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Learning and Dreaming (February 9, 2001, Two)

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Program Summary

Do you ever wonder if your pets dream? What’s going on when their feet twitch in their sleep? Are they chasing mice or tennis balls? It turns out that’s exactly what they may be doing.

Researchers at MIT have found that lab rats that spend time running mazes appear to dream of their day jobs, and do so in great detail. The scientists measured the signals given off by the rats' brains as they ran the maze, and then monitored the signals again as the rats slept. They found that the signals from when the rat was in the maze matched up very closely with the sleeping signals—so closely, in fact, that the researchers could pinpoint which portion of the maze the rats were 'dreaming' about by the signals given off by their brains as they slept. The work is reported in the journal “Neuron.”

Another study, published October 2000 in the journal “Science,” found that humans also seem to use sleep time to help review new experiences. Robert Stickgold of the Harvard Medical School asked a group of research subjects to play the video game Tetris for hours at a time. Novice players found that after such Tetris sessions, they began to dream of colorful falling blocks as they drifted off to sleep. Interestingly, several amnesiacs in the study also reported visualizing Tetris blocks—although they had no idea why they might be having such dreams. The animal and human studies may shed light on how memories are formed in the brain and what purpose dreams serve.

Guests

Robert Stickgold, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston

Matthew Wilson, associate professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Related Links and Resources

Harvard Medical School, October 12, 2000: Scientists Learn to Program Human Dreams

NYTimes.com, January 25, 2001: When Rats Dream, It Seems, It's After a Day at the Mazes
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, January 31, 2001: Animals Have Complex Dreams

ScienceNetlinks.com: Science Updates: Rat Sleep

For Discussion:

• What kinds of dreams do you have? Do you remember them?
• Have you ever dreamed of something that happened that day?
• Do you have recurring dreams? What do you think those dreams represent?
• Have you ever awakened from a dream wondering if it was real?
• What is the connection between dreaming and learning?
• Why is sleep so important? What happens when we don’t get enough sleep and don’t dream?

Activities

Sleep on it. Before delving into the world of dreams, have students visit Neuroscience for Kids: Sleep to understand the mechanics of sleep and why it’s so essential. Then they can proceed to Neuroscience for Kids: Dreams for several dream-related activities, such as keeping a dream journal and observing rapid eye movement.

I dream of Jeanie. The Association for the Study of Dreams provides Science Projects on Dreams [Link updated August 5, 2007] with interesting research ideas about dream frequency and dream analysis. Have students keep a dream diary for a few weeks and present their dreams at the end. They can create a chart to see if there are common themes in their dreams and what they dream about most often.

Visions of sugarplums. Sweet Dreams (Riverdeep) gives a brief explanation of dreams and introduces Sigmund Freud. It also has tips on how to remember dreams.

Dream a little dream. To Sleep, Perchance to Dream, a lesson plan from the New York Times Learning Network, uses the article New Clues to Why We Dream (NYTimes.com, November 2, 1999) to examine the history of dream interpretation and various theories in dream research. The article is not easy to read, as the educators admit, but mature middle-schoolers should be able to grasp the concepts.

Vision quest. Several Thinkquest Web sites deal with dreams in interesting ways. DreamscapezzZ is an extensive site that covers dreams, sleep disorders, symbols, folklore, and even how to decorate your bedroom to get a good night’s sleep Interpreting Dreams is a shorter, more simplified site. Welcome to Dreams and Dreaming has an interesting history section and fun pages on creative dreaming, lucid dreaming, and more. Many research projects can be generated from these sites, such as dream interpretation in different cultures or what types of studies have been done on sleep disorders.

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

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