Dream Language

Last night/early this morning, my brain did me the favor of waking me up as my body had to use the bathroom.

I'm a dream aficionado so standard nightmares have fallen by the wayside as I have picked them apart and analyzed them into nothingness much like movie critics do with Adam Sandler movies.

To wake me, my brain has to craft a dream that arouses intrigue and a little confusion. ie Why are Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians fighting dragons?

So what dawned on me, a little before dawn, was how intricate a process dreaming was.

Though there is still discovery and debate, I see the process going like this. The brain constantly records information, images, sounds and smells, even when one is not conscious of it. Proof of this can be seen in those handful of people, like actress Marilu Henner, who can remember every day of their lives. I believe everyone may do this, but not everyone can access the information.

Excess memories, particularly those just collected, pool in the subconscious and wait just under the surface. When sleep occurs, the mind pulls from these images, whether to point out that they are there or to expel them to make room for new ones, and creates dream imagery during all phases of the sleep cycle, but particularly REM.

As I said before, there is some debate over the value of the dreams, but consider this. My mind has intent when it makes the dreams. In the case of last night, it needed me to wake up. Memories are stored along the neural pathways leading to the amygdala, which is the emotional center of the brain. The brain follows the emotional path to collect the images that when put together will stir me to wake.

As I also said before, my brain has abandoned the idea of scaring me and turns to other emotions to wake me. In the past, when I have not responded to the more subtle messages, I will dream of running water, rivers, and, if I ignore that, I will dream of looking for a bathroom and how good it feels after its use. My mind is getting very close to speaking to me and saying "Wake up, you need to use the bathroom."

So, first, Let me promote teh value of dream as a tool for self help. You might not dream answers to problems, but you do get some insight.

Second, I think this makes an interesting case that literacy can happen without written words, or even spoken sounds. The brain selects from a vocabulary, a familiar one, of ideas and connects them to images in order to communicate an emotionally expressive meme demanding a response. It "speaks" to me.

And finally, dream language like all other langauges, is a complex continuum with many parts and levels. For language to be taught, each of these parts must be recognized. For it to be aqcuired, each of these parts require reflection.

So thank you brain for the first lesson of the day and for keeping my sheets dry, too.