quite possible to analyze the situation and take some action to avoid it. For example, a month ago you crossed the road in the wrong place in front of rushing cars. And suddenly you dreamed that you were hit by a car. Think about it. Maybe you should walk the extra 100 meters and use the pedestrian crossing?

But it’s not worth bringing your behavior to the point of absurdity in connection with such “prophetic dreams”. Imagine the following situation. You didn't come to work today. And tomorrow write an explanatory note to the boss: “Dear Chief! I'm not sure if there are prophetic dreams, but since I dreamed that I was hit by a car, I decided not to leave the house all day. At best, you will be advised to see a psychiatrist, and at worst, you will simply be fired.

Here we can recall the saying of one Englishman: “If you dreamed that horse number 6 would win tomorrow at the races, then bet money on it, but do not mortgage your house.”

deja vu

Please note: very often people realize that some of their dreams turned out to be prophetic only at the moment when it comes true. Until then, they may not even remember it! Probably, in such cases, prophetic dreams are imitated by such a well-known phenomenon as deja vu.

Sometimes a person has a spontaneous failure in the propagation of signals through the information channels of the brain. New information gets into the departments responsible for memories. This makes us perceive the current situation as something that has already happened in the past.

Deja vu is a very specific sensation that is accompanied by a feeling of "out of reality". For this reason, during deja vu, a person may think that he saw the event that just happened in a dream. Hence the photographic coincidence of reality and some "prophetic" dreams.

Lie

“Everyone lies,” said the main character of the famous television series (“Doctor House”). And this is true - a person, without noticing it, tells a lie or half-truth at least 20 times a day.

Are there prophetic dreams? Many are easily convinced that yes. Moreover, this topic is very mysterious. It gives the dreamer significance and arouses interest in relation to his person. This is used by people seeking to attract attention to themselves. Pay attention to those who allegedly see prophetic dreams. As a rule, these are teenagers, older people and women with problems in their personal lives - a typical list of people deprived of attention. Thus, it is worthwhile to perceive stories about prophetic dreams with a healthy distrust.

Manipulation

The idea of ​​the existence of prophetic dreams is strongly supported by various interpreters, predictors and "magicians in the seventh generation." This is a very good tool for influencing people with unstable mentality. Figures of the occult sciences, as a rule, are very good psychologists who can convince an impressionable person of anything. And just prophetic dreams are a very fertile topic, providing a strong and long-term dependence of people who have fallen into their trap.

Several times I had to consult people with severe insomnia and depression, which developed against the background of constant expectation of some kind of trouble from supposedly prophetic dreams. It usually goes like this.

A person comes to the interpreter of dreams and tells his dream. Whatever he says, he will be told that everything is terrible, the chakras are closed, the biofield is damaged, the beloved will leave, there will be no money and diseases will fall ... Of course, this is followed by an offer to fix everything, but you need to come regularly and tell your prophetic dreams; Truth, the most honest word – this will help! And it is on this that healing rituals will depend.

Naturally, all this is not done for free. After some time, a person is told that the problem is even deeper, black magic is already involved here, enemies are poking his Voodoo doll with needles and, in general, the strongest evil eye ... Even more manipulations and money are needed. The unfortunate person develops severe chronic stress, a persistent reflex of expecting trouble is formed. All this leads to depression and severe insomnia, which has to be treated by psychiatrists and somnologists.

Prophetic dreams are true. Usually they dream from Thursday to Friday, and on Christmas time you can even guess at a dream. Special conspiracies and rituals will help you see a dream that will surely come true in reality. If on any given day you had a dream and you want it to come true, in no case do not tell it to anyone for three days. If you saw a bad dream, hold your crown, light a candle and look at its flame, knock on the window three times ...

Ladies and gentlemen! Don't turn a secret belief in miracles into deliberately cultivated madness. Today there is no reason to believe that prophetic dreams really exist. Of course, it would be fun to see your future spouse long before you meet or find out what will be listed on the stock exchange next year. But, alas, this is not possible.

Psychologists say that the tendency to believe in various kinds of predictions suggests that a person does not like to take responsibility. Do not look for clues and predictions in the chaotic images of night dreams. Manage your life yourself!

All living beings on Earth need sleep. When a person does not get enough sleep, he has health problems, and he also becomes irritable. Without sleep, a person cannot replenish his energy supply, therefore, he feels overtired and there is a decline in working capacity.

A person spends one third of his life in a dream. He needs sleep as well as food. Only now, in the absence of food, a person can live for about a month, and without sleep, he will not live even two weeks. Let's find out what are the side effects of not sleeping for a long time and what sleep is in general.

Sleep facts

What is sleep scientifically? In 1960, they conducted an experiment on volunteers, as a result of which it turned out that a person who was deprived of sleep, on the fifth day, experienced deterioration in vision, hearing, memory, in addition, he had visual and auditory hallucinations, and there were still violations in the coordination of movements. Some lost weight, although all subjects were fed generously. After 8 days, this experiment was stopped. However, experiments that were carried out on dogs led to the fact that after two weeks, the dogs that were deprived of sleep died.

Sleep is a natural physiological process that occurs in living organisms - in humans and animals. This is the process of resting the nerve cells of the cerebral cortex, reducing motor and mental activity. That is, sleep is rest for the whole organism.

The whole world is conducting all kinds of research and various experiments, because many people want to understand why a person's state changes during sleep. It turned out that human life is divided into three phases - wakefulness, sleep without dreams and sleep with dreams. It also became known that the human body needs sleep, it performs a protective function.

When a person sleeps, he can often be disturbed by irritants from the external environment, such as stuffiness, cold, noise, unwanted light - all this is included in the dream itself, for example, a dream of a desert or snow, a party or a river. Thanks to this ability, a person continues to sleep.

Also, when a person sleeps, he not only "does not see", but also "does not hear". The muscles that control the auditory ossicles are relaxed during sleep, thanks to which a person cannot catch low sounds.

REM sleep and slow sleep. Sleep phases

Electroencephalograph (EEG) —this is a device with which you can find out what happens to a person when he sleeps. The EEG records the vibrations of the brain waves. They have different indicators during wakefulness, during shallow and deep sleep.

It became known that the human brain continues its work even during sleep, its activity changes at intervals of one and a half hours, and a person’s sleep goes through 4 to 6 periods - phases.

Every person has two sleeps - fast and slow.

REM sleep

REM sleep is accompanied by: rapid eye movement, twitching of the muscles of the face, movements of the arms and legs, as well as rapid breathing and an increase in blood pressure.

Meanwhile, the brain continues to work actively. This dream lasts 10-20 minutes, then is replaced by a slow sleep, this process is repeated 4-5 times a night.

During this period, a person has colorful dreams that he will surely remember.

slow sleep

The largest part of a person's sleep falls on slow sleep, which in turn is divided into four phases. Dreams in this period are less vivid, rarely remembered by a person. It is during slow sleep that a person is able to make various sounds without noticing it, also cry, laugh, and sometimes even walk.

Sleep phases

First phase of sleep- nap. It doesn't last long, about 5 minutes. During this phase, breathing slows down, heartbeat slows down, body temperature also goes down. The brain, in turn, continues to work actively, it reviews the information that you received during the day, corrects some thoughts and looks for answers to questions that tormented you.

Second phase- lasts about 20 minutes. Life processes slow down, the eyeballs are motionless. During this period, brain activity decreases, sound sleep sets in.

Third phase- deep dream. Life processes continue to slow down. Closed human eyes slowly rotate.

Fourth phase deeper slow wave sleep, lasting about 30 minutes. It is generally accepted that during this period a person grows, his immune system is restored.

The phases of slow-wave sleep take place alternately, from the first phase to the fourth. Morning sleep excludes the fourth phase and the sequence changes. After the second phase, the third comes, then again the dream goes into the second phase, then the REM phase follows, it is worth noting that the REM sleep phase lengthens with each subsequent cycle.

Why should a person sleep?

For the whole day a person experiences a very heavy load, not only physical, but also psychological, by the end of the day his body needs rest. The muscles that help the heart and blood vessels work slow down, therefore, the flow of blood to the organs decreases, so the person experiences fatigue.

A person is obliged to sleep, because he must give rest to his body, restore his strength. Also, during sleep, vital processes are normalized.

The human brain also needs rest. During wakefulness, a person receives a huge amount of information and impressions. During the night, when a person sleeps, the brain continues to work, it assimilates the information received, and also sorts it. Consequently, if a person sleeps too little, then his brain simply does not have time to do the work for which the night time is intended, and the person feels tired and depressed in the morning.

In order not to overwork your brain, you should alternate your day work, and not get hung up on one thing all day.

How is daytime sleep different from nighttime sleep?

Many cannot say for sure which is better, sleep at night and stay awake during the day, or vice versa. However, people who sleep during the day instead of at night put their body at great risk.

Specifically at night, sleep helps the brain's pineal gland to produce the hormone melatonin, which regulates circadian rhythms. Most production of melatonin occurs from midnight to 4 am.

Also, this hormone has antioxidant properties, that is, it is able to slow down the aging of the body, skin, improves the functioning of the digestive tract and brain, the immune system and the endocrine system, and in addition helps to fight stress.

However, a lack of melatonin can lead to early aging, obesity, colds, cardiovascular and other diseases.

The question arises, is daytime sleep necessary at all? Many doctors and experts believe that daytime sleep is very important for a person. It reduces the risk of diseases of the heart and blood vessels, is able to quickly restore a person's strength.

What is the best time of day to sleep?

Everyone knows that after eating, one feels tired and cravings for sleep appear. Why is this happening? The stomach received food in order to process it, a large amount of blood and oxygen enters it, and the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain decreases, respectively, the brain slows down its work and the person wants to sleep.

Studies have shown that a person feels a desire to sleep when the body temperature drops. These periods run at night from 3 to 5 in the morning. During the day, this phenomenon is also observed from 1 to 3 hours. This time is the most suitable for daytime sleep.

Thanks to daytime sleep, a person is able to increase his mental activity and increase efficiency. Nerves calm down, mood rises. Another daytime sleep will help improve memory, enhance imagination - this will lead to the emergence of new and interesting ideas.

So do not miss the opportunity to sleep during the day. However, do not sleep too long, 30 minutes will be enough. Otherwise, instead of vigor and freshness of mind, you risk getting irritability and lethargy, and, in addition, a possible headache.

The question often arises of how much time a person needs to sleep, however, it depends on the individual and on his environment. You just need to listen to the needs of your body. Biological rhythms and clocks are individual for everyone. But in general, a healthy body needs 7-8 hours of sleep.

Sleep disorders

Surely, every person is familiar with the problem of sleep disorders. When you can’t fall asleep for a long time, the thoughts in your head haunt you, you wake up because of a noisy irritant or from stuffiness, cold. Most people experience this from time to time. If a person has to experience this constantly, then these violations should be considered as a painful sleep disorder.

Insomnia is the most well-known sleep disorder. Insomnia is not considered a separate disease, it is a symptom that can result from many disorders in the body. For example, it can be caused by stress, alcohol or psychoactive substances.

Narcolepsy - immense bouts of drowsiness can overcome you at any moment. It doesn't matter where you are now and what you are doing, they usually do not last long, but these lost seconds, minutes can be especially life-threatening. For example, if a person falls asleep while driving a car.

Such a person is constantly haunted by nightmares, auditory hallucinations prevent him from falling asleep, double vision is also possible, he is overcome by headaches, and even memory loss is possible.

Sopor

A person who fell asleep in a lethargic sleep can be taken for dead. His breathing is not noticeable, the pulse is not palpable, the heart practically does not beat. The cause of such a dream can be a brain tumor, as well as a traumatic brain injury, and even a deep mental shock.

A person who has a stable sleep disorder should definitely see a doctor and conduct a medical examination and possible treatment.

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Each of the people living on earth, perhaps even animals, thought about what sleep is and how it occurs in the head. Paradoxically, no matter how much time scientists spend on studying this phenomenon, no one has been able to fully understand this complex gift of nature. How to interpret your own dream is not determined by the book, but by the person himself.

Psychics and astrologers attach great importance to it, doctors perceive it as a normal life process, psychologists try to understand the human personality with its help, the rest just watch it - and all this is a dream. In the life of each person, it has a special meaning and is perceived differently. The unique riddle of the brain can plunge a person into unprecedented journeys and make them perceive events as real. It is very important to understand the difference between sleep and dreams.

Sleep reflects a physiological process, a kind of "inhibition" of the body's activity. Dreams speak of the normal activity of the brain, they are connected, but most often scattered fragments of events that take place in the head like a movie.

The manifestation of a dream can be caused by several sources:

• objective, external irritation of the senses (environmental influence, relationships in the team and family);
• subjective, internal irritation of the senses (the desire for self-control, creative impulses);
• internal, physical irritation (diseases, ailments, chronic diseases can cause pathological drowsiness, lethargic encephalitis);
• psychological sources of irritation (humiliation, insults, love, care).

To fully understand the nature of sleep, it is necessary to consider all possible positions for interpreting this phenomenon.

Sleep according to science

Scientists and doctors talk about the need for sleep as a natural phenomenon. Everything is programmed by nature: a person is tired, therefore, he needs rest, which will provide a good sleep. The earth has small and great rhythms - the key to unraveling all forms of life. A day separates day and night, solar activity fades and revives, centuries-old calm is replaced by earthquakes, the heart beats rhythmically, as breathing has its own rhythm, sleep is replaced by wakefulness - all these are rhythms that last a century, year, month, week, seconds. And only a person has learned to correctly divide the cycle into active hours and time for rest, intelligently managing his own time.

Sleep is a deep disconnection of the body from the external environment, preventing the depletion of nerve cells in the brain and internal organs.

In the Middle Ages, scientists believed that sleep was caused by stagnation of blood in the head due to the horizontal position of the sleeper. Dreams make a person subjectively perceive the images that appear in the mind of the sleeping person. Sometimes, phenomena can be so vivid, sensual that they seem absolutely real. Currently, dreams are being studied by the science of oneirology, which claims that dreams can be conscious (controlled by a person) and unconscious.

Sleep in terms of psychology

Psychologists believe that in a dream a person contacts his Shadow, namely, a part of the Personality rejected by consciousness. Usually in a dream there are positive and negative images that are formed in early childhood and are a modulation of the images of the father, mother and loved ones, depending on what the environment was like. Dreams are supported by the resources of consciousness, collected throughout life. Memorization and correct interpretation of dreams will help to cope with internal problems and experiences, correct character flaws.

Sleep - immersion in the inner reality of the human "I", the ability to know and analyze your personality through the interpretation of dreams.

Sleep from an esoteric point of view

From ancient times, sleep was perceived as a special gift, an attempt by the Higher powers to establish contact with the human mind. People were looking for clues, predictions, advice in dreams. If physical overwork is only the cause of sleep, then the manifestation of dreams is its consequences.

At the moment of wakefulness, the astral, mental and physical bodies function harmoniously. As soon as the moment of disconnection from the outside world comes, the astral and mental bodies leave the physical and realize all the plans. This is one of the reasons why a person sees in a dream the fulfillment of even the most intimate desires, which in real life were not destined to be fulfilled.

Sleep is the result of the separation of the dense (physical) and subtle (astral, mental) bodies in order to relax and streamline the senses while traveling in the spiritual world.

Initially, the population can be divided into 2 categories: people who dream (predominant) and individuals who fall into a state of deep sleep without the consequences of dreaming.

The physiological need of the body to rest does not cause enthusiastic interest and doubts, but what about the inexplicable accompaniment of this process in the form of dreams. From the moment of the birth of life on Earth and to this day, one thought has not left a person: why do you dream? The fact is that during the period of wakefulness, the brain “collects” sensations, “processes” them and gives out its own interpretations of what is happening.

To dream means to have an idea of ​​the state of consciousness. Dreams are dreamed so that the “secret” information of the subcortex becomes understandable to the cerebral cortex.

Scientists regard the phenomena at the time of rest as an acceptable unloading of the emotional state. It is needed in order to renew energy and stabilize the emotional state. If a person does not rest from his emotions, a moment of mental breakdown may come. Only in the kingdom of Morpheus can you become a spectator of a film with your own participation.

The nature of sleep and dreams

The ideal depiction of the nature of sleep is the sleeping Buddha. The famous picture in the smallest detail reveals the secrets of an unknown phenomenon. In ancient treatises, scientists identified 3 phases of the state of the body: the wakefulness phase, the sleep phase and the dream phase. Aristotle, as a representative of the development of European science, argued that the nature of sleep is this: whoever dreams, he can exist. A person who can get to the depths of the occurrence of this extraordinary phenomenon will know the secrets of his brain.

The scientist Pavlov discovered a “waking center” in the cerebral cortex and suggested that there should also be a “sleep center”. The situation was different: in the cerebral cortex there were only inhibitory mechanisms that weakened the work of neurons and caused a sluggish state, gradually transferring the body into a state of deep sleep.

The phenomenon of dreams, paradoxical sleep, has become a true discovery. This is a special “third state of the body”, when a person is physically resting, and at the subconscious level he is actively awake, he also experiences feelings and emotions that are directly related to his real life activity.

In order to understand the reason for the phenomenon of a particular dream, it is important to study the main types of dreams:

• dreams-desires come if you really want something. The consequence may be the use of magic, conspiracies, the creation of an appropriate mood. Such phenomena can come true both at the subconscious level, and tell about an imminent fulfillment in real life;
• dreams-predictions are rare and selected people. The prediction may concern an individual or society as a whole. A correct interpretation will help prevent unwanted events and use the prediction for good purposes;
• erotic dreams are inherent in both the male and female sex in case of inadequate satisfaction of sexual desires. For spouses, this is an occasion to think about improving intimate relationships;
• prophetic dreams tend to come true, carry a hidden or direct meaning. In this case, a solution to problems, a warning, good or bad news comes to the sleeper;
• nightmares are the most unpleasant aspect of the manifestation of human fears. The consequences may be films, programs, books about violence - an artificial stimulant, or one's own human fears - a natural stimulant.

Whatever the dream, it gives an impetus to analyze the actions and understand what is going wrong in life at the moment.

The works of scientists and philosophers about dreams are a base designed to serve as the basis for an independent study of the processes occurring in the head at the time of deep rest. Dreams are so far the only state of the human body that does not have clear explanations, competent structure, definitions, and you can never predict what it will be like tomorrow.

When studying sleep, you need to start with yourself. Keeping records is the first step to the success of knowing the personality.

To study your own state of the body in a dream, it is recommended to keep a diary and regularly write down what you remember. As a result, after a week or a month it will become clear that all events are directly or indirectly interconnected. It's important to understand why do you dream when they are calm, when they are active and, most importantly, how they affect the course of life events. It will not be surprising if at one time the records of an ordinary person become an extraordinary find and discovery in science.

Video: What is sleep?

Regular, full, deep sleep ensures the health and basic needs of everyone. People are so accustomed to this natural process that they often do not think about the nature of the phenomenon, its features and course. Meanwhile, this can give answers to many questions, and the main one is what is sleep?

What is a human dream?

The human body is a complex mechanism, the work of which must be constantly maintained. If addiction to food and drink can be controlled and limited, then rest is indispensable - it is vital! What is sleep for a person? This is a physiological process during which the active mental connections of the subject with the outside world are lost, the brain relaxes.

What is sleep from a medical point of view is a kind of mental activity that is vital for the proper functioning of all systems of the human body. Nerve cells come to a calm state, and after them, the work of internal organs and executive apparatus - blood vessels, muscles and various glands - normalizes.

What is sleep - psychology

In ancient times, people knew very little about the nature of sleep, putting forward incredible theories, for example, that this process is poisoning the body with poisons accumulated during the day or a decrease in blood circulation in the body. With the development of science, many mysteries have been solved. At the end of the 19th century, the science of somnology arose, and Maria Manaseina was its founder in Russia. She published a paper in which she talked about what sleep is in psychology and physiology. The works of Manaseina made it possible to understand that during sleep the brain does not stop its activity entirely, but only the human consciousness rests.

Dreams and their interpretations have been of interest to people for thousands of years. No one has yet been able to unravel the meaning, but attempts have been made repeatedly. It is known what a dream is according to Freud - these are human desires, realized or unrealized, given out by the subconscious as dreams. What you see can be interpreted with the help of dream books. According to Freud, no dream can be absurd and make no sense.

What is a dream - esoteric

The study of sleep means the knowledge of oneself and the secrets of the world. Reflecting on what a dream is from the point of view of esotericism, one must consider it not from the earthly, but from the astral projection. When a person falls asleep, he moves from the manifested (physical) to the unmanifested world, or rather the astral body makes the journey. In practice, this means going out into the beyond. People can control only known sense organs and cannot remain conscious in a state of rest. But thanks to special techniques, some are able to control even their astral body.

What is the benefit of sleep?

People tend to treat sleep as a necessity, a given. Sometimes it is not enough, and sometimes you do not want to go to bed, interrupting your favorite pastime. Only 2/3 of life people are awake, and the rest of the time they sleep, but it is important to understand that sleep gives much more than it “takes away”. It has a beneficial effect on the body and all its functions. In the process:

• normalizes blood pressure and sugar;
• psychic forces are regenerated;
• mechanisms that are responsible for systematizing information are working hard;
• new nerve cells are formed;
• skin cells are renewed;
• children produce growth hormones.

Hibernation vs Sleep - What's the difference?

And some living beings have the ability to independently immerse their body in a long rest (the so-called hibernation), which slows down metabolism and vital processes - blood circulation, respiration, heartbeat, etc. Science has learned to artificially create a state of slowed-down vital activity of the organism, called hibernation (from Latin “wintering”). It is caused by the use of drugs that block the activity of the neuroendocrine system and slow down the body's metabolic processes.

During hibernation, the patient does not sleep in the usual sense. His pupils are constricted but responsive to light, his eyes can be opened, his pulse is quickened and his blood pressure is reduced. A person in this state may be awakened, but will be on the verge of being awake. If you figure out what is better sleep or hibernation for the body, healthy rest always has advantages, but these are completely different concepts.

What is REM and non-REM sleep?

The process of sleep is cyclical, it consists of the same time intervals, on average, one and a half hours each. It is believed that a good rest should consist of five such intervals, that is, last from 7.5 to 8 hours. Cycles are divided into two phases - fast and slow, which fundamentally differ from one another, in this case, by the degree of brain activity. REM and non-REM sleep are equally important.

What is slow sleep?

Slow sleep is the beginning of any healthy rest. Its first stage is a nap (5-10 minutes), which is characterized by reflection on what is happening the day before, attempts to find a solution to exciting problems. After this, the second phase begins, characterized by a decrease in muscle activity, slowing of the pulse and respiration. The person is still sensitive to external stimuli and during this interval it is easy to wake him up. The third stage is transitional, ending with the fourth phase of deep sleep - then the brain gets the most complete rest, its performance is restored.

What is REM sleep?

The slow stage is replaced by REM sleep, which is closer to the waking stage, but it is difficult to wake the sleeper at this moment. It is distinguished from the first cycle by accelerated movements of the eyeballs (the eyelids are closed at the same time), frequent heartbeats, active activity of the brain, which at this moment sorts the information received. It is believed that in the fast phase, the brain analyzes the environment and develops an adaptation strategy. But the most pleasant thing about REM sleep is vivid, memorable dreams.

Lethargic dream - what is it?

The best cure for all diseases is sleep, but it is not always useful. There is a state of the body similar to it, which is characterized by immobility, lack of reactions to external stimuli, a decrease in body temperature and signs of life. You can compare it to a coma with the difference that the body is able to maintain vital functions. This condition is sometimes called "lazy death" or lethargic sleep, the causes of which are still not fully understood. As a rule, a painful state is preceded by trauma, shocks and difficult experiences.

Many people ask: what is it, mystical or real phenomenon? There is no single answer. Uncertainty gives rise to many rumors, the main of which is the burial of living people who are in lethargy. The syndrome comes on suddenly and can be a reaction to general fatigue, lack of sleep, as well as diseases such as anorexia and hysteria.

The panacea for the above ailments and conditions is just the same healthy sleep. Its normal duration should be at least 7-8 hours for adults. Children sleep a little longer (from 10 hours), the elderly need six hours to recuperate. Sleep means to live, to replenish the lost reserves of the body. In addition, in a dream, people are sometimes visited by "smart thoughts", there is a chance to get answers to exciting questions or just enjoy a spectacular dream.