Is it normal not to remember dreams?

[LxANN]

Sometimes, I don't even remember my dream. Can someone please explain why that is? And how I can dream? Or is it just something the human mind cant control? I heard if you remember your dream when you wake up that means you were having it just before you woke up. I'm wondering if that's true as well. Thank you :]

[Matte87]

Dreaming is some form of "healing" for the brain. Your mind has time to sort through problems in life and prepare for different situations. We usually remember our dreams when we're kids, but as we grow old we lose the ability. This is because we don't pay attention to them. I guess the brain doesn't see remembering them as something important. All previous dreams you had in that particular REM period you've just woken up from can be remembered. If you wake up during the night and remember a dream, you "stick it" to your long term memory. This way you can recall it in the morning several hours later. But how can you know what the dream was about? To trigger the memory of that dream, you use the few keywords you wrote down. I can't say for sure if dreams can be remembered from other REM periods if you don't even remember waking up when they end. It might be possible, but from my own experience, it's not likely.