Dreaming is a common thing for humans. People see some dream or the other every day, whether they are asleep during the day or at night. Some dreams are remembered and some are not. This is about the dreams of humans, but have you ever wondered if animals also dream? Science has found the answer to this. Science says that animals also dream. Perhaps you must have noticed this too.
Actually, if you have a pet in your house, you must have seen it startling, screaming or moving its legs in sleep. Especially a pet dog that often starts growling while sleeping or a cat that you may have heard or seen meowing in sleep. All these are symptoms of dreaming, which has been proved in a research. Research by researchers at Cambridge University and several studies conducted across the world have confirmed that animals dream while sleeping.
Greek philosopher Aristotle has written about animals sleeping in his book The History of Animals that not only humans dream but dogs also bark in their sleep. From ancient tales to modern science, there are many examples that prove that animals are intelligent. They search for food and shelter and learn to avoid predators on the basis of their intelligence. If they become domesticated, they behave like humans.
These things must have been kept in mind while writing the story of the crow and the pitcher. However, despite all this, the question before scientists was whether animals are intelligent enough to dream? If yes, then how do they dream?
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What does science say about dreams?
Science says that when a person sleeps, his brain becomes inactive for that time. In 1950, scientists discovered the term REM for sleep. It is called Rapid Eye Movement. It is a phase of sleep. Dreams occur in this phase. This is the time of sleep when our eyes move rapidly behind the eyelids, heart rate increases and breathing becomes faster. You also feel this in the dream and when you wake up, your heart is beating fast.
How do animals dream?
Like humans, many large animals have complex brains and neurons, cells that generate and send electrical signals to the brain. This process continues even while sleeping. Cambridge University researchers, in a study conducted with the Massachusetts Institute, concluded that animals also experience REM sleep. They can also have scary dreams, they can dream about an incident that happened to them while they were awake. For this, the researchers tested the brain activity of rats with the help of electrodes. It was revealed that the rats took REM sleep. Such a pattern was also seen in cats, dogs and even zebras.
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What do animals see in their dreams?
The Roman poet Lucretius wrote about his pet dog that it was sleeping near the fire. Its eyes were moving and its legs were shaking. He believed that perhaps his pet dog was chasing an imaginary prey. Animal dreams are somewhat similar. Scientists studied the brain pattern of the zebra finch. It was revealed that the zebra is dreaming something that makes it happy. For example, birds sing songs in its dreams. A study on rats revealed that they are dreaming about their future. For example, they have reached a new place or have discovered it. Animal dreams have also been described in many movies or cinema. Especially these things can be seen more in animated cinema.
How do we know what is going on in an animal’s mind?
You are also wondering how it is known what a particular animal dreamed? It became easy to know this through EEG test. This test is called electroencephalogram, it is used for electrical activity in the brain. This test tells what is going on in the mind of an animal while sleeping or awake.
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