Let’s talk about dreaming today. To clarify, today’s title is not rhetorical or metaphorical; we’re talking about dreaming in the physiological sense. The reason for discussing this topic is that I recently came across an intriguing new study with a big idea. It describes a new technology that allows communication between two people while they are dreaming.
This technology is being researched by a sleep-focused startup in California called REMspace. They announced the first successful realization of two-way communication in humans during a lucid dream state. A lucid dream, or clear dream, is when a person is asleep yet retains some level of awareness, somewhat similar to being in a semi-conscious state.
REMspace has designed a special lucid dreaming system, including servers, sensors, earplugs, and more. In an experiment conducted in September, two participants each fell asleep in their own homes. The process involved having the first person say specific words in their dream, which were then recorded and transmitted to the second person’s dream via specialized equipment. The second person remembered these words after waking up.
To put it simply, it’s like you telling me in a dream to buy you a bottle of water, and I actually remember this request and go get the water when I wake up.
Of course, this experiment is still in its early stages. It can only transmit very simple messages and relies on a lot of equipment and intermediaries. True dream-to-dream conversation has not yet been achieved.
However, this research points to a growing trend—the study of lucid dreaming. Many researchers have been exploring how to influence and control dreams, a pursuit that dates back to Freud. This was initially seen as nearly impossible, but fortunately, humans have a fascinating mechanism known as lucid dreaming, which provides a unique entry point for further exploration of dreams.
Years of experiments have led to several key findings about dreams.
For instance, scientists have determined that the best way to influence dreams is to implant “soft sensations” rather than “hard information.” It’s unrealistic to study for an exam through dreams, but it is possible to change how someone feels about a particular thing through dreams. For example, in one study, smokers were exposed to a smell mixing cigarette smoke and rotten eggs while dreaming. These individuals didn’t retain any specific memories upon waking, but their cigarette consumption dropped by 30% over the following week.
Additionally, it’s been found that the time window to influence dreams is very short—just those few minutes when a person is almost asleep but not quite there. Some tech companies have even created “targeted dream incubators,” where sensors detect your body signals and play ads just as you’re about to fall asleep, making it more likely you’ll dream about the advertised content.
There are many such findings. Today, though, I’d like to discuss a recent research report on dreams. Recently, The Washington Post published a series of articles with some interesting statistics. It suggested that the themes of people’s dreams change with age.
In other words, at different stages of life, people are more likely to have different kinds of dreams.
The first major trend is that nightmares decrease with age while work-related dreams increase. The good news is that nightmares tend to lessen as people get older; the bad news is that work-related dreams become more common as they age.
Specifically, during childhood, dreams often involve animals and danger. American writer and dream researcher Bulkeley found that children frequently dream of animals, likely due to exposure to pets and animal-themed stories.
As children, nightmares are also more common, such as dreams of being kidnapped, a parent turning into a monster, or getting lost and unable to find their mother. These “innocent” dreams are often anything but, resembling horror more than a children’s story. Dream researcher Bulkeley explains that children’s dreams reflect their underlying fears, with their greatest being the loss of parental love or abandonment. The nightmares often echo this theme.
In adolescence and adulthood, dreams shift to action-packed themes. These dreams often feature strong emotions or intense action, like running, jumping, or fighting. Researchers believe this may be because during adolescence, both the body and emotions develop rapidly, which manifests in related dreams.
In adulthood, once people enter the workforce, work becomes the focus of their dreams. For those under heavy work pressure, the dreams can be rather negative, often about unresolved issues at work. A sleep laboratory in Germany even found that recently retired people often dream about work, such as high-stress work environments.
In old age, dreams shift to themes of memory and nostalgia. Older people often dream about getting lost in unfamiliar places or searching for their car in an unknown location. They might also frequently dream about deceased loved ones.
It’s worth noting that these dreams aren’t exclusive to any age group; rather, people of a certain age are simply more likely to have certain types of dreams.
In short, dreams reflect life’s changes—family, work, relationships—over time. As the psychology professor Koenig, who has studied dreams for 50 years, put it: dreams are products of age, a continuation of waking life.
The second finding relates to women’s dreams. As women age, their dreams diverge further from reality. Many assume that young girls are the ones imagining unrealistic scenarios, but in dreams, it’s actually the opposite. The older a woman gets, the more likely she is to have dreams that are detached from real life.
Lucille, a social psychology professor in Ottawa, studied changes in women’s dreams. She found that with age, women have fewer dreams related to family and work.
Women in their thirties and forties might dream more about workplace conflicts or family issues, and the dreams often feel realistic. But after age 65, dreams become more positive, with fewer themes of conflict or aggression and more pleasant social interactions. Lucille herself, now 95, often dreams about her late husband, but in these dreams, he’s healthy and vibrant.
The third discovery addresses a classic topic: the colors in dreams. Indeed, different people see different colors in their dreams.
It was once thought that most dreams were in black and white. However, later studies revealed that most people actually dream in color. A 2017 survey found that 50% of participants said they dreamed in color, only 10% said their dreams were black and white, and the remaining 40% couldn’t remember whether their dreams had color.
However, scientists have discovered that the colors in dreams are influenced by various factors.
For instance, technological progress affects dream colors. In surveys from the 1950s, few people reported dreaming in color. But after color television appeared, this changed. In a 2008 survey, 55% of people over 55 (who likely didn’t grow up watching color TV) reported having color dreams, while 68% of people under 25 (who grew up with color media) reported color dreams. Simply put, the colors we experience in life can influence the colors in our dreams.
Age also affects dream colors. In an experiment conducted in 1993 and 2011, different age groups were surveyed, excluding technology factors, to see if dream colors varied. It was found that around age 30, about 80% of people dreamed in color, but by age 60, only about 20% did.
In other words, younger people generally dream in color, while older people’s dreams tend to be more black and white. Of course, there are many dreams we simply can’t remember, so we don’t know if they were in color or black and white.
In conclusion, these findings on dreams and age reveal a common truth: dreams are not entirely random but often reflect waking life.
This insight suggests we can learn more about ourselves by paying attention to our dreams, potentially improving our lives. One simple way to do this is by sharing your dreams with others, which can strengthen relationships.
A book titled The Science and Art of Dreaming notes that in human evolution, those who shared their dreams gained survival or reproductive advantages from the empathy they evoked. In other words, sharing emotionally or narratively rich dreams can spark empathy, strengthening group bonds. Studies have even shown that couples who share dreams are closer than those who don’t.
So, the function of dreams isn’t just limited to the sleep stage but extends into waking life. From this perspective, the next time you wake up, try sharing your dream with someone else; maybe your dreams aren’t just for you alone.
