Some dreams are unforgettable, they may seem incoherent and sometimes disjointed events and personalities, and some of them are frightening and carry panic-inducing messages, and others become an outlet for the pressures of today, in which we seem victorious and vengeful at times, and there is a funny side in dreams, especially if it is not associated with the personality of the seer. In fact, there are thousands of dreams that we do not remember daily, and we may remember part of them when we wake up.

But despite the crowding of dreams, why do we forget most of them as soon as we wake up?

“Almost all dreams are forgotten shortly after waking up, and our forgetfulness is generally attributed to neurochemical conditions in the brain that occur during sleep through eye movement,” says Ernst Hartmann, professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Newton-Wesley Hospital. It is a stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements during dreaming.

He added that "dreams - especially ordinary dreams such as daydreams - are considered so useless by the brain that they cannot be remembered? But this may not be the whole story."

Perhaps the most compelling explanation is the lack of the hormone norepinephrine in the cerebral cortex, an area of ​​the brain that plays a key role in memory, thought, language and consciousness.

A 2002 study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry supports the theory that the presence of the hormone norepinephrine enhances memory in humans, although its role in learning and remembering is still controversial, however, the lack of this hormone does not fully explain why dreams are forgotten so easily.

The most vivid, emotional and coherent dreams seem to be better remembered, perhaps because they stimulate more awakening (Al Jazeera)

Recent research suggests that dreaming lies on a continuum with other forms of mental function, all of which are characterized by activity in the cerebral cortex, yet this type of thinking that is less conscious is not easy to remember.

We are very good at forgetting unnecessary things. Many of our thoughts are lost, not just those we had during a dream, but we tend to remember things we think about a lot or that are only of emotional importance, such as a problem we are going through, a date or a meeting, thinking On important thoughts, it activates the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a brain region that facilitates memory.

Although most dreams fade, some stay in memory for a long time, especially if the dream is beautiful or strange, the more likely it will be remembered.

On the other hand, there are some theories about what the function of dreaming actually is, but the generally accepted theory is that dreams play an important role in memory consolidation, as the sleeping brain activates or relearns and organizes new memories during our dream, as a way to reorganize new data and integrate it into our long-term memory So first you need to identify the reason why your dreams are not remembered.

 Reasons to forget your dreams

Stress:

One of sleep's worst enemies, it disrupts sleep and reduces REM sleep, making it difficult to remember your dreams.

Your diet:

Not only does your food affect your body when you're awake, research shows that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fiber and limited vegetable oils helps you get a good night's sleep.

Shock: The

effect of trauma is like stress, but it is more severe. The shock leads to insomnia and the complete suppression of dreams.

Some medications:

According to Girardin Jean-Louis, a sleep expert and professor at New York University, "some medications can affect REM cycles, or cause nightmares."

Sleep disorders:

Everything from insomnia to sleep apnea to narcolepsy can negatively affect a person's REM cycles.

Waking up too quickly:

According to psychologist and dream expert Dr. Robin Niemann, the sound of your alarm clock can spoil your enjoyment of your dreams and make you forget about them immediately after waking up, so a quiet period of meditation right after waking up in which you rest from sleep seems important to remembering dreams.

Stress is one of the worst enemies of sleep. It disrupts sleep stability and reduces rapid eye movement, making it difficult to remember your dreams (Shutterstock)

The art of summoning dreams

Jean-Louis notes that while some individuals are better able to remember their dreams “with practice the art of dream recall can be mastered.”

To that end, a lucid dream will be remembered easily, according to Lewis, and although it's another skill to master lucid dreaming, just realizing that you're dreaming will help you turn the dream back into reality.

Writer and dream expert Robert Wagoner suggests telling yourself before bed, "Tonight in my dreams I'll be more aware, and when I see something strange, I'll realize I'm dreaming."

If you're determined to improve your dream recall, there are a few tricks you can try, and Robert Stickgold, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, suggests drinking water before bed, as it will make you wake up at night to use the bathroom.

Stickgold told The New York Times that waking up in the middle of the night is often accompanied by flashbacks.