Dreams and Aging

Hey Hey Kids...

A quick question this late evening regarding age and dreams. What makes me ask this question is this: first off my Grandfather, who is over 80 years old, once or twice will remark about his dreaming, specifically his lack of dreams or the briefness of his dreams. I am wondering if a the amount of dreams a person remembers is related to age regardless of ones dreaming practices and recall?

Quote:

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The total time of REM sleep per night is about 90-120 minutes for an adult. However, the relative amount of REM sleep varies considerably with age. A newborn baby spends more than 80% of total sleep time in REM mode, while people over 70 years old spend less than 10%. The average is 20%.[/b]

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I have always thought that older people cease to remember their dreams because they have never sought to improve their recall, not necessarily because of their dreams- if the opposite is true I must admit that it is a tad bit depressing....

I wonder if it has anything to do with your general memory declining as you get older.

I've never heard the stat about decreased REM, though. Very interesting.

I believe that great dream recall etc, would help to slow down a decline in dream memory, but I think, as Burns said, it has something to do with general memory loss as you get older- which is kind of inevitable.

I think that one major thing when it comes to dream recall is how important you consider it to be. If you consider your recall important, chances are you will work more to build it and your mind will remember its significance. I'm theorizing (sp?) that as we get older, especially going from being a child to being an adult, for many people their dreams are not as important as other things that are now apparent in their lives, so they forget.

I agree with what's already been said pertaining to the elderly. For most people, some memory loss is unavoidable.

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Originally posted by Amethyst Star
For most people, some memory loss is unavoidable.

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Yeah, I'm going to be so screwed when I'm old. My memory is already sub-par. I'll probably be one of those old crazy bats wandering around the neighborhood in my slippers... :tongue:

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Originally posted by Burns


Yeah, I'm going to be so screwed when I'm old. My memory is already sub-par. I'll probably be one of those old crazy bats wandering around the neighborhood in my slippers... :tongue:

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Sadly, I'm in the same boat. I'm already half senile as it is.
Hey, how about when the day comes, we be geezerly, slipper wearing bats together.
It'd be more fun to wander around as a flock of old and crazies instead of alone.
:seeker:

Quote:

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Originally posted by Vex Kitten
Sadly, I'm in the same boat. I'm already half senile as it is.
Hey, how about when the day comes, we be geezerly, slipper wearing bats together.
It'd be more fun to wander around as a flock of old and crazies instead of alone.
:seeker:

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LOL - you're on! :lol: And I was trying to find an old smiley, but I guess I overlooked that one.