Why Do We Remember Dreams When We Wake Up?

We remember dreams when we wake up because the brain is still working hard during sleep. When you go to sleep, your brain continues to think and imagine things, like in a movie. But when you wake up, it takes a few seconds for your brain to slow down, so you can remember that movie, your dream! Sometimes the memory fades quickly if you don't write it down or tell someone about it right away.

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Examples

  1. A child wakes up after dreaming about flying and excitedly tells their parents about it right away.
  2. Someone remembers a dream about being chased, but forgets it as soon as they start eating breakfast.
  3. You wake up with the image of a blue whale swimming through your kitchen, if you write it down immediately, you might remember it later.

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Categories: Psychology · Dreams· Memory· Sleep · Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.