At one point in Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol,” Ebenezer Scrooge dismisses a ghostly encounter as being just as likely from the crumb of cheese he had before bed.

In 2005, the British Cheese Board funded a study to debunk the myths about cheese causing nightmares. As part of the experiment, 200 participants snacked on 20 grams of cheese half an hour before bedtime. Sixty-seven percent of cheese eaters reported remembering their dreams, but none recorded nightmares.

There’s a lot we don’t know about dreams, but for a long time, we were certain they only occurred during REM sleep. Now, it has been proven that we actually dream during different stages of sleep. We’re just more likely to remember the dreams we have during REM sleep. These dreams tend to be more vivid, exciting, and just plain weird. Non-REM sleep dreams, on the other hand, are simpler and less emotional.

Research suggests that dreams are more than just a random montage of scenes that flit through our brains at night. Recurring patterns in dreams often accurately reflect concerns people have about their daily lives. And those dreams you had about being unprepared for a test or showing up to class in your underwear aren’t limited to your high school days. A person is likely to have those dreams long after they’ve graduated, as they often crop up during times of stress. So, if you’re feeling extra anxious in the days leading up to a job interview, don’t be surprised if your subconscious revives that old math test nightmare.

Some people say that remembering your dreams in the morning is an indication of a good night’s sleep, but that’s not true. In fact, people with poor sleep are more likely to remember their dreams. According to a 2014 report in Cerebral Cortex, study participants who remembered their dreams had twice as much “wakefulness,” which could be taken to mean they woke up more often. People who remember their dreams also have higher activity in the temporoparietal junction, a part of the brain that processes information and emotions. They also reacted more strongly to sounds, which could help explain their interrupted sleep patterns. Basically, people who are sleep-deprived tend to have greater sleep intensity during the precious few hours they manage to sleep, which leads to more vivid dreams.

Though adults average four to six dreams per night, most people forget between 95 and 99 percent of them.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【驳斥】 bóchì debunk expose the falseness of

【掠过】 lüèguò flit pass quickly or abruptly from one place or condition to another

查尔斯•狄更斯的《圣诞颂歌》有这样一段情节：埃比尼泽•斯克鲁奇在遇见鬼魂后不以为然，认为是他睡觉前吃的奶酪碎屑在作祟。

2005年，英国奶酪委员会资助了一项研究，旨在揭穿吃奶酪导致做噩梦的误解。研究开展了一项实验，让200个参与者在睡觉前半小时每人摄入20克奶酪。这些吃奶酪的人有67%报告称记得自己做的梦，但是没有人自称做了噩梦。

我们对梦不了解的地方还有很多，但是长时间以来，人们坚信只有快速眼动睡眠期间才会做梦。如今事实证明，我们在睡眠的不同阶段都会做梦。我们只是更容易记住在快速眼动睡眠期间做的梦。在这期间做的梦通常更生动、更刺激，而且更诡异。不在快速眼动睡眠期间做的梦则更简单，也更平淡。

研究表明，梦不只是我们的大脑在夜里闪过的随机画面组合。反复做的梦通常准确地反映出人们在日常生活中的忧虑。并不是只有在高中时代才会做那种来不及备考或穿着内衣出现在课堂上的梦。一个人可能在毕业很久之后还会做这种梦，他们通常在压力大的时候梦见这些。因此，如果你在求职面试前夕感觉特别焦虑，那么就不要奇怪你的潜意识唤醒了那个数学考试的可怕旧梦。

有些人说，早上醒来记得梦说明你睡了个好觉，但这种说法是错的。事实上，睡眠差的人更可能记得自己的梦。2014年发表在期刊《大脑皮层》上一篇研究报告称，记得自己梦的研究参与者“失眠程度”是其他人的两倍，这意味着他们更频繁地醒来。记得自己梦的人大脑中处理信息和情感的颞顶交界处的活动水平更高。他们对声音的反应也更强烈，这有助于解释为什么他们的睡眠频频被打断。基本上，失眠者在宝贵的几小时睡眠时间内睡眠强度更大，从而导致他们的梦更生动。

尽管成年人每夜平均做4到6个梦，但多数人会忘记95%到99%的梦。(chinadaily.com.cn)