Cameron Carpenter

4/30/15
Why Do We Dream?
Every single person has at least one dream every night. Some dreams are forgotten
immediately upon waking, others are remembered for months or even years. These dreams
range from incredibly bizarre to hyper-realistic, from unbelievably beautiful to unspeakably
terrifying. But why does this phenomenon occur? Whats the purpose of dreams? Are they
simply an internal entertainment system designed to keep us asleep, or is there something more
to these odd little stories? While medical science has come leaps and bounds in the past sixtyfive years towards understanding sleep, doctors and scientists still are puzzled by dreams. This is
precisely why dreams are so fascinatingthere is no explanation for them. Like black holes, we
know the absolute basics, and the rest is all speculation. Psychologists, philosophers, and
theologians are united across the ages in their search for the meaning of dreams.
Before one attempts to understand dreams, it is vital to understand sleep. Sleep comes in
five phasesone, two, three, four, and REM, which stands for rapid eye movement. Stage one
is also known as light sleep. Someone in stage one sleep can be woken up easily. During stage
two, electrical activity in the brain begins to slow down, preparing our bodies for deep sleep.
Stages three and four are known as deep sleepour muscles are inactive, and we are very hard
to wake up. People who are awoken while their brains are in deep sleep may feel groggy and
confused for a few minutes before they orient themselves. After deep sleep comes REM sleep
the phase of sleep in which dreams occur. While in REM sleep, our heart rate and blood pressure
increase, and our breathing becomes more rapid. REM sleep gets its name from the swift
movement of our eyes that occurs during this phase. REM sleep begins when a part of the brain

stem known as the pons sends a signal to the thalamus, instructing it to activate the cerebral
cortex. The cortex is the outermost layer of the brain, and evolutions crowning achievement.
This part of the brain handles learning, thinking, and information processing. Basically, its what
makes us humans instead of apes. This activation of the cortex is responsible for our awareness
during and memory of dreams (NINDS). This is where the facts end. Everything from here on
out is theoretical.
In his book, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, Dr. Rick Strassman hypothesized that the
serotonin analog DMT might be responsible for dreams. DMT, or dimethyltryptamine, is a
potent hallucinogen that is produced by the human body, as well as by other mammals and
several species of trees. Normally, DMT levels in our brains never rise to the point where their
effects would become noticeable. However, if DMT is administered from an external source,
such as plant matter or freebase salts, those levels become high enough for its effects to become
noticed. DMT is a member of the tryptamine family, along with serotonin (5hydroxytryptamine), melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine), psilocin (the active ingredient
in hallucinogenic mushrooms, 4-hydroxydimethyltryptamine), and many other, lesser-known
compounds. In fact, the molecular structure of LSD is similar to that of a tryptamine, leading
some pharmacologists to consider it a far-removed cousin of the family. The aforementioned
drugs all bind to serotonin receptors. In other words, our brains cant tell the difference between
serotonin and other tryptamines. When these serotonergic hallucinogens are ingested, the brain
tries to use them as neurotransmitters, and a trip ensues.
Dr. Strassman, who studied the effects of intravenous DMT on human volunteers,
proposed that during REM sleep, the pineal gland (a small endocrine gland near the center of the
brain) ramps up production of DMT, taking us away to the bizarre world of dreams. This theory

was postulated after Strassman observed that an injection of DMT put the body and mind into a
state similar to that of REM sleep. The body reacted to the compound by increasing heart rate
and blood pressure and temporarily paralyzing the limbs, while the mind reacted by separating
from the body and journeying to other worlds populated by elves, aliens, giant insects, and many
other creatures that belong to the realm of fantasyor the realm of dreams. In fact, his subjects
compared their experiences to their most intense dreams. While not scientifically verified,
Strassmans theory of DMT causing dreams holds logical water, and has not been officially
challenged by any competing research team. If his theory is correct, then weve all been literally
getting high off our own supply every night of our lives.
A paper on dreams would not be complete without mention of the theories of Sigmund
Freud, the father of modern psychotherapy. In his book, The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud
speculated that dreams were a mechanism employed by the psyche for various purposesliving
out fantasies and desires considered taboo by society, allowing us to test run scenarios without
consequences, and processing repressed emotions. He believed that by analyzing the dreams of
his patients, he could see the parts of their personalities that they had hidden, or that had been
hidden from them. Freud considered sexual feelings to be the most commonly repressed, and
therefore the most prevalent theme of dreams. He believed that erotic dreams were a sort of Sin
City of consciousness, where one could indulge oneself in hedonistic pleasure without guilt.
However, while sexual drives may have been the most common fuel for dreams, they certainly
werent the only issues at play. For instance, Freud analyzed many patients who suffered from
horrifically violent nightmares, and came to the conclusion that they were rooted in repressed
anger, often as a result of abuse during childhood. To Freud, dreams were a powerful tool to see
into the deepest parts of the human psyche.

Dreams have been a central component of almost every religion in history. A trend worth
noting is that the greatest ancient civilizationsMesopotamia, Egypt, China, and Greeceall
held a nearly identical belief that while dreaming, the human soul left the body and journeyed
into the spirit world, where direct contact with the gods was made. The Australian Aborigines
believe that there is a parallel dimension mirroring our own that can be entered at will by the
soul, simply by falling asleep. They call said world the Dreamtime, and believe that when they
die, they become full-time inhabitants of that universe (National Geographic). Dreams are also a
prevalent motif in the Bible, used by God and Satan to communicate with, possess, and even
impregnate people. It begs the questionwhat would the religions of the world be like if we
didnt dream? Would they even exist at all?
All of these theories are not in competitionin fact, they prove each other right.
Strassmans DMT theory backs up the Freudian interpretation that dreams allow us to deal with
repressed issues. Strassman reported that almost all of his subjects found themselves confronted
with the demons of their pasts in some way during their sessions. Coincidence? If our dreams
are caused by DMT, then Freud was rightour bodys endogenous hallucinogen allows us to
deal with bottled-up feelings in an environment with no consequences. DMT could also be the
culprit behind the limb-paralysis that occurs during REM sleepits a safety feature to prevent
us from physically responding to dream stimuli. The DMT theory also explains why we have
nightmaresall of the negative emotions that we humans are so good at hiding come back to
bite us in the form of bad dreams.
The religious beliefs surrounding dreams could also be traced back to DMT. The
spiritual process of soul-travel is remarkably similar to the feeling of the mind being separated
from the body and journeying to other worlds that Strassmans subjects described. The

Dreamtime of the aborigines could very well be the ephemeral DMT landscape. When looked
at through the lens of the DMT theory, everything falls into place. The DMT theory is to dreams
as Superstring Theory is to physicsa grand unifying theory. DMT ties the psychological,
philosophical, and religious hypotheses together. As stated earlier, this is only a theory. There is
no scientific verification that DMT release is what causes dreams. However, there is no logical
flaw in the concept, and no competing propositions. Researchers like Dr. Strassman are on the
frontier of the study of human consciousness, doing what was once thought to be impossible
giving spirituality a scientific basis. Now we must askwhats next? How long will it be until
we have a scientific understanding of the soul? How long until we know what happens after
death? The possibilities are truly infinite.

Works Cited:
"Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep.: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
(NINDS). Web. 1 May 2015.
Essential Visual History of World Mythology. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2008.
Print.
Freud, Sigmund, and Joyce Crick. The Interpretation of Dreams. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999.
Print.
Strassman, Rick. DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Rochester, Vt.: Park Street, 2001. Print.