SLEEP STAGES
Not only in REM
Dreaming has long been linked with REM sleep, but a 2017 study confirmed it also happens in non-REM sleep, and tracked a brain 'hot zone' that predicted it.
How it is studied
WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS
What the night
leaves behind.
Everyone sleeps, but not everyone remembers a dream.
Sleep scientists wake people in the lab, record their brain activity and survey thousands of adults to understand why. The findings are clearer than you might expect, and a few are surprising.
DREAMS by the evidence
Check how common- Not only in REM
- Recall varies a lot
- Lucid dreams are common
- What sleep labs have found
THE SHORT ANSWER
We dream more
than we recall.
Three findings that change how dreams are pictured.
Each comes from published sleep research.
RECALL
Some remember most days
In one study, high recallers remembered a dream on about 5 days a week, low recallers on almost none. Their brains also responded more to sounds in the night.
See the numbers
LUCID DREAMS
About half have had one
A review of 50 years of studies estimated that 55% of people have had at least one lucid dream, knowing they were dreaming while it happened.
Check how common
FOUR WAYS RESEARCHERS STUDY DREAMS
Catching a dream
before it fades.
Dreams leave no recording of their own, so researchers combine what sleepers say with what instruments can measure.
Wake and ask
Sleepers are woken during different stages of sleep and asked whether they were experiencing anything just before.
Record the brain
High-density EEG caps track electrical activity across the scalp, showing patterns that go with dreaming or with no experience at all.
Count the mornings
Researchers ask how many days a week people wake remembering a dream, then compare high and low recallers.
Survey many people
Large questionnaires show patterns no lab can: Finland's surveys covered 69,813 adults over 35 years.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Recall is a trait,
not just luck.
One figure on lucid dreaming,
one on how far dream recall differs between people.
≈ 55%
Share who have had at least one
A quality effects meta-analysis of 34 studies from 1966 to 2016 estimated lifetime lucid dreaming at 55%, with about 23% having lucid dreams monthly.
LUCID DREAMS · META-ANALYSIS
5.3 vs 0.2
Dream days a week, high recallers
In a 2022 study, 18 high recallers reported dreams on 5.3 days a week on average, against 0.2 for 19 low recallers. High recallers showed larger brain responses to unexpected sounds.
DREAM RECALL · EEG STUDY
The researchers suggest that stronger responses to sound may favour brief awakenings in the night, giving a dream a chance to be remembered.
A QUICK REALITY CHECK
How common
is it?
Pick a dream experience to see how many people report it in large studies. The bar shows roughly how common it is.
Figures come from a meta-analysis of lucid dreaming studies and a Finnish survey of 69,813 adults. General information, not medical advice.
WHO REMEMBERS MORE
Small differences,
big variety.
In a representative German sample of 931 people over 14, women and people living in large cities reported dreams a little more often, and recall declined with age. The researchers stressed these effects were small.
A 2020 study scanned people just after a nap. High recallers showed stronger connections within the brain's default mode network soon after waking, which the authors link to holding on to a dream as sleep turns to wake.
Questions
Questions people ask
Do we only dream in REM sleep?
No. Dreaming has traditionally been identified with REM sleep, but a 2017 study in Nature Neuroscience confirmed it also occurs in non-REM sleep, and linked dreaming in both to activity in a posterior brain region.
Why do some people remember their dreams and others do not?
Research points to trait differences. High recallers show larger brain responses to sounds during sleep and stronger brain connectivity just after waking, which may help them notice and keep a dream.
How common are lucid dreams?
A 2016 meta-analysis estimated that 55% of people have had at least one lucid dream and about 23% have one or more a month.
How many adults have frequent nightmares?
In Finnish surveys of 69,813 adults aged 25 to 74, 3.5% of men and 4.8% of women reported frequent nightmares. Occasional nightmares rose by roughly 20% between 1972 and 2007.
Does dream recall change with age?
In a representative German sample of 931 people, dream recall frequency declined with age. Women and people in large cities recalled dreams slightly more often.
Sources
- Siclari et al. (2017): The neural correlates of dreaming, Nature Neuroscience
- Saunders et al. (2016): Lucid dreaming incidence, a quality effects meta-analysis, Consciousness and Cognition
- Sandman et al. (2013): Nightmares, prevalence among the Finnish general adult population, Sleep
- Vallat et al. (2022): High dream recall frequency and attentional processes, Cerebral Cortex
- Vallat et al. (2020): Brain functional connectivity upon awakening and dream recall, Sleep
- Schredl (2008): Dream recall frequency in a representative German sample
Updated