Where do specific dreams really come from?

Question

Like, what determines what you dream about? I've heard that dreams are just piles of information your brain is sorting out the day's events, but I have dreams about things that I've either never thought about before, or haven't thought about in years.

Is there a concrete answer for it yet?

Answer 1

what your brain really does is it sorts short term memories that it collects through out the day and when sleeping it organizes short term memories into long term memories. But you are right about your question on why then do you get dreams about stuff from like 3 years ago. Well its because while its organizing sometimes your brain finds relationships and connections between memories from your present to your past that are already stored in long term usage. it does that to see if its important enough to store.

Answer 2

your subconscious memory