From the dangers of a late - night cheese bust to that fall back incubus you have about takingthe SATsin your underwear , we ’re getting to the bottom of these eight misconception aboutdreams , adapted from an episode ofMisconceptionson YouTube .
1. Misconception: Eating cheese before bed can give you nightmares.
At one point in Charles Dickens’sA Christmas Carol , Ebenezer Scrooge ignore a spiritual confrontation as being just as likely from the crumb ofcheesehe had before bed . It vocalise a bit odd , but cheese has historically gotten a bad whack for its ability to conjure nightmares . It ’s unbelievable that a littlecheddaris the radical of your nighttime terror , though .
In 2005 , the British Cheese Board fund a subject field to debunk the myths about cheese have nightmares . As part of the experiment , 200 participants snacked on 20 grams of tall mallow a half - hour before bedtime . Sixty - seven percent of high mallow eaters describe remember their dream , but none of them recorded nightmares . The dreams they did have , however , were prettyfunky . One player detail stargaze about a vegetarian crocodile who was worried about not being able to exhaust tiddler , while another dreamed of soldier who fight with kitten or else of guns .
The enquiry did also incriminate that different cheeses had unlike effects , with Stilton high mallow providing the weirdest dream . It ’s worth observe that there are quite a fewholesin this subject — it ’s unpublished , there was no control group , and it was fund by the British Cheese Board , likely as a PR move . But still , it ’s unlikely that scary “ Malva sylvestris dreams ” are a real phenomenon to concern about .

2. Misconception: We only dream during REM sleep.
There ’s a lot we do n’t recognise about dream , but for a long clock time , we were certain they only occurred duringREM sleep . Now , it has been evidence that we actually dream throughout the night during different leg of sleep . We ’re just more likely to retrieve the dreams we have during REM sleep eternal rest , which was appoint for the rapid heart social movement that happens during that part of our eternal rest hertz . These paradoxical sleep sleep dreams tend to be more vivid , exciting , and just obviously weird . Non - REM sleep dreams , on the other handwriting , aresimplerand less worked up .
3. Misconception: Dreams are entirely meaningless.
While it may be difficult to trace conclusions from any one exceptional pipe dream , research evoke that dreaming are more than just a random collage of shot that flit through our brains at Nox . Recurring shape in dream often accuratelyreflectconcerns people have about their everyday lives . And those dreams you had about being unprepared for a trial or showing up to class in your underwear are n’t limit to your high shoal Day . A individual is probable to have those dreams long after they ’ve calibrate , as they often crop up during times of stress . So , if you ’re feeling extra anxious in the days leading up to a job interview , do n’t be surprised if your subconscious revivify that erstwhile mathematics test nightmare .
4. Misconception: Remembering your dreams is an indicator of good sleep.
Some mass say that remembering your dream in the morning is an indication of a good night ’s sleep , but that ’s not on-key . In fact , masses with poor sleep are more likely to commemorate their dream . According to a 2014 report card inCerebral Cortex , study participants who remember their dreams had twice as much " wakefulness , " which could be taken to stand for they waken up more often . People who commend their dreams also havehigher activityin the temporoparietal conjugation , a part of the Einstein that processes data and emotions . They also reacted more strongly to sound , which could aid explain their off-and-on quietus patterns . Basically , people who are sleep - deprived tend to have greatersleep intensityduring the precious few hours they manage to catch some Z’s , which leads to more brilliant dreams .
5. Misconception: Not everyone dreams.
A2015 French studypublished in theJournal of Sleep Researchsought to ascertain whether or not everyone stargaze . The researchers analyse individuals with rapid eye movement sleep quietus behaviour upset , which causes citizenry to act out their dream while they ’re sleeping . Fewer than 4 percentage of the study ’s participants claimed they never dream . But the research worker ’s analysis saysotherwise . They observed the participants while they slumber , and found that even those who deny dreaming still moved in a way that suggested they were , in fact , dreaming . It ’s more likely people just do n’t think of their dream . Though adults average four to six dream per night , most peopleforgetbetween 95 to 99 percent of them .
6. Misconception: Dreams can kill you.
No , your dream wo n’t kill you — though , for a time , people consider they could . In 1981 , it wasreportedthat Southeast Asiatic refugee who fled from vehement regimes exit from middle attacks in their sleep . The suspected heart - weakening perpetrator ? PTSD - induced nightmares . But as it turns out , these inscrutable night deaths werealready a problemacross Asia and other part of the earthly concern . The nighttime terrors were n’t trigger the lethal heart attacks , however .
More late research has linked the aesculapian emergencies to a transmissible disorder called Brugada syndrome . In this case , it ’s REM sleep sleep , not dreaming , that are the danger . Your sum rate becomesless stableduring this part of the quietus cps , putting those with nerve disease at greater risk .
7. Misconception: Dying in a dream means the real thing isn’t far behind.
harmonise to one pop myth , pass away in a dreammeans you ’ll soon choke in tangible living . as luck would have it , there ’s no scientific substantiation that dreaming of death will spell your literal doom . or else , death dreams have been interpreted to be about big life changes or to represent a major ending , like leaving a job or ending a family relationship . So , even if you do find yourself confronting your own death rate in a dream , you ’ll still most likely live to see another mean solar day .
8. Misconception: Abraham Lincoln dreamed he died right before his assassination.
One of the most famous death dream myths is thatPresident Abraham Lincolnhad a dream that predicted his own demise . grant to the president ’s friend and escort , Ward Hill Lamon , concisely before he was assassinated , Lincolntolda mathematical group of people about a aspiration he had . In the dream , he asked a group of mourning soldiers who had died . They respond , “ The prexy . He was killed by an assassinator . ” But New historiansdoubthow honest this premonitional tale may have been , thanks to inconsistency fence in Lamon ’s story .
In some accounts , Lincoln had this dream 10 day before John Wilkes Booth pulled the induction ; in others , Lincoln foresee his death just “ a few days ” before his fateful trip to the theater . There ’s also the fact that neither Lamon nor Lincoln ’s married woman mentioned the ambition in the quick backwash of the character assassination — Lamon did n’t publish the tale until20 yearslater .