A dream within a dream: why does it happen?

Have a dream within a dream. How and why does it happen? This phenomenon appears in different films such as Origin , in which Dominick Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), along with his team, is able to access people’s dreams of dreams.

Waking Life It is another film in which you can also see. The plot centers on a young man who wanders the streets of a city while engaging in philosophical discussions with other people. However, from one moment to the next he wakes up and begins new dialogues. The young man jumps from one dream to another, but never wakes up in real life.

This dream event It is further proof of the complexity of the functioning of the human mind.where one fantasy creates another and where both, in the absence of awareness of reality, are experienced as the only and authentic reality.

What is a dream within a dream?

It is a phenomenon that occurs during the REM phase in which one dream develops within another. The self we dream also dreams. To understand it better, let’s do a little thought experiment:

Imagine that you are driving down a lonely street and you collide with a car that seems to come out of nowhere. Right at the moment of the collision you wake up scared, you sit on the edge of the bed and get up to drink a glass of water in the kitchen and that’s when you really wake up.

In the example, the accident was dreamed by that version of you who got up scared to drink water. In turn, this version was created by you, while you were sleeping peacefully, before you really woke up.

Characteristics of having a dream within a dream

Dreaming within another dream is a curious experience in which different sensations can occur that reaffirm the complexity of this strange phenomenon. Below we will mention some:

Consciousness of dreaming: The consciousness in these dreams is characterized by being the same as that in others. That is, there is no voluntary control of what is being done. However, there may be times when the person is aware that they are dreaming, this is known as lucid dreaming.Feeling of reality: The individual feels that he is awake and that the sensations he experiences and the environment he perceives are real. This experience is so intense that you cannot differentiate sleep from wakefulness. Reduced activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex during REM sleep could explain this feeling of reality, as well as other events such as time disruption and lack of control.Disturbance of temporary consciousness: Sometimes the experience of time is altered, so the person You may notice that the dream within the dream lasts too long. If the dream is lucid, the perception of a longer duration could be linked to a lack of feedback muscle or because the processing of neurons slows down during the REM phase, this is indicated by a study published in Frontiers in psychology.False awakenings: One of the main characteristics of the dream within a dream is that The person thinks they have woken up, but in reality they are still dreaming. An article from Sleep Foundation states that this can occur as a consequence of hyperarousal or disturbance during REM sleep. However, more studies are needed in this regard.Difficulty waking up: The subject may feel trapped in a loop of awakenings within other dreams. This can be very frightening and distressing because you are unable to return to a waking state. Along with lucid dreams and false awakenings, difficulty waking up is very common in these experiences.Confusion: When the person returns to wakefulness, they may be confused for a few moments, since they have had a disconcerting experience. You may also feel insecure and unsure of what is or is not real for a few seconds. This confusion and disorientation can appear within dreams.

It is worth clarifying that These characteristics may vary from one subject to another, since each person’s subjective experience creates a different dreamlike, emotional and contextual environment.

Why does this phenomenon occur?

In the article A Dream Within a DreamPatrick McNamara, PhD in behavioral neuroscience and dream researcher, explores the phenomenon from a scientific perspective.

He states that The human brain goes through three major phases while sleeping: wakefulness, non-REM sleep, and REM sleep. Each of them is determined by a series of neurotransmitters and activation and deactivation patterns in the forebrain.

The transitions between these states can be total or partial, which can cause hybrid brain states. For example, mixtures of non-REM and wakefulness, REM and wakefulness, non-REM and REM may occur. When these hybrid states occur, strange experiences occursuch as sleep paralysis, lucid dreams, and the dream within a dream.

In relation to the latter, McNamara proposes that this phenomenon could be result of a hybrid state of REM sleep and wakefulness, as well as in the case of lucid dreams. When the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is partially activated during the REM stage, the individual becomes aware of himself and perceives that he is dreaming. However, the process of returning to wakefulness is interrupted and the person who was anticipating waking up continues to dream.

Despite this hypothetical explanation, studies are needed to define the neural processes that generate this strange and disturbing event. Pitifully, There is still no definitive explanation for this phenomenon.

The false awakening and the dream within a dream

Finally, it is necessary to clarify that a false awakening, that is, believing that you have woken up when in reality you are still sleeping is not the same as having a dream within another. Typically, false awakenings are a single dream in which you wake up thinking you are no longer asleep.

To illustrate the above, imagine that one night you go to bed and, after some time, you wake up to go to the bathroom, but while you are on the way, you notice that something is wrong and you experience the world differently. After a while, you realize that you are still asleep and instantly wake up.

It may also happen that you do not realize that you are dreaming, but that you simply wake up and recognize that that previous awakening, in which you got up to go to the bathroom, had been a dream.

On the other hand, a dream within a dream implies the existence of two dreams; This phenomenon could not occur with only one, while to have a false awakening it is enough to have only one.

Whenever you dream within a dream, you have a false awakening, as well as in the example of the accident that we analyzed at the beginning of the article. However, in a false awakening you don’t always have two dreams, as in the example of going to the bathroom. Both phenomena may be closely related, but they are a little different.

Conclusion

The dream within a dream is a dream experience that occurs during the REM phase. Although the subject may be aware of dreaming, the sensation of reality is so intense that he cannot differentiate dream from wakefulness.

During this phenomenon, temporal consciousness can be altered, false awakenings are more common, and there is marked difficulty returning to wakefulness. It is believed that all this is product of a hybrid state between the REM sleep phase and waking statesHowever, scientific studies are still needed to confirm this.

We invite you to reflect on your dreams, have you ever had this experience? If you have experienced them, which of all their characteristics stood out the most? Was it distressing for you?

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