Dreams and Brain Research

Scientists in Japan have been doing extensive research, using brain scans, to try to determine what a person is dreaming. The video below will give you more information about this study and how they are conducting their research:

 

This brain research is part of a larger study which hopes to find the way to read people's thoughts. What might be the ethical considerations of having the ability to read minds? Would you want to always know what people are thinking about? And, if so, what would you most like to know?

In our classes, we did a survey to see what our students would most like to know about another persons' thoughts. Here are the top two rankings:
#1. Their feelings about you.
#2. Their level of honesty (whether or not they're telling the truth).

What Do People Dream About?

These are some of the most frequent kinds of dreams. Which ones to you have most often?

1. Dreams about falling
2. Dreams about being chased
3. Dreams about teeth falling out
4. Dreams about flying
5. Dreams about being naked in public
6. Dreams about being lost or trapped
7. Dreams about missing a plane or a train
8. Dreams about failing an exam or test
9. Dreams about Spiders
10. Dreams about Death





 Here are some of the things we've been dreaming about!

There was a really, really big spider and we all wanted to escape from the spider but we couldn’t move. Why I don’t know. I was in my bedroom and the spider was downstairs. It was very scary because the spider moved slowly upstairs. But there was one moment that I could move, so I jumped out of the window. When I almost touched the ground, I woke up. ~Daan

I had a dream that I was in the space, in the universe. I was there with my family and it was our holiday. We went there with a rocket and a guide was waiting for us. There were more people on holiday in the universe. You could just walk over the earth in your own clothes. You could fly too. The guide brought us to a few special rooms. We were standing on a plant and the view was great. There were open rooms and they were just flying in the universe. The rooms were very special and famous, because there were a lot more people looking at the rooms. The rooms were very different. In the first room there was a boxing ring and there were woman who boxed against each other. One woman was hit so hard that she flew away and never came back. In another room there was just a bed with someone who was sleeping, it was a little girl and she was very cute. There were a few more rooms but I didn’t see that anymore because then I woke up… ~Amber

When I was about 6 years old, I always dreamed that the police arrested me. I was sleeping and the police woke me up and took me to the police office. I woke up. ~Micha

I dreamt that I flew in the sky and landed on a mountain. On the mountain there were animals and they were friendly. But suddenly a dinosaur came and tried to attack me. The sky became darker. I tried to fly away, but when I jumped off the mountain, I couldn’t fly anymore and I fell down. I fell in the water. Then I woke up. ~Davy

When I was young I dreamed that I woke up and then I stood on my bed and I kind of jumped and then I could fly! I flew back and forth in my room! And then when I stopped flying I went back to sleep and when I woke up (for real)  I wanted to stand on my bed and fly! But then I jumped and then I landed on my feet… I had this dream a few times when I was young. ~ Tara

When I was a little kid, I always had a dream. It was the dream about ‘Finding Nemo’. You also can call it a nightmare.

I was a little fish, in a bid ocean. Alone. Nobody around. And then, suddenly, Bruce came. The big shark named Bruce. He was very creepy, with big white sharp teeth. I swam away, very fast. And then, he almost eat me, I woke up. It was very scary, but now I can laugh about it... :) ~Miriam

I walked with Veerle around a funfair, and then we went into a big house! Then Veerle almost fell down and she stood up and ran through the toilets and began to vomit. I ran to her and said, "Verle is everything OK?"  But she walked out of the toilet through the door outside.  Then Mara came and both they walked away! I screamed: "BYE!" and they heard it but they didn't look at me and avoided me and walked away.  Then I woke up. ~Iris

A long time ago I dreamed that their were people who wanted to kill me and it was very strange because I knew I was dreaming and I thought, "Wake up!" But I didn't wake up; that was so strange! But all the people didn't see me and I was sitting in a corner and I thought again, "Wake up! I know I'm dreaming and this is so strange." But then finally I woke up. VERY STRANGE! ~Mara

When I was young I dreamt that I met fairies. They showed me their ‘world’ and I became a fairy also… but... it doesn’t happen in real life --haha!

I once dreamed that I dreamed. In that dream I dreamed that I knew I was dreaming. Then I woke up in my dream. Then I thought I was finished waking up. But I woke up again, this time I really woke up. ~Sanne

I had a dream about that I couldn't move forward and that someone was following me and that he was faster than I was. My legs were like concrete. ~Richard

I dreamed that Eijse was hit by Boo (a little girl from Monsters&Co) and when he was hit, he fell off a big building.

My dream is about going to the beach. One day I was standing on the dunes and I had a body board in my hands. I held it and I flew away and I landed right in front of my beach house. ~Yannick

I dreamed that I was in the garden with little baby birds. My mother picked up a vacuum cleaner and wanted to suck the babybirds in.  I was really angry, and I jumped between the baby birds and the vacuum cleaner. But my mother didn’t see me. She sucked me up… After that –thank god- I woke up!

~Joy

When I was young, I dreamed many times. If I had a dream or a nightmare, I always went my parents' bed. Then they would ask me,“What did you dream this time?” And strange enough, I always had the same answer, even if I dreamed something totally different. I always said that I dreamed about a giraffe, which was on our roof of the house. The giraffe was going to kill me. I always had that as answer. I think I dreamed that maybe one time, but I always said that to my parents.

A few nights ago I dreamt that I had my exams for snorkeling and that I was too late and forgot my stuff. I had to swim lanes but the others were 5 ahead of me. After that we had to ice skate in the swimming pool and it was cold and there were mountains. 

Being at my grandma’s house and going to the bathroom and shooting off of the toilet like a rocket launcher and ending up in some random place. ~Mees

I opened my eyes and it was dark. I think I was in a house, but I am not sure. Then I walked outside. I opened the door, I didn’t see much. So I thought why shouldn't I walk around the house and see if there is something. I did. There wasn’t much of anything special. There were only trees. I walked back to the door and I stepped inside. I fell into a big black hole. Then I woke up… ~Wanne

I dreamt that a wanderer want to kill me with a knife. I was lying on the ground and then I woke up.

~Rosalie

Once I dreamt about the end of the world. It wasn’t a long dream because al the people died in less than 2 seconds. ~Sander

I dreamt that I was an astronaut and I went to the space and it was very cool and nice. I found it very nice because I want to be an astronaut. ~Veerle

I dreamed that I was Superman; I could fly over the world and see all. When I heard any cry of distress I flew to Earth and saved him or her. But all that saving of lives became too much for me and I was exhausted-- and then eaten by a Dinosaur. ~Nathan

What I would like to dream is that I am on a white beach with a blue sea with a temperature about 27 degrees, and just chill out with friends and drink milkshakes-- without school or schoolwork.  

That would be a awesome dream. ~Boaz

Here are two of my dreams:

1. I was the boss of a factory making mermaid paté.

2. I was a fly in the room of my parents and there was a dinosaur there too. ~Josef

(A dream I'd like to have!) I was walking in NYC and Sean o’Donnel comes up to me like,“ Hey shall we go on a date?”  And of course I said: “yes!!!!"  So we went on our date and he asked  if I want to marry him and I said yes. And then we lived happily ever after. ~Emma

One day I had a dream about an egg. The egg was very big-- almost as big a my house. I got into it and found another egg in the egg. That egg was very small. And a chicken came out of it. Then I woke up. ~Wim

I had a dream that there was an epic golden eye! Real gold! So I went to that eye to touch it and grab it and take it with me. When I touched it, it became red and the sunny weather changed into rain and thunder! I ran away to my house, just one street away, and when I came there… My house was crushed! My lawn was on fire and my pond was not water anymore but only LAVA!!!! Then when I wanted to go inside to look what was happened there… I woke up. And I needed to go to school…

~Marnix

  Once I dreamt about the end of the world. The world split up into 2 pieces and we all fell in the middle of the earth where we burned.~Eijse