Dreams are a daily phenomenon experienced by everyone, but they differ from person to person. They may come as vivid images or blurry scenes that vanish as soon as you wake up. Sometimes they may seem coherent, and other times they may be chaotic and meaningless.
This perplexing diversity has prompted researchers to explore the underlying reasons for these differences. A recent study published in the journal Communications Psychology sought to provide scientific answers to questions such as: What determines the form and content of our dreams? Are they simply random replays of a past day, or are there deeper factors that control these nocturnal performances constructed by our minds
A study conducted by the IMT School of Advanced Studies in Lucca, Italy, revealed that dreams are not just random or chaotic images, but a complex dynamic process shaped by your personality traits, sleeping habits, and life experiences, including major events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the study, researchers examined more than 3,700 reports describing dreams and waking experiences from 287 participants aged between 18 and 70. Over a two-week period, participants recorded their waking experiences daily, while researchers collected data on sleep habits, cognitive skills, and personality traits.
With the help of artificial intelligence, the team analyzed this data using advanced natural language processing (NLP) tools, which enabled them to study the meaning and structure of dreams systematically
When participants' descriptions of their daily experiences were compared with their dreams, it became clear that the brain doesn't simply "replay" the day's events during sleep. Instead, it reshapes those experiences. Familiar places like work or the hospital don't appear as they did, but are reimagined in vivid, immersive scenes that combine different elements and shift perspectives in unexpected ways.
In other words, dreams actively reconstruct reality, rather than passively reverse it.
Not everyone dreams in the same way. People who tend to wander a lot while awake report fragmented and constantly changing dreams. In contrast, those who place greater importance on dreams and believe they have meaning experience richer and more immersive dreams.
The study analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dreams using data from Sapienza University of Rome. It found that dreams during the lockdown were more emotionally intense and frequently featured themes of confinement and imprisonment. As people adapted to the pandemic over time, these patterns gradually faded, demonstrating that dream content evolves as people psychologically adapt to major changes.
“Our dreams are not just a reflection of the past, but a dynamic process shaped by who we are and what we experience,” says Valentina Elchi, lead researcher and author of the study.
The study confirms that natural language processing models can analyze dream reports with similar accuracy to humans, opening the door to studying topics such as consciousness, memory, and mental health on a broader and more consistent scale.
