COSMOS MAGAZINE
We spend about 26 years of our lives asleep. On average, humans sleep for approximately 230,000 hours over a lifetime.
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REM sleep is when most dreaming occurs. We primarily dream during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage, which happens about every 90 minutes and lasts longer as the night progresses, from a few minutes early on to over 20 minutes later in the night.
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The final hours of sleep contain the most dreams. If we remember a dream, it’s usually the last one before waking up.
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New research led by the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, in Italy, is exploring why some people recall dreams more easily than others.
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Dream recall varies between people. Some people remember dreams daily, while others rarely or never do; a 2015 study found that 1 in 250 people have never recalled a dream.
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Women and younger people recall dreams more A 2008 analysis of 175 studies found that women remember dreams more than men, and younger people tend to have higher dream recall than older adults.
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Dream recall changes with seasons. IMT's study found that participants reported lower dream recall in winter compared to spring, suggesting external factors may also play a role.
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Personality and sleep patterns influence dream recall. People who are open to new experiences, let their minds wander, and have lighter sleep tend to remember more dreams.