10 Fascinating Facts You Always Wanted to Know About Dreams

Dreams are so interesting because they seem to be so mysterious.  I did a little digging about dreams and pulled 10 of the most interesting facts from randomhistory.com about your dreams that may surprise you. Read all 99.

1. You cannot snore and dream at the same time.
2. Adults dream off and on, for a total of about an hour and half to three hours every night.
3. The average person has about 1,460 dreams a year. That’s about four per night and almost all of those dreams are forgotten upon waking.
4. Most of us dream every 90 minutes, and the longest dreams (30-45 minutes) occur in the morning.
5. Many people have made discoveries while dreaming—such as Friedrich August von Kekule (1829-1896), who dreamed of a snake biting its own tail and discovered that certain organic compounds are closed chains or rings.
6. Common dream motifs that transcend cultural and socio-economic boundaries include falling, flying, nakedness in public, and unpreparedness. Such shared dreams arise from experiences and anxieties fundamental to all people.
7. Even the occasional use of alcohol can have a significant impact on sleep and dreaming. Alcohol slows activity in the cortex, which causes a person to sink into a deep, slow-wave sleep rather than experiencing REM sleep.
8. Childhood dreams are shorter than adult dreams and nearly 40% of them are nightmares, which may act as a coping mechanism.
9. Men’s dreams are more often set outdoors, are more action oriented, and involve strangers more often than women’s dreams do. Women’s dreams usually happen indoors and involve emotional encounters with people they know and care about. Men are more likely than women to dream about aggression, misfortune, and negative emotions such as fear, anger, anxiety, or disgust. Women’s dreams are more often friendly and positive.
10. The brain waves that occur during REM and non-REM sleep are found in mammals, birds, and reptiles, but not in amphibians and fish. So yes, when your dog is moving and making noises while sleeping, he's probably dreaming.