Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

  Vidcast: https://youtu.be/vKr2eAmy9C0   The next unsettling dream you experience is likely exercising your brain to counteract potential disasters during your waking life.  This the conclusion of collaborative Swiss-Wisconsin study of some 107 subjects whose dreams were analyzed via journaling and whose brain activities were quantitated by electroencephalograms and MRI imaging.   Those experiencing the most fears in their dreams tended to show less activation of their brain fear centers including the insula, amygdala, and cingulate cortex.  This would translate into an enhanced ability to handle frightening and challenging situations in real life.   So embrace your dreams.  If you awaken with bad vibes, know that the images in your sleeping mind have a powerful, beneficial effect on your conscious intellect.   Virginie Sterpenich, Lampros Perogamvros, Giulio Tononi, Sophie Schwartz. Fear in dreams and in wakefulness: Evidence for day/night affective homeostasis. Human Brain Mapping, 2019; DOI: 10.1002/hbm.2