Strange Dreams While Sleeping, According To Study: Helping The Brain Learn To Process Information Better

Illustration of a strange dream while sleeping (Freepik/Yanalya)

YOGYAKARTA – Recent research has found that strange dreams during sleep are related to the way the brain extracts previously experienced experiences. The research was conducted at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Shows that strange dreams help our brains learn better.

Based on previous research, sleep and dreams are important. Because with deep sleep and dreaming, learning, memory, and cognitive function work well. When a strange dream during sleep, reported by Neuroscience News, Wednesday, May 18, Human Brain Project research found the impact.

Nicolas Deperrois, lead author of the study, said the research used a simulation of the brain's cortex to model how the two phases of sleep affect learning. During sleep, we usually experience two types of phases, namely REM and non-REM. In non-REM sleep, the brain replays the sensory stimuli experienced while awake. Whereas in the REM phase, brain activity spontaneously produces vivid dreams.

Illustration of a strange dream while sleeping (Freepik/Diana Grytsku)

To recognize strange dreams during sleep, researchers were inspired by a machine learning technique called Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). In a GAN, two neural networks compete with each other to generate new data from the same data set. In the context of dreams, this mechanism produces a new artificial image that looks very realistic.

The researchers carried out the simulation of the cortex in three different states, namely when awake, non-REM sleep, and REM sleep. While awake, the model is exposed to images of boats, cars, dogs, and other objects. In non-REM sleep, the model replays sensory input with multiple occlusions.

REM sleep creates new sensory input through the GAN and produces variations and combinations of boats, cars, and dogs. Occlusion in the form of crooked but realistic shapes.

As participants studied, the non-REM dreams they experienced became more realistic, said Jakob Jordan, senior author and leader of the research team. While non-REM dreams are very similar to waking experiences, they tend to combine experiences creatively.

Based on the research above, the conditions between wakefulness, non-REM sleep, and REM sleep appear to have complementary functions for learning. Learning in experiencing the stimulus, strengthening the experience, and finding semantic concepts will be better. Without interpreting the meaning of strange dreams during sleep, these findings are rated as the most recent.

Close Deperrois, should be strange dreams not surprising. The weirdness of dreams is the brain's way of organizing your experiences instead of searching for the meaning of the events in the dream.