What do African pottery, baby squid and cartoon characters have in common? They all are key elements of one of Kurt Yaeger's dreams.
In my dream, the first floor of my house was turned into a museum for African pottery,"" the senior zoology major said. ""I was locked inside, and the house was full of cartoon characters. I tried to lock them in the basement, but they broke out with an axe.
""Later on, I ended up at a friend's house. Inside they had a strange pet store with hamsters in a carnival setting [and] a fishtank of baby squid.The dream ended when I tried to fix his television, and when I reached behind the TV, instead of cables there were sausages.""
Entertaining, bizarre and sometimes frightening, dreams have fascinated humanity for centuries. While current research has made many advances in the field of sleep studies, dreams themselves remain shrouded in mystery.
Since the discovery of Rapid Eye Movement sleep in 1953, many researchers have focused on the physiological basis of dreams. Experts now know that dreams can occur in all stages of sleep, however the dreams that occur during REM sleep are often more vivid and more easily remembered than those experienced at other times.
The purpose of dreaming is still unclear but Dr. Dennis L. Merritt, psychologist at the Integral Psychology Center at 1619 Monroe St., has one explanation.
""Dreams seem to be connected with putting things into long-term memory and sorting out the many impressions you get during the day,"" Merritt said.
Psychological explanations of dreaming emphasize the images and narratives within dreams and try to connect the content of dreams to the psyche of the dreamer. The form of this connection, however, is a point of contention. Freud thought dreams were a form of unconscious wish fulfillment; Jung saw dreams as a form of psychological compensation- - a way for the mind to come to terms with its ""dark side.""
""Dreams are a form of communication between your unconscious and your conscious self,"" said Tina Ruffolo, intuitive counselor and owner of the Chakra House at 201 West Lakeside St. ""Every particular dream has a different reason, but their purpose is to help you learn about yourself so you can grow and change.""
Merritt, a practicing Jungian psychoanalyst, agrees.
""Dreams deal with a lot of unfinished business, things which you have difficulty relating to in waking life,"" he said. ""What often comes up in dreams are the most difficult things, the things that you don't really want to know about yourself.""
Jungian psychology, Merritt added, recognizes the importance of the unconscious mind and views dreams as an important form of expression for the mind, with their content reflecting on the individual psyche of the dreamer.
For many, the most mysterious parts of dreams are the strange images that appear in them.
""During REM sleep, the parts of the brain that control emotional response and fear are more active,"" Dr. Michael Stephenson, a sleep researcher at the UW Sleep Center, said. ""That facilitates having strange or bizarre elements in dreams.""
Because dreams are a universal human experience, dream interpretation has long been a topic of interest - and a thriving business. The rise of the Internet has resulted in dream blogs and forums, where people gather online to share and analyze their dreams.
Likewise, dream groups and psychotherapists offer to help a person discover the meaning and psychological significance behind their dreams.
Some, however, are skeptical about the value of dream interpretation.
""Historically, Freudian psychology put a lot of weight on the content of dreams. However, the purpose of dreaming is not completely clear,"" Stephenson said. ""Dreams often have fragments of memories within them. They are valuable for the kinds of memories which they bring up in the individual.""
Others have made studying the content of dreams their life work.
During the late 1940s, Calvin S. Hall, a researcher at Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, compiled over 1,000 dreams and analyzed their content. Out of those dreams he found anxiety to be the most common emotion, with negative emotions reported more frequently than positive ones.
Most dreams, it would seem, are bad dreams.
""Anything that's challenging your self-image or presents emotional difficulties to you is probably going to occur in your dreams,"" Merritt said.
Certain nightmares seem to be more common than others. According to Dr. Patricia Garfield of Montréal, Canada, dream expert and author of ""Creative Dreaming,"" dreams of being chased are experienced by 80 percent of the population, while over 60 percent dream of falling. Other common nightmares concern being naked in public or late for a test.
Laurel Schmidt, a UW-Madison sophomore, regularly has dreams of being chased.
""Most of my dreams involve being chased by strangers. I'm often in places that I know, but they're not completely familiar,"" Schmidt said. ""Sometimes I'll be in Madison, but it doesn't quite look like Madison. In the end, I always get cornered and caught.""
While undoubtedly unpleasant, these nightmares are not necessarily a bad thing, according to Ann Veilleux, a therapist at Harmónia Madison Center for Psychotherapy at 406 North Pickney St.
""A nightmare exposes things that perhaps you haven't expressed in your life- - perhaps fears you didn't know you had,"" Veilleux said. ""It's an outlet and also a way of learning about yourself.""
However, not everyone can remember dreams. According to 1996 research by Swiss researchers Dr. Inge Strauch and Dr. Barbara Meier, less than 30 percent of 18 to 22-year-olds say that they frequently remember their dreams, and this number decreases with age. Even the most prolific dreamers remember only a portion of their dreams, and 5 percent of people can remember none at all.
Nevertheless, nearly everyone can learn to improve dream recall.
Sleep researchers have found that awakening subjects from REM sleep makes them far more likely to remember their dreams. In sleep laboratories, researchers monitor the sleep stages of participants and awaken them once they enter REM sleep, an event that happens three to four times a night.
However, for those who prefer a full night's sleep, there are other ways to remember dreams.
One common method is to keep a dream diary.
""Write down your feelings or even one word, if that's all you remember,"" Ruffolo said. ""Write everything down.""
Merritt also believes in the effectiveness of dream diaries. Dreams are difficult to remember but not impossible, he said, adding that it's important to write dreams down first thing in the morning, since dreams are stored in short term memory. Otherwise, the mind is likely to forget the past night's dreams - dreams that might be important to remember.
For instance, focusing on dreams and imagination is a way of developing a more complete worldview, Merritt added.
""Your dreams and unconscious can show you your complexes and hangups, but they can also give you a real sense of meaning,"" he said.
Veilleux agreed.
""What a person comes up with in their dreams speaks to who they are.""
