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My gf and I were lying in bed this morning when I asked if she dreamt anything last night. Anyway, to cut a long story short, she was completely dead-set that everyone dreams in the last few hours of sleeping. I disagreed and said you should be able to dream during any state of sleep, but she wasn't having any of it. She said it was fact that everyone dreams a few hours before you wake up.
Someone shed some light on the matter, please.
TB
Well, you're both more or less right -- isn't that helpful? :P
Most dreaming occurs during the REM phase of sleep. REM is the last phase in each (approximately) 90 minute sleep cycle. The REM phase is very short during the first couple of cycles, and gets longer the more cycles you go through in a night. So the best chance for long, vivid dreams is after you've slept at least 4-6 hours.
But saying that everyone always dreams at that time is not quite true. It is not impossible to dream during other stages of sleep, and REM cycles may be longer at the beginning of the night for some people in some situations, so your statement is not inaccurate.
Or she probably feels that people dream an hour or two before they awaken because she is more vivid during the last REM periods. people usually sink into the deeper stages of sleep as the night goes on. More REM periods occur and become longer and longer. Near the end of a sleep period, they can last for an hour or more. The NREM or non-REM sleep time are shortened as the night goes on. So you're more likely to remember the last dream you've had than the first dream that happened when you initally went to sleep. Unless your sleep is disturbed during the onset if you are in that First REM cycle then you would definately recall that one as well.
Damn it feels longer and longer between each visit to DV thesedays.
Thanks for the replies.
TB