Scientists in Geneva analyzed people's brains during a dream, identified areas that were active when feared, and once they woke up, the brain regions responsible for controlling emotions responded to frightening situations more effectively.
"We were particularly interested in fear and knowing which areas of the brain are active when we have bad dreams," said a researcher at the Sleep and Cognition Laboratory.
Each time participants woke up, they had to answer a series of questions, and scientists identified two brain regions linked to fear during dreaming in the cerebral cortex and the mucous cortex.
They found that nightmares actually help better react to frightening situations in real life, and the same cannot be said of the horrifying nightmares that disturb human sleep, according to Okaz.