Our dreams do not simply replay the events of the day. They mix what we have just experienced, older memories, our emotions, and certain personal habits.
A study based on several thousand accounts shows that two people can dream very differently, even after similar experiences. The content therefore depends on recent experiences, but also on the usual way of thinking, imagining, or reacting.
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The researchers studied 3,366 accounts provided by 207 adults between 2020 and 2024. The participants described their dreams, but also certain experiences they had while awake. They also filled in questionnaires about their sleep, personality, and mental functioning.
The team then compared the texts. They looked for simple elements, such as the presence of emotions, characters, places, or unusual events. Computer tools helped classify the accounts, and the researchers then checked the trends with statistical analyses.
The dreams stood out fairly clearly from memories recounted while awake. They contained more images, movements, characters, and strange situations. In contrast, they included fewer logical explanations or detailed reasoning.
Recent events did influence the content. Lockdown periods, for example, changed certain reported themes. Yet dreams did not faithfully replay reality. The brain seemed to take familiar elements and then mix them into new or incoherent scenes.
Regular differences also appeared between participants. People who often let their minds wander told more shifting and less structured dreams. Those who attached great importance to their dreams generally described richer and more detailed accounts.
These results only show statistical links. They do not make it possible to guess in advance what a person will dream. Nor do they prove that personality directly controls the content of dreams.
Finally, the study is based on memories recounted after waking up. Some details may therefore be forgotten or modified. The researchers now want to compare these accounts with measurements of brain activity during sleep, in order to better understand how scenes are formed.