Does it seem like your memory is sharper while you're dreaming than it is when you are awake?

Question

Most of the information that I obtained during the day normally shows up in my dreams somehow. When I’m dreaming, it seems like images and details are clearer and I can remember things like strangers’ faces, phone numbers, names, equations, physical body movements etc. Of course my imagination is very lively too. (I get a lot of great ideas from my dreams…) Still, I don’t understand how I can retain information while I’m asleep but forget everything once I awaken. It’s so frustrating! I purposely try to commit my dreams to memory so it’ll help me later. However, I’m not always successful… Can anyone explain or suggest a reason as to why I remember things so well while I’m dreaming?

If you don’t have a clue, that’s okay. Tell me instead if this ever happens to you. I was wondering is it just me or do other people experience the same thing…

Answer 1

Well, some people believe that dreams are a collection of your thoughts and feelings from both that day and from select events in your past. Usually b/c you are placed in such bizarre or life-like situations, you remember significant details of your dream better. Also, and this is what I believe, when you dream you do not concentrate on yourself as much as you would in real life. Instead you are so wrapped up in the story of the dream that you just completely forget about your own body and instead focus on everything around you.

...Which makes it convenient if you are dreaming about things that happened to you that day.

I too have lively, vivid dreams that sometimes leave an impression on me when I wake up the next morning, b/c in my dreams I experience intense emotions and there is so much going on that I am just wildly interested.

I also notice that when my dreams involve things that appeal to me or that I find fascinating, I remember them more clearly than the dreams where almost nothing of interest happens.

For me, I think that my memory is also at its strongest while I sleep is b/c I absolutely adore things that are rather "otherworldly" or that are fantastical. Wild, crazy, colorful adventures appeal to me more than dreaming about an office or about a conversation, and that is why I remember them more - b/c I feel more free, more at peace in my dreams.

I hope this somewhat helps...sorry I write too much!

-Pisces2222