Contraded key in dog dreams:
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Yes, dogs dream. Most of our dreams, especially vivid, occur during the sleeping dream dream (REM). It is important to note that Deirdre Barrett, from Harvard University, says: “This stage of the dream looks very similar in all mammals.”
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The evidence suggests that dogs can have some kind of experience while sleeping. A popular sleep theory is the continuity hypothesis, which argues that dreams are built from the life of vigil.
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We dream of what we pay attention while we are awake and for dogs that include food, toys, run, pursue squirrels and, of course, humans.
Unfortunately, animal minds are the ones we have the slightest access when it comes to investigating dreams. Other humans can tell us about their dreams, but our hairy friends have no way to express what happens behind the closed eyelids. Even so, most dog parents have no doubt: when a sleeping puppy begins to kick and bark, there are something passing
Science, as far as it comes, supports that conviction. Although no one has investigated the dreams of dogs per se, we can make some educated conjectures based on what we know about their close relatives in the world of animals.
Rem sleep in all mammals
Most of our dreams, especially vivid, occur during the sleeping dream dream (REM). It is important to note that Deirdre Barrett, from Harvard University, says: “This stage of the dream looks very similar in all mammals.”
Whales and dolphins always keep half of their brain awake, so it is possible that they do not experience anything we would recognize as dreams. But other mammals, from mice to elephants, probably do.
Again, we cannot confirm that with the same animals. But in 2001, Matthew Wilson, a neuroscientist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found a way to avoid this problem, at least partly.
First, he monitored the brain activity of the rats while navigating a maze. Then, when the animals fell asleep and entered the REM stage, scanned their brains again and found similar neuronal activation patterns. It was as if the rats were reproducing their vigil experience in the form of dream. This fits the idea that dreams help process and Consolidate memories: When executing a task while sleeping, you can dominate it more efficiently.
Read more: Dogs and cognition: How do we know if dogs have a sense of time?
Cats can dream
Amiring more to dogs, we also have good reasons to think that cats dream, thanks to Pioneer Sleep Research by the French neuroscientist Michel Jouvet. At the end of the 1950s, he discovered that a part of the brain trunk called Pons plays a crucial role in the regulation of muscle tone during sleep. This prevents us from acting by acting our dreams. But when he eliminated part of the Pons in Cats, they began to move as they would be awake.
His brains remained in ReM dream, but their bodies emerged to life: jump, prepare, defend, attack. “I think it is clear […] That those cats are stalking small animals and leaning on them, “says Barrett,” so they are likely to have some content during those dreams. “
So do dogs dream?
All this strongly suggests that dogs have some kind of experience while sleeping, says Barrett. What would that experience be like? A popular sleep theory is the continuity hypothesis, which argues that dreams are built from the life of vigil.
Basically, we dream of what we pay attention while we are awake. For dogs that includes food, toys, run, chase squirrels and, of course, “Hoomans”. Given how big we advance in their lives, says Barrett, they are probably dreaming “to have fun playing with their owners, and if their owners perceive them as a good dog or a bad dog.”
That said, we know for our own dreams how wildly they differ from reality, so they may have the same strange quality for dogs.
“His favorite objects and activities will probably be there,” says Barrett, “but they could be somehow surreal or exaggerated.”
Read more: How dogs have uniquely evolved with humans like no other species
How to know if your dog is dreaming
The activity during sleep does not necessarily mean that your dog is dreaming. Clumsy movements and vague vocalizations may occur during other stages of sleep in addition to REM and not coincide with dreams. But barking or clear repetitive complaints, as well as coordinated career movements (even horizontal) are good indicators.
“The more elaborate it becomes,” says Barrett, “the more likely a dream is acting.”
These behaviors are normal, even when they seem signs of anguish. A dog that cries could be having a nightmare, but unless that is combined with a strange vigil behavior, The veterinarians say There is no reason for concern and it is not necessary to wake them up, it is better to let the sleeping dogs are.
Article Sources
Our writers in Discovermagazine.com Use studies reviewed by pairs and high quality sources for our articles, and our editors review to obtain scientific precision and editorial standards. Check the sources used below for this article:
Cody Cottier is a collaborating writer ofver Who Laves to explore great questions about the universe and our native planet, the nature of consciousness, the ethical implications of science and more. He has a degree in journalism and media production at Washington State University.
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