Dreams as simulation-based training

Finnish psychologist Antti Revonsuo believes that dreams serve a critical purpose: providing extensive, safe training for escaping dangerous situations. His research, reported in Psychology Today (Nov-Dec 2007), indicates that two-thirds of all dreams are threat dreams, adding up to 300 to 1000 such dreams per year.

Studies of humans living in primitive environments, such as the Mehinaku hunter-gatherers of the Amazon, reveal that their dreams frequently involve common threats and the methods of escaping them. This suggests that the brain uses dreams as a form of survival training, preparing individuals to respond more effectively to real-world dangers.

Meanwhile, sleep research at Harvard Medical School demonstrates that learning benefits from this process. For instance, people who learn a new skill in the morning do not show significant improvement later the same day without practice. However, after a night of sleep, their performance improves—even without additional practice.

While this might not be the only purpose of dreaming, it strongly supports the idea that simulation-based training is a deeply rooted, genetically-established learning mechanism for humans.

But we knew that all along, didn’t we?

Source: Psychology Today

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