Researchers estimate that the average person spends about two hours dreaming each night. REM sleep periods early in the night generally last about 10 minutes and gradually increase in length throughout the night to a maximum of about one hour.
Fast facts on dreams
It is thought that each dream lasts between 5 to 20 minutes. Around 95 percent of dreams are forgotten by the time a person gets out of bed. Dreaming can help you learn and develop long-term memories. Blind people dream more with other sensory components compared with sighted people.
We dream most vividly during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep
REM sleep occurs in short episodes across each night each about 90 minutes apart. Our longer dreams are in the morning hours.
Is it possible to dream for an hour? Yes. Most dreams only last about 10 minutes on average (give or take a few minutes), but inside the dream itself it often feels, subjectively, like much more time has passed. Some parts of the brain which are responsible for our logic and reasoning are suppressed when we dream.
There are certain exceptions that the dream time extends for longer, especially during lucid dreams where physiological variables are ideal for prolonged dreaming. Therefore, theoretically, the longest dream occurs about 2 hours long, but in practice it is rare, and most dreams last for about 45 minutes at most.
While recurring dreams and disorienting dream loops are common during lucid dreams, it is not possible to get actually get stuck.
Dreaming sleep is characterized by rapid eye movements known as REM. The longest recorded period of REM is one of 3 hrs 8 mins by David Powell (USA) at the Puget Sound Sleep Disorder Center, Seattle, Washington, USA on 29 April 1994.
Dreams can be so realistic that it can be hard to tell if we're awake or asleep. And sometimes, we wake up in the middle of a dream and wonder if it's possible to go back to sleep and pick up where we left off. It is possible to resume a dream, but it requires a certain focus and concentration.
But experts can provide estimates about how long you may spend dreaming. According to the National Sleep Foundation, the average person dreams four to six times per night. You might spend as much as 2 hours in dreamland over the course of a night's sleep, reports the National Institutes of Health.
During non-REM sleep, the thalamus is inactive, but during REM sleep, when we are dreaming, the thalamus is active, sending the cerebral cortex images, sounds, and sensations, which is why we are able to hear, feel, and see in our dreams similarly to how we do when we are awake.
The length of a dream can vary; they may last for a few seconds, or approximately 20–30 minutes. People are more likely to remember the dream if they are awakened during the REM phase.
“Since dreams are thought to primarily occur during REM sleep, the sleep stage when the MCH cells turn on, activation of these cells may prevent the content of a dream from being stored in the hippocampus – consequently, the dream is quickly forgotten.”
The theory, explains Chris Winter, MD, medical director of the Sleep Medicine Center at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Virginia, is that the 90 minutes of sleep you get between snoozes is the full sleep cycle, allowing you to wake up after your REM state, instead of during. Goodbye drowsiness.
"The first dreaming session lasts approximately 10 minutes, beginning about 90 minutes after you've fallen asleep. As the sleep cycle continues, the REM (rapid eye movement) stages increase in duration, with the final dream lasting up to one hour," said Turner.
Although some theorists have suggested that pain sensations cannot be part of the dreaming world, research has shown that pain sensations occur in about 1% of the dreams in healthy persons and in about 30% of patients with acute, severe pain.
As the night progresses, however, non-REM stages shorten and the REM periods grow, giving us a 40-minute dreamscape just before waking.
Therefore, people are more prone to dreaming about things which have been around since time immemorial. Mobile phones, meanwhile, are a recent development—smartphones especially—which is why most of us don't see them in our dreams.
What's more, our perception of time is altered, so that if you're having a vivid dream with a huge sprawling plot sequence, it can feel like you have dreamt for years. However I must stress that it's not perceived as real-time; it's merely an illusion of time.
It is possible to dream during a ten minute nap even though R.E.M. phase comes after 50 minute in the sleep cycle because anyone can sleep during a ten minute nap because you are sleeping and your eyes are closed and R.E.M. stands for Rapid eye movement and you can alsoways move your eye when you are asleep to show you ...
Shared dreams definition
Shared dreaming is the idea that two or more people can share the same dream environment. The degree to which the dream is shared can vary, from simply having common elements or events that happen in each person's dream, to the entire dream being identical.
Dreams can get pretty weird sometimes. When you wake up from one that was particularly bizarre or vivid, you might feel relieved it was only a dream, one you'll never have to experience again. Well, that last part might not always be the case. Some dreams come back not just once, but again and again.
According to Backe, bad dreams put your body into a heightened physical state, whether you're awake to realize it or not. "Fever and intense sweating manifest as a result of the often stressful feelings and experiences associated with nightmares," Backe said.
Other weird records
Previously, Peter Tripp held the first record at 201 hours and suffered from hallucinations for several days after. Between Peter and Randy, Honolulu DJ Tom Rounds made it to 260 hours. Randy tapped out at 264 hours, and slept for 14 hours straight after.
If you feel that your dreams last for so long it's a good sign you're entering the REM phase of sleep many times during the night. This is a good sign, although it may feel a little exhausting if your dreams are bombarding you with messages.