dream research paper topics

177 Dream Research Topics & How to Write a Research Paper on Dreams

People have dreams every night. Dreams are different – sweet dreams and nightmares, colored and colorless. However, every psychologist knows that people need to sleep. Why? Well, let us give you the right to answer this question in your research paper on dreams.

A research paper on dreams is a serious research project. That is why you cannot simply write how dreams can be interpreted or describe your dreams in the research paper on dreams. Research papers on dreams require more serious topics and approach.

Below you will find several possible ideas for research papers on dreams.

• 🔎 Dreams Research Topics
• 💤 Dreams Definition
• ✍️ How to Write about Dreams

😴 Easy Research Topics on Dreams

🛌 essay about dreams topics, 😪 topics for a research paper on sleep and dreams, ✏️ importance of sleep essay topics, 👻 nightmare essay topics.

• 📝 My Dreams Essay – Example

✅ Interesting Facts about Dreams

🔎 dreams research topics – 2024.

• The link between our dreams and emotions.
• What is the role of dreaming in creativity development?
• The gender-based patterns in dreaming experience.
• Sigmund Freud and his theory of dreams.
• The key mechanisms that underlie dreaming.
• What knowledge can you gain from your dreams?
• The impact of eating patterns on the quality of dreams.
• How do different cultures perceive and interpret dreams?
• The advantages and disadvantages of dreaming.
• How can people control their dreams?
• The role of dreams in processing emotions.
• How do bizarre and emotionally intense dreams occur?

💤 What Are Dreams?

Psychologists are sure that dreams are the result of what we wish or think about when we are awake. For example, Freud, a famous psychologist, considered that if a man did not have sexual relations for a long time, he would dream about them. If you think about someone, you may also dream about him/her. This is what you may write about in the research paper on dreams if you want to consider this aspect.

Nightmares can also be a very interesting issue to discuss in research papers on dreams. Psychologists relate nightmares to the field of “unconscious”. Very often, people forget about the stressful situations they once had. However, those situations are reflected in their minds and they can appear in dreams. You may also find other points of view on nightmares and discuss them in your research paper on dreams.

✍️ How to Write a Research Paper about Dreams

A research paper about dreams generally includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. First, it is crucial to choose a relevant and exciting topic to write on and decide on the type of research paper (analytical, argumentative, etc.).

Choosing a Topic

Pick a topic that corresponds to your interests and expertise. It will help you stay more motivated throughout the research process. In addition, ensure that your topic is specific, relevant, and follows the assignment instructions.

If you need help choosing a good topic for your paper, try our free research title generator .

Finding Sources

After you have found a perfect topic on dreams, it is time to look for sources for your research. You can look up information in books, similar research papers, or online sources. Communicating with professionals related to dreams , like psychologists or neurologists, is also a good idea since it is an effective method to gain new knowledge or advice.

Writing a Research Paper

The format of your research paper on dreams should consist of the following elements:

• The relation between dreaming and the role of deep-brain structures.
• Dreaming capacity to repeatedly simulate potential threatening events.
• The role of amygdala and hippocampus in the dreaming process.
• The spiritual significance of dreams in different cultures.
• Dream interpretation and its value in self-understanding.
• How does dream recall reflect social relationships?
• The positive impact of dreams on our physical health.
• Dreams and their role in predicting the future.
• The peculiarities of dreams in pregnant women.
• Why does Charcot-Wilbrand syndrome cause the loss of the ability to dream?
• The role of dreaming in developing cognitive capabilities.
• How can dreams reflect the aging process?
• The repetitive character of some dreams and their meaning.
• Why are young people more likely to dream in color?
• The benefits and cautions of lucid dreaming.
• The influence of smartphones on the content of dreams.
• Why do people forget their dreams after waking up?
• The impact of suppressing intrusive thoughts on dream content.
• What is the role of dreams in developing long-term memory?
• The key causes and types of dreams.
• The peculiarities of dreaming during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Everything you need to know about lucid dreams.
• The role of melatonin in determining the dream content.
• What can we learn from our dreams?
• The psychotomimetic nature of dreams.
• The terrors of sleep paralysis.
• Does screen time affect people’s dreams?
• Dreams and the future of sleep technology.
• Are AI technologies capable of generating dreams?
• The hidden cost of insufficient sleep.
• How can nap breaks improve your productivity at work?
• The main facts and myths about sleep and dreams.
• How can our understanding of dreams shape our worldview?
• The link between dreams and telepathy.
• The process of dreaming in animals.
• Why do some people wake up in the middle of the night?
• The impact of mental illnesses on dream content.
• The role of dreams in art as a source of inspiration.
• How do different societies interpret dreams?
• The power of dreaming in everyday life.
• How to become a morning person: the key strategies.
• The impact of sleep time on life length.
• Ways to decode the language of sleep.
• Using cannabis as a method to cope with nightmares.
• The impact of the daily schedule on improving the quality of sleep.
• How to get a good night’s sleep in a new place?
• Methods to combat morning grogginess.
• Taking care of your sleep as one of the pillars of health.
• The use of dreams in filmmaking and book writing.
• The phenomenon of dreaming during sleep.
• The main phases of sleep in a sleep cycle.
• How is alpha activity measured during sleep?
• The use of oneirology in uncovering the dreaming process.
• Dreaming in Christianity and Islam.
• What is the connection between race and sleep disorders?
• The theory of astral projection during sleep.
• The effect of sleep on pain thresholds and sensitivity.
• The consequences of chronic daytime sleepiness.
• Why is dreaming a key part of a sleep cycle?
• The natural patterns of sleeping in children and teenagers.
• REM and non-REM sleep : the difference.
• What is biphasic sleep, and how does it work?
• The influence of dreams on musical creativity.
• The cultural significance of dream symbols.
• How do moon phases affect your sleep?
• The nature and functions of dreaming.
• The use of dream content during expressive arts therapy.
• What are the possible functions of REM sleep and dreaming?
• The value of dreaming and sleep tracking.
• The analysis of mental activity of sleep and disturbing dreams.
• How do sleep disturbances impact skin health?
• The impact of age on our circadian rhythm.
• The phenomenon of conscious control in dreams.
• How do sleep patterns change across different life stages?
• The influence of sleep quality on academic performance.
• The psychological theories of dreaming purpose.
• The disadvantages of oversleeping for adults.
• How does your body use calories while you sleep?
• Factors influencing the memory of dreams.
• What impact does alcohol have on the sleep cycle and dreaming?
• How can dreams contribute to the healing process?
• The role of sleep in underlying psychological issues.
• The benefits of daytime napping for young people.
• Why does sleep deprivation increase the risk of substance abuse?
• The use of daytime naps to increase imagination.
• The value of bedtime routine for toddlers.
• The benefits of a good night’s sleep.
• What is the role of sleeping in achieving life goals?
• Lack of sleep as a key cause of hormonal imbalance.
• The damaging effect of shift work on sleep patterns and health.
• The link between sleep and the immune system.
• What impact does a change of clocks by an hour have on public health?
• The value of sleep for children’s physical, cognitive, and emotional development.
• What would happen if you did not sleep?
• The importance of sleep for children’s development and growth.
• The connection between good mood and quality sleep.
• Why does the lack of sleep increase aggression?
• The role of sleeping in cancer prevention and treatment.
• The value of sleep for the recovery process of athletes.
• How does the quality of sleep impact metabolism?

Essay about Sleep Deprivation

• The economic impact of sleep deprivation in the workplace.
• How can sleep deprivation lead to anxiety and depression?
• The role of sleep deprivation in worsening obesity and diabetes.
• The use of sleeping pills in sleep deprivation treatment.
• How is sleep deprivation diagnosed?
• The prevalence of sleep deprivation among shift workers.
• What is the difference between sleep deprivation and insomnia?
• The key stages of sleep deprivation.
• The role of DNA in the development of sleep deprivation.
• The unique challenges in diagnosing obstructive sleep deprivation.
• How does sleep deprivation affect the human body?
• The issue of sleep deprivation in teenagers due to exams.
• The role of medications in managing sleep deprivation.
• Ways of reducing the risk of developing sleep deprivation.
• What are the key symptoms of sleep deprivation?

Why Is Sleep Important? Essay Topics

• The efficiency of sleeping in losing weight.
• How can sleep improve concentration and productivity?
• Sleep as essential component of healthy aging.
• Why can a lack of sleep be dangerous?
• Sleep satisfaction and its impact on energy level.
• How is poor sleep linked to depression?
• The impact of sleep on emotional intelligence.
• How does sleep help to repair and restore tissues?
• The role of sleeping in removing toxins from the brain.
• Why can the lack of sleep be lethal?
• The link between sleep quality and mental resilience.
• Sleep loss and its impact on reducing the ability to regulate emotions.
• The role of sleep in the regulation of the central nervous system.
• How can the quality of sleep strengthen your heart?
• Sleeping as a method to maximize athletic performance.

Sleeping Disorders Essay Topics

• The connection between sleep disorders and dreaming.
• Do congenitally blind people have visual dreams?
• The effective ways of coping with insomnia.
• Sleep difficulties and their physical and emotional consequences.
• How does weight affect sleep apnea in adults?
• Breathing practices and their efficiency in overcoming sleep disorders.
• The key symptoms of sleep-related hypoventilation .
• What are the risk factors for sleep disorders?
• Minimizing stress as a method to cope with obstructive sleep apnea.
• The side effects of sleep disorder treatment.
• What are the major categories of sleep disorders, and how do they differ?
• Restless legs syndrome as one of the sleep disorder types.
• The effectiveness of light therapy in sleep disorder treatment.
• The peculiarities of sleep disorder diagnosis.
• How to deal with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder?
• Nightmare disorder and its impact on sleep quality.
• The role of negative thinking, stress, and anxiety in worsening nightmares.
• How may nightmares help to express unresolved emotions?
• The influence of nightmares on interpersonal relationships.
• The use of cognitive behavioral therapy in nightmare treatment.
• Are nightmares a possible consequence of drug abuse?
• The key symptoms of experiencing nightmares.
• The health effects of nightmares in adults.
• How are nightmares connected to waking activity?
• The possible consequences of nightmares.
• The efficiency of psychotherapy in nightmare treatment.
• The main causes of nightmares and methods to cope with them.
• How are nightmares different from sleep terrors?
• The role of sleep hygiene practices in preventing nightmares.
• How do nightmares affect the daily life of teenagers?
• Nightmares as a result of trauma-related experience.
• The link between nightmares and sleep paralysis.
• How does genetics impact the occurrence of nightmares?
• The neurobiological aspects of nightmares in children.
• The risk factors of having nightmare disorder.

📝 My Dreams Essay – Example

We have prepared a dream essay example to show you how everything works in practice!

How Do Different Societies Interpret Dreams?

Throughout history, dreams have been a mysterious experience for people worldwide, receiving various interpretations in many different countries and cultures. From ancient times to the present, people have believed that dreams provide crucial insights into our inner being and may even impact our perception of the universe.

For example, in ancient Egypt, snakes were often associated with danger, deceit, and the underworld. At the same time, seeing calm water in a dream was a good sign that meant peace and tranquility. If people were flying while asleep, it symbolized spiritual growth and escape from mortal concerns.

In ancient Mesopotamia, animals were frequently seen as symbols of the dreamer's personality traits. For instance, a lion might symbolize strength and power, while a sheep could represent humility and submission. Numbers also had a special meaning. People believed their appearance in dreams could be interpreted as messages from the gods.

Nowadays, people still interpret dreams in various ways based on their personal beliefs and traditions. However, it is crucial to understand that there is no correct or incorrect approach to interpreting dreams. The essential thing is to discover a method that resonates with you, allowing you to obtain insights into your subconscious mind. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful.

Do you want to make your research paper on dreams interesting? Then, include a couple of facts into your research paper on dreams:

• Blind people dream;
• You forget 90% of your dreams;
• Dreams prevent psychosis;
• Not everyone sees colorful dreams;
• When you are snoring, you are not dreaming.

Who knows, maybe you will manage to interpret one of these facts from the psychological point of view in your research paper on dreams.

On our blog, useful information on how to write a good research paper and make a cover page for research papers can also be found.

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What about dreams ? State of the art and open questions

Serena scarpelli.

1 Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome Italy

Valentina Alfonsi

Maurizio gorgoni.

2 Body and Action Lab, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome Italy

Luigi De Gennaro

Associated data.

Several studies have tried to identify the neurobiological bases of dream experiences, nevertheless some questions are still at the centre of the debate. Here, we summarise the main open issues concerning the neuroscientific study of dreaming. After overcoming the rapid eye movement (REM) ‐ non‐REM (NREM) sleep dichotomy, investigations have focussed on the specific functional or structural brain features predicting dream experience. On the one hand, some results underlined that specific trait‐like factors are associated with higher dream recall frequency. On the other hand, the electrophysiological milieu preceding dream report upon awakening is a crucial state‐like factor influencing the subsequent recall. Furthermore, dreaming is strictly related to waking experiences. Based on the continuity hypothesis, some findings reveal that dreaming could be modulated through visual, olfactory, or somatosensory stimulations. Also, it should be considered that the indirect access to dreaming remains an intrinsic limitation. Recent findings have revealed a greater concordance between parasomnia‐like events and dream contents. This means that parasomnia episodes might be an expression of the ongoing mental sleep activity and could represent a viable direct access to dream experience. Finally, we provide a picture on nightmares and emphasise the possible role of oneiric activity in psychotherapy. Overall, further efforts in dream science are needed (a) to develop a uniform protocol to study dream experience, (b) to introduce and integrate advanced techniques to better understand whether dreaming can be manipulated, (c) to clarify the relationship between parasomnia events and dreaming, and (d) to determine the clinical valence of dreams.

1. INTRODUCTION

Dreams have been extensively studied from many points of view, focussing on different aspects of the phenomenon. Dreaming is a composite experience occurring during sleep that includes images, sensations, thoughts, emotions, apparent speech, and motor activity. The oneiric production is a form of mental sleep activity that appears strictly related to memory processes and cognitive elaboration (Wamsley & Stickgold,  2010 ; Mangiaruga et al., 2018). In this respect, some investigations have highlighted that dream features mirror the development of cognitive processes (Mangiaruga et al., 2018; Scarpell et al.,  2019a ).

Additionally, a growing number of studies have suggested that dream experience might be considered an expression of human wellbeing (Fränkl et al.,  2021 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2022 ) and has a pivotal role in emotional regulation, as suggested by some neurobiological findings (Nielsen & Lara‐Carrasco,  2007 ). For instance, dream recall and nightmare frequency increase when subjects are exposed to adverse and traumatic events (e.g., Hartmann & Brezler,  2008 ; Nielsen et al.,  2006 ; Sandman et al.,  2013 ; Tempesta et al.,  2013 ). Also, the qualitative characteristics of dream reports change in parallel with the emotional charge of waking experiences (Schredl,  2006 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2021 ).

It should be highlighted that psychoanalysis had primacy in dream research until the discovery of the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stage (Aserinsky & Kleitman,  1953 ). The interpretation of oneiric contents was one of the main focusses of the Freudian theories positing that dreaming allows access to the unconscious functions of the mind in neurosis treatment (Freud,  1953 ). Aserinsky and Kleitman ( 1953 ) observed specific intervals with rapid and recurrent eye movement and bursts of alpha activity comparable to those that occur during wakefulness. The enthusiasm linked to the discovery of REM sleep considerably influenced dreaming research in several ways, and the neuroscientific study of dreaming is relatively recent. Several studies have attempted to identify the neurobiological bases of dream experience through a neuropsychological approach (Solms,  1997 , 2000 ), neuroimaging (Maquet et al.,  1996 ) and electrophysiological techniques (Marzano et al.,  2011 ; Siclari et al.,  2017 ).

Although several studies provide compelling evidence for the existence of specific brain mechanisms predicting dream recall (e.g., Siclari et al.,  2017 ), many questions are still at the centre of the debate.

The present paper summarises the main open issues concerning the neuroscientific study of dream experience. Specifically, the review offers an overview about (a) the question related to the REM‐non‐REM (NREM) sleep dichotomy, (b) the state–trait‐like problem, (c) the relationship between waking and dreaming state and the manipulation of dreaming, (d) the issue concerning the access to dream experience, (e) the role of nightmares, and (f) the debate on dreamwork in psychotherapy.

1.1. The REM‐NREM sleep dichotomy

A classical view of the neurobiological basis of the oneiric activity postulates the existence of a close relationship between dream experience and REM sleep (Hobson et al.,  2000 ; Nielsen,  2000 ). This hypothesis was based on early electroencephalographic (EEG) observations showing that >70% of individuals awakened during REM sleep reported dreams, while dream recall at the awakening from other sleep stages was rare (Aserinsky & Kleitman, 1955 ). According to this view, the wake‐like high‐frequency EEG pattern characterising REM sleep would represent the ideal electrophysiological scenario for the occurrence of dream experiences, while the slow‐frequency activity characterising NREM sleep would be associated with the absence of oneiric activity. However, using different criteria to collect dream reports, several studies found that successful recall of a conscious experience can be frequently observed also after NREM awakenings, and in a minority of cases no dream experience was reported after REM awakenings (Foulkes,  1962 ; Nielsen,  2000 ). Moreover, dream recall is still possible after lesions in brain regions involved in REM sleep generation, while the total disappearance of dream recall can be observed after focal forebrain lesions without an impact on REM sleep (Solms,  2000 ). Also, dream experience is preserved after pharmacological suppression of REM sleep (Landolt et al.,  2001 ; Oudiette et al.,  2012 ). Finally, dream recall has been recently associated with a similar electrophysiological response after REM and NREM sleep (D'Atri et al.,  2019 ; Siclari et al.,  2017 ). These results suggest that (a) dream and REM sleep are controlled by distinct brain mechanisms, (b) the postulate of a clear distinction between presence and absence of dreaming respectively in REM and NREM has not a solid support, and therefore (c) dreams can occur in any sleep stage.

A dichotomy between NREM and REM sleep has been also hypothesised for the qualitative aspects of dreams. Indeed, it has been proposed that REM and NREM sleep exhibit different kinds of mental activity. According to this view, REM sleep is characterised by an emotional, vivid, and bizarre “dream‐like” mentation (Antrobus,  1983 ; Casagrande et al.,  1996 ; Foulkes,  1967 ; Foulkes & Schmidt,  1983 ; Waterman et al.,  1993 ), while NREM mental activity would be “thought‐like”, with reduced emotional load, greater fragmentation, and contents more similar to waking thoughts (Foulkes,  1967 ; Rechtschaffen et al.,  1963 ). Nevertheless, the existence of a clear‐cut REM‐NREM dichotomy has been questioned also in this case based on several findings: (a) “dream‐like” reports have been observed also after NREM sleep (Monroe et al.,  1965 ; Solms,  2000 ; Zimmerman,  1970 ) and (b) the qualitative differences between REM and NREM dream reports disappear when their length is equated (Antrobus,  1983 ; Cavallero et al.,  1992 ; Foulkes & Schmidt,  1983 ).

In light of these observations, the assumption that the presence/absence and the phenomenological aspects of dream experiences strictly depend on the sleep stage per se is simplistic. It is worth noting that a precise definition of the time‐coupling between the sleep stages and the actual occurrence of dream experience is difficult, as the access to sleep mentation is possible only in an indirect way through dream reports after the awakening (see the paragraph “What about direct access to dream experience?”). At the same time, the occurrence of dream experiences in both REM and NREM sleep, two physiological stages characterised by distinct electrophysiological and neurotransmitters patterns, appears paradoxical. Such considerations raised the question of what mechanisms facilitate/inhibit the recall of a conscious experience at the awakening from different sleep stages, and what factors can explain intra‐ and inter‐individual variability in the phenomenology of the oneiric activity.

1.2. State‐ and trait‐like facets of dreams

Stable individual characteristics (trait‐like factors) can impact dreams, explaining inter‐individual variability. Sociodemographic factors like gender (Schredl & Reinhard,  2008 ; Settineri et al.,  2019 ) and age (Mangiaruga et al.,  2018 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2019a ) can predict dream recall. Interest in dreams (Bealulieu‐Prevost & Zadra,  2007 ), visual imagery abilities (Cory & Ormiston,  1975 ), personality dimensions like openness to experience, absorption, psychological boundaries (Beaulieu‐Prevost & Zadra, 2007), and predisposition to suppress negative emotions and thoughts (Malinowski,  2015 ) appear related to individual differences in the oneiric activity.

Crucially, neuroimaging studies provided evidence about the relationship between dream features and stable brain anatomical and functional characteristics. Qualitative facets of dreams have been associated with volumetric and structural measures of the amygdala‐hippocampus complex in healthy subjects (De Gennaro et al.,  2011 ) and amygdala volume, dorsomedial prefrontal cortical thickness, and dopaminergic activity in patients with Parkinson's disease (De Gennaro et al.,  2016 ). Moreover, compared to low dream recallers, high dream recallers showed (a) greater medial prefrontal cortex white‐matter density (Vallat et al.,  2018 ); (b) higher regional cerebral blood flow in the temporo‐parietal junction during wakefulness, Stage 3, and REM sleep and in medial prefrontal cortex during wakefulness and REM sleep (Eichenlaub et al.,  2014a ); (c) enhanced functional connectivity within the default mode network (DMN) and between areas of the DMN and memory‐related regions immediately after the awakening (Vallat et al.,  2020 ); and (d) larger event‐related potentials to distracting sounds even during active listening, arguing for enhanced bottom‐up processing of irrelevant sounds but also an enhanced recruitment of top‐down attention as suggested by larger contingent negative variation during target expectancy and P3b to target sounds (Ruby et al.,  2021 ). Taken together, these findings highlight that stable individual features of the brain structure and activation patterns can explain inter‐individual differences in dream experience.

Beyond the influence of trait‐like factors, a growing number of studies also point to the role of the physiological milieu associated with the oneiric experience (state‐like factors). In other words, the specific regional features of the physiological background contingent with dreaming would facilitate or prevent dream recall, potentially explaining intra‐individual differences in dream reports. This possibility has been investigated mainly by assessing the sleep EEG pattern preceding dream recall. In this way, several studies found that a successful dream recall was associated with greater frontal theta oscillations before the awakening from REM sleep (Marzano et al.,  2011 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2015 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2019b ) and reduced parieto‐occipital alpha activity before the awakening from NREM sleep (Esposito et al.,  2004 ; Marzano et al.,  2011 ). As theta and alpha oscillations are associated with memory processes during wakefulness (Hsieh & Ranganath,  2014 ), these results suggest that wakefulness and sleep share the same neurobiological mechanisms for the elaboration of episodic memories (see the next paragraph).

On the other hand, a growing number of within‐subject investigations (which allows overcoming the possible influence of stable trait‐like factors) show that a more desynchronised EEG pattern is associated with dream recall in both NREM and REM sleep (Siclari et al.,  2017 ; D'Atri et al.,  2019 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2017 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2020a ; but see Wong et al.,  2020 ). In particular, dream experience would be facilitated by a pattern of reduced slow‐wave activity (SWA), most steadily in posterior regions (Siclari et al.,  2017 , 2018 ). Interestingly, lucid dreams, phenomenon characterised by conscious awareness during the oneiric experience, appear associated with greater EEG gamma activity (Baird et al.,  2022 ; Voss et al.,  2009 ). Furthermore, a transcranial current stimulation delivered in a lower gamma range during REM sleep can affect the ongoing electrophysiological activity and increase self‐reflective awareness in dreams (Voss et al.,  2014 ). These observations are consistent with “activation” theoretical models (Antrobus,  1991 ; Hobson & McCarley,  1977 ; Koulack & Goodenough,  1976 ), which postulate that dream recall would be facilitated by a greater level of arousal during sleep, represented at an electrophysiological level by higher brain activation. Indeed, the frequency of dream recall increases in association with a sleep pattern characterised by greater sleep fragmentation (van Wyk et al.,  2019 ), faster spindles, especially in central and posterior cortical areas (Siclari et al.,  2018 ), intra‐sleep wakefulness (De Gennaro et al., 2010 ; Eichenlaub et al.,  2014b ; Vallat et al.,  2017 ), and sleep arousal (Polini et al.,  2017 ; Schredl,  2009 ). Furthermore, a night of recovery sleep after a period of prolonged wakefulness, usually characterised by reduced awakenings, almost totally abolished dream recall after the final morning awakening (De Gennaro et al., 2010 ). The SWA represents a marker of sleep intensity (Borbély & Achermann,  1999 ), likely subserving the fading of consciousness during sleep. Thus, the pattern of local SWA reduction in association with dreaming activity may represent the electrophysiological marker of the greater arousal level needed for a successful dream recall. Moreover, this evidence provides a reliable explanation for the apparently paradoxical occurrence of dreams in states of consciousness (i.e., REM and NREM sleep) characterised by drastically different EEG patterns.

Overall, these findings highlight the crucial role of the physiological state preceding dream recall. However, several questions remain open. First, the influence of circadian and homeostatic factors on the oneiric experience and its electrophysiological pattern is not clear (Chellappa et al.,  2011 ; D'Atri et al.,  2019 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2017 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2020a ). Moreover, the impact of the regional distribution of SWA on qualitative dream facets needs to be fully investigated, as empirical preliminary evidence has been provided only by Siclari et al. ( 2017 ). Finally, the possible interaction between state‐ and trait‐like factors should be carefully considered.

1.3. Continuity between waking and dream experience

The above‐mentioned “activation hypothesis” represents one of the main theoretical frameworks on dreaming, along with the so‐called “continuity hypothesis” (Domhoff,  2017 ; Schredl & Hofmann,  2003 ). In the early 1970s, Bell and Hall ( 1971 ) firstly proposed that waking experiences may have continuity in sleep. The formulation of the original concept has gone through several re‐interpretations and adjustments since then.

Early cognitively‐oriented studies focussed on the continuity between dream contents and waking events, personal concerns, thoughts, behaviours, and emotions, suggesting that waking‐life experiences are reflected into subsequent dreams (Nielsen & Powell,  1992 ; Schredl,  2006 ; Blagrove,  2011 ; Vallat et al.,  2017 ). Compelling evidence also showed the key role of the personal and emotional salience in mediating the preferential incorporation of waking‐life aspects during mental sleep activity (Malinowski & Horton,  2014 ).

Further, different time intervals between waking experiences and related dream contents could represent “day‐residue effect” or “dream‐lag effect” as a function of the elapsed period (i.e., 1–2 days and 5–7 days, respectively) (Eichenlaub et al.,  2017 ). Specifically, the delayed incorporation of waking life events (“dream‐lag effect”) was selectively observed during REM sleep and for personally significant events (Van Rijn et al.,  2015 ).

A complementary field of study posits the continuity between waking state and mental sleep activity from a neurophysiological perspective. Namely, a growing body of evidence suggests that brain mechanisms underlying cognitive and emotional functioning remain the same across different states of consciousness (e.g., Marzano et al.,  2011 ; Eichenalub et al., 2018).

The involvement of alpha (8–12 Hz) and theta (5–7 Hz) oscillations in memory‐related neural processes during wakefulness are well‐established, especially as regards episodic‐declarative memory (Klimesch,  1999 ). In particular, the increase in the frontal theta activity and the alpha power decrease during the encoding phase of episodic memories were found to play a pivotal role in the subsequent recall of stored information (Hsieh & Ranganath,  2014 ; Klimesch,  1999 ).

Over the last two decades, several studies were conducted under the assumption that dream encoding and recall could represent a peculiar form of episodic memory (Fosse et al.,  2003 ). As previously mentioned, a successful dream recall has been linked to higher frontal theta activity during REM sleep (Marzano et al.,  2011 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2015 ) and lower alpha activity over the temporo‐parietal region during NREM (Esposito et al.,  2004 ; Marzano et al.,  2011 ; Takeuchi et al.,  2003 ). Moreover, the topographical distribution of the above‐mentioned frequency bands resembles brain regions involved in encoding and retrieval mechanisms during wakefulness.

A large body of experimental studies have also shown the continuity between dreaming and emotional processing (for a review, see Scarpelli et al.,  2019c ). First of all, as described in the previous paragraph, neuroimaging studies showed the relationship between qualitative and quantitative stable aspects of dream experience and structural parameters of limbic areas (De Gennaro et al.,  2011 ). Consistently, subjects reporting higher levels of fear in their dreams showed a concomitant higher activation of the medial prefrontal cortex, responsible for reduced activation of the amygdala, insula, and midcingulate cortex both during sleep and wakefulness (Phelps et al.,  2004 ; Sterpenich et al.,  2020 ). Further, the main brain circuits involved in emotional processing during wake are highly activated during REM sleep, such as the limbic system (Nir & Tononi,  2010 ) and reward system (Perogamvros & Schwartz,  2012 ). Notably, a recent simultaneous EEG‐functional magnetic resonance imaging study demonstrated the privileged re‐emergence during sleep of patterns of brain activity associated with a recent rewarding (compared to a non‐rewarding) waking experience during sleep (Sterpenich et al.,  2021 ).

Starting from these findings, many researchers stated that dream activity might have a crucial role in processing emotional events experienced during wakefulness (see Scarpelli et al.,  2019c ). More in‐depth, the theta (Nishida et al.,  2009 ; Boyce et al.,  2016 ; Sopp et al.,  2018 ) and gamma activities (Van Der Helm et al.,  2011 ) were identified as the EEG markers of emotional memory processing. Selective sleep deprivation protocols provided experimental evidence about the lack of emotional memories consolidation in the absence of REM sleep stage (Spoormaker et al.,  2014 ; Wagner et al.,  2001 ), supporting the notion that dreaming represents the privileged scenario for the offline reprocessing of waking emotional stimuli.

Keeping in mind the unitary perspective across waking and sleep state, several investigations aimed to overcome the boundaries between different states of consciousness directly influencing sleep mentation by different kinds of sensory stimuli administered pre‐ or during sleep. Pre‐sleep stimulation methods have been used since the very beginning of dream research. The pioneering study by Dement and Wolpert ( 1958 ) showed the relation between the 24‐h fluid restriction in participants and their subsequent REM dream content. Sensory stimulation through pre‐sleep visual stimuli affected dream content by using stressful films (Goodenough et al.,  1965 ) or visual inverting prisms (Corsi‐Cabrera et al.,  1986 ).

Concerning sensory stimulation delivered during REM or NREM sleep stages, early studies described the incorporation of meaning verbal stimuli (Berger,  1963 ; Hoelscher et al.,  1981 ). Also, somatosensory stimulation (e.g., water on the skin, thermal stimulation, pressure cuff, electrical pulses) (Baldridge et al.,  1965 ; Dement & Wolpert,  1958 ; Koulack,  1969 ; Nielsen,  1993 ) or vestibular stimulation (Leslie & Ogilvie,  1996 ) were found to affect dream content. As expected, these types of stimulation increased vividness and bodily sensation in the dream contents.

Recent studies using olfactory stimulation during sleep showed the influence on the emotional content of dreams as a function of the hedonic characteristic of stimuli (Schredl et al.,  2009 ) and the reactivation of the odour‐associated images (Schredl et al.,  2014 ). The strong effect of olfactory stimulation on dream emotional aspects is interpreted in terms of direct connections to the limbic system (Smith & Shepherd,  2003 ).

In the last few years, a promising field of research explored the shared neural circuits between wake and sleep mentation by directly manipulating dream activity via transcranial electrical stimulation techniques. Some studies showed that interfering with cortical areas that are notably involved in a specific function during wakefulness influenced the dream content accordingly (Jakobson et al.,  2012 ; Noreika et al.,  2020 ).

Taken together, these results strengthen the hypothesis of shared mechanisms between the awake and sleeping brain from both psychological and neurobiological perspectives and through experimental manipulations. However, the intrinsic restraint due to the impossibility of directly investigating the dream content represents a common limitation of these studies.

1.4. What about direct access to dream experience?

The issue concerning dream access is definitively the most complex to address. Indeed, the real object of study in the abovementioned investigations (e.g., Chellappa et al.,  2011 ; Marzano et al.,  2011 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2015 , 2017 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2020a ; Scarpelli et al.,  2019b ; Siclari et al.,  2017 ) is “dream recall” and not the dream experience itself . In other words, dreaming is not directly observable, and researchers are able to obtain information about the oneiric activity just requiring a dream report to the individual when he is awake. Also, we have already discussed that detecting the exact moment in which the dreams are produced during sleep is very difficult.

From a methodological point of view, three approaches to collect dreaming are well‐known: (a) retrospective, (b) prospective, and (c) provoked awakenings with subsequent dream reports. While the retrospective method allows researchers to collect dreaming through interviews or questionnaires in large samples quickly, the prospective protocol (i.e., dream diaries; longitudinal dream report collection) is less prone to memory biases (Robert & Zadra,  2008 ). These two strategies allow classifying people in high and low recallers, helping to investigate the neurobiological trait‐like features of dreamers (e.g., Eichenlaub et al.,  2014b ; Eichenlaub et al.,  2014a ; Ruby et al.,  2021 ; van Wyk et al.,  2019 ). However, the most accurate approach is represented by the provoked awakenings associated with the polysomnography (PSG) of one or more sleep nights in a laboratory. Generally, participants are awakened to explore the presence of a dream report and to compare the recall and non‐recall condition (Scarpelli et al.,  2017 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2020a ; Siclari et al.,  2017 ) or the report's qualitative features (Scarpelli et al.,  2020b ), correlating them with the specific EEG patterns preceding the awakening. It is worth noting that the narration of dream contents could be influenced by many biases after awakenings, such as the experimental setting (Schredl,  2008 ), the physiological background of waking‐life and by individual variables, such as personality, cognitive functions, censure/omissions and socio‐cultural features (Nir & Tononi,  2010 ), making dream reports not always completely reliable.

How can we overcome this obstacle? In this regard, recent studies have suggested that viable access to mental sleep activity is represented by dream‐enacting behaviours (DEBs; Baltzan et al.,  2020 ). Any acting out of a dream during sleep characterised by motor, emotional or verbal components may be considered a direct observation of dream experience while the subject is asleep (Nielsen et al.,  2009 ). In this view, the study of parasomnias or parasomnia‐like events, i.e., REM behaviour disorder (RBD), sleep walking, nightmares, and sleep talking, may provide new insights about dreaming. Interestingly, some investigations highlighted a strong level of congruence between the body movements, verbal or emotional expressions during sleep and the subsequent components of dream recall (Arkin et al.,  1970 ; Leclair‐Visonneau et al.,  2010 ; Oudiette et al.,  2009 ; Rocha & Arnulf,  2020 ).

Assessing REMs in patients with RBD, Leclair‐Visonneau et al. ( 2010 ) found a concordance between limbs, head, and eye movements during the REM behaviour episode. The authors suggested that REMs may imitate the scanning of the dream scenario according to the so‐called “scanning hypothesis” (Arnulf,  2011 ; Leclair‐Visonneau et al.,  2010 ). Moreover, Oudiette et al. ( 2009 ) revealed that during sleepwalking or sleep terror episodes, subjects show complex motor behaviours strictly related to their oneiric scenes. The same group has demonstrated that sleepwalkers are able to replay the recently trained behaviour during the parasomnia episode, supporting the idea that dream enactment may have a pivotal role in memory processing during sleep (Oudiette et al.,  2011 ).

More recently, Rivera‐García et al. ( 2019 ) investigated the activation of facial muscles during REM sleep among healthy women. They considered facial expressions during sleep on a par with DEBs and an index of emotional dreams. Consistently, the previous literature shows that DEBs are more frequent during intense emotional dreams, such as nightmares (Nielsen et al., 2009 ). Indeed, the authors revealed that the activation of corrugator and zygomatic muscles are highly associated with dreams featured by negative affect (Rivera‐García et al. ( 2019 )).

Also, sleep talking could be considered an additional non‐pathological parasomnia‐like event related to dreaming (Alfonsi et al.,  2019 ; Mangiaruga et al., 2021). During sleep, the audible verbalisations may represent access to oneiric contents (Arkin et al.,  1970 ; Alfonsi et al.,  2019 ). In this regard, some studies showed different degrees of correspondence between sleep talking and dreaming (Arkin et al.,  1970 ; Rechtschaffen et al.,  1962 ). Arkin et al. ( 1970 ) reported different orders of concordance between sleep speech and later dream reports. Some authors investigated the presence of dialogical components within the dream reports proposing an overlapping between the neural mechanisms underlying linguistic production in dreams and those responsible for language during waking state (Shimizu & Inoue,  1986 ; Hong et al.,  1996 ; Siclari et al.,  2017 ). Specifically, Hong et al. ( 1996 ) found a reduction of the alpha activity focussed on Broca's and Wernicke's language regions, proportional to the amount of expressive and receptive language reported in dreams (Hong et al.,  1996 ; Shimizu & Inoue,  1986 ). In addition, Noreika et al. ( 2015 ) demonstrated a decrement in the theta and alpha activity in a single‐case study associated with linguistic hypnagogic hallucination. Consistently, a recent study revealed that similar EEG patterns predict intelligible verbalisations during sleep (Mangiaruga et al., 2022 ).

Overall, both findings in subjects suffering from parasomnias and those related to “benign” phenomena (e.g., facial expressions, sleep talking), suggest that parasomnia‐like episodes may open a new frontier in dream research making the oneiric production more accessible.

1.4.1. Nightmares

Nightmares are disturbing mental sleep activity characterised by negative emotions and often considered a clinical symptom causing significant distress. They are frequently associated with a high level of arousal and somatic manifestations that are capable to awake the dreamer from REM sleep. The repeated occurrence of this event is categorised as parasomnia, i.e., “nightmare disorder”, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM‐5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013 ).

On the one hand, this disturbance is frequently related to post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Germain,  2013 ), but it could also be a reaction to stress conditions (Scarpelli et al.,  2022 ). On the other hand, also idiopathic nightmares, i.e., without a known cause, should be considered. For instance, this kind of mental sleep activity is quite common in children tending to disappear during adulthood, and it is more frequent among females (Nielsen & Levin,  2007 ).

From a neurobiological perspective, a recent investigation shows that the activation of the autonomic nervous system may be linked to nightmares (Paul et al.,  2019 ). Some studies revealed REM‐specific alterations in nightmare sufferers such as longer REM latency, increased skipping of early REM periods and cycle length, and more frequent REM periods (Nielsen et al.,  2010 ). Furthermore, some EEG findings highlighted the presence of slow frontal and central theta activity during REM sleep in a group of nightmare recallers (Marquis et al.,  2017 ). Further studies reported evidence for reduced slow‐wave sleep and greater intra‐sleep wakefulness (Simor et al.,  2012 ), increased alpha power during REM sleep, and higher levels of EEG desynchronisation in NREM sleep of students with frequent nightmares (Simor et al.,  2013 ). In other words, as already mentioned for dream recall, a higher autonomic and electrophysiological activation may provide the physiological background to the nightmare occurrence (Fisher et al.,  1970 ; Nielsen & Zadra,  2005 ). This is consistent with the self‐reported experience of greater emotional and physical activations during the nightmare occurrence.

Fear is the predominant emotion included in nightmares (Zadra et al.,  2006 ), suggesting that nightmares could be linked to fear‐dysfunction disturbances, i.e., phobias, generalised or social anxiety (Nielsen & Levin,  2007 ; Walker,  2010 ). In other words, nightmares could be related to the dysfunction in the hippocampal–amygdala prefrontal system that controls fear memory formation and extinction (Marquis et al.,  2017 ; Nielsen & Levin,  2007 ). Nevertheless, the functional role of nightmares is still debated. Considering the early theories of dream function emphasising roles for REM sleep and dreaming in promoting adaptation to stress, nightmares could be interpreted as a failure of this process (Wright & Koulack,  1987 ).

Along this vein, some authors proposed that a certain degree of awareness of our dream contents and the possibility of altering them may be beneficial for nightmares sufferers (Kellner et al.,  1992 ; Krakow et al.,  2001 ; Neidhardt et al.,  1992 ). In particular, compelling evidence highlighted that imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) is very effective in reducing chronic nightmares within 6–12 weeks of therapy (Germain et al.,  2004 ; Kellner et al.,  1992 ; Krakow et al.,  2001 ; Neidhardt et al.,  1992 ). This technique consists of modifying the plot of the recurring nightmare during the wakefulness by an imaginal rehearsal of a new dream without disturbing items (Kellner et al.,  1992 ). The nightmare sufferers learn to change the nightmares scenes by creating a less unpleasant ending and including mastery elements in the new dream scenario (Germain et al.,  2004 ).

Interestingly, lucid dreaming induction could represent a useful intervention to reduce nightmares (Zadra & Pihl,  1997 ; Spoormaker & Van Den Bout,  2006 ; Rak et al.,  2015 ). It has been hypothesised that lucid dreaming could be a sort of coping strategy to face unpleasant stimuli during a dream experience (Schiappa et al.,  2018 ). Actually, lucid dream therapy is a cognitive technique that allows patients to learn to be aware of and modify their mental sleep activity during their nightmares through daily exercises (Spoormaker & Van Den Bout,  2006 ; Zadra & Pihl,  1997 ).

More recently, eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR; Shapiro,  1989 ) has been employed for nightmares treatment in PTSD. Starting from the view that nightmares are the manifestations of adverse events registered in a dysfunctional form, this technique aimed to promote the recall of distressing images while activating one type of bilateral sensory input (e.g., hand tapping or side‐to‐side eye movement). The protocol allows subjects to identify and reprocess the targeted disturbing memories and experiences in order to formulate insight and adaptive behaviour.

In conclusion, it should be underlined that studies on PSG abnormalities and specific macro‐ and micro‐structural features correlated to nightmares are still missing. Further, efficacy studies on nightmare treatment (i.e., IRT, lucid dream therapy, EMDR) are scarce and fragmentary. Future research should be conducted to fill this gap and explore the effectiveness of the above‐mentioned interventions for nightmare disorders.

1.4.2. What role for dreamwork in modern psychotherapy?

An interesting open issue concerns the possible usefulness of the oneiric experience as a tool in clinical practice, also in light of the neuroscientific knowledge on dreams.

Classically, Freud (1953) proposed two main functions of dreams: the expression of repressed infantile wishes and the protection of sleep. The antimoral nature of such wishes implies the need of a distortion through the dream censor to be acceptable, allowing their partial expression while protecting the continuity of sleep. Freud distinguished the manifest and the latent content of dream, the latter containing the true meaning of the dream. Free associations would represent the “royal road” to uncover the latent dream content, and the analyst provide his/her dream interpretation on the basis of the patient's dynamics.

The role of dream interpretation in modern psychoanalytic models has been significantly redefined compared to the initial Freudian conceptualisation (Pesant & Zadra,  2004 ). Crucially, several authors focussed their attention to the intrinsic validity of the manifest facets of dreams and their relationship with the diurnal experience. According to different approaches, the role of dream has been conceptualised in terms of reorganisation of the experience (Fosshage,  2002 ), adaptation to reality (Gazzillo et al.,  2020 ), and co‐construction of the intersubjective reality (Jiménez,  2012 ).

Although several authors underline a “marginalisation” of dream in modern clinical psychological practice (Leonard & Dawson,  2018 ), it is worth noting that dreams have become an object of study also in clinical paradigms different from the psychoanalytical models (Pesant & Zadra,  2004 ; Velotti & Zavattini,  2019 ). Among the others, the evolution of the debate about dreaming in the cognitivist framework (Rosner et al.,  2004 ) represents an interesting example of the redefinition of dreamwork in psychotherapy based on novel experimental data, theoretical models, and clinical observations. Beck ( 1971 ) proposed that dreams reflect the individual conception (and biases) about the self, the world, and the future, and may represent and indicator of changes in the emotional status. Nevertheless, the initial need to move away from the psychoanalytical framework and the pressure to adopt an empirically verifiable clinical model led to a common disuse of oneiric activity in cognitive‐behavioural psychotherapy. Dreams were mainly considered as psychologically meaningless epiphenomena of sleep, useless for the dreamer and in turn for the therapeutic process. More recently, the progress in the scientific understanding of dreams has led to the reintegration of dreams among the object of interest from different epistemological paradigms in the cognitivist framework. From a rationalist perspective, starting from the hypothesis that dreams are subjected to the same cognitive distortions that characterise the waking experience, it has been proposed that dreamwork can help to detect cognitive biases and maladaptive thought patterns (Barrett,  2002 ; Freeman & White,  2002 ; Hill,  1996 , 2003 ) and promote cognitive reconstructing. On the other hand, the constructivist paradigm moved the focus on the narrative facets of dreams and the co‐construction of meaning between patient and therapist (Bara,  2012 ; Rezzonico & Bani,  2015 ; Rosner et al.,  2004 ), with the aim to promote the emergence of relevant aspects of the personal meaning and increase the level of awareness of the patient.

The interest in the clinical use of dreams led to the development of different articulated models of dreamwork in psychotherapy, like the Description, Memory Sources, and Reformulation (DMR) model (Montangero,  2009 ) and the cognitive‐experiential model (Hill,  1996 , 2003 ). Overall, Eudell‐Simmons and Hilsenroth ( 2005 ) identify four main functions of dreams in psychotherapy: (a) facilitate the therapeutic process, (b) increase patient insight and self‐awareness, (c) provide clinical information relevant for the therapist, and (d) provide a measure of therapeutic change.

Clearly, a further research effort is needed to provide support for the objective and efficacy of dreamwork in psychotherapy. Nevertheless, the ongoing debate on this topic has led to several models of the clinical valence of dreams that appear consistent with experimental findings on oneiric activity, mainly moving from standardised symbolic interpretations of dreams to approaches based on the relationship of dreaming with individual experience and cognitive/emotional/behavioural functioning.

2. CONCLUSIONS

From the discovery of REM sleep to the present day, empirical investigations have considerably increased our understanding of neural mechanisms underlying dream recall.

Although compelling evidence converges in providing support to the so‐called activation hypothesis and continuity hypothesis, considerable efforts are still needed to fully understand the neurobiological bases of oneiric processes.

Overall, we believe that (a) some results are still heterogeneous due to the application of different protocols, so a more consistent approach is needed; (b) the use of advanced techniques such as high‐density EEG or source localisation methods should be encouraged to better understand the relationship between specific oscillations and dream features; (c) further studies on experimental manipulation of dreaming should be carried out, also considering the implementation of brain stimulation techniques to promote dream recall or its specific characteristics; and (d) DEBs could be used as a model to observe dream contents overcoming the problem regarding the correspondence between specific time/stage of sleep and dream production, offering new insights about the neural correlate of dreaming.

Lastly, it is worth noting that recent pandemic studies have “elected” dream activity (and nightmares) as a reliable index of our emotional and psychological health (Fränkl et al.,  2021 ; Scarpelli et al.,  2022 ). Considering this, we underline that a translational view is needed to systematically explore the potential role of neurobiological and experiential facets of dreaming in a clinical context.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

All the authors contributed equally.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

All authors report no conflict of interest.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Open Access Funding provided by Universita degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza within the CRUI‐CARE Agreement. [Correction added on 26 May 2022, after first online publication: CRUI funding statement has been added.]

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18 Interesting Psychology Research Paper Topics On Dreams

People have been interested in the topic of dreams since the early years of human civilization. Modern psychology allows us to learn more about dreams but there are still a lot of questions that we don’t have answers to. If you have to write a research paper about dreams, there are plenty of interesting topics to choose from.

The List of Research Paper Topics about Dreams

• A detailed definition of a dream.
• The reasons for us to dream.
• People who don’t have dreams.
• The duration of a dream.
• The meaning of dreams.
• The formula of most dreams.
• The features of lucid dreams.
• The nature of nightmares.
• Ways to deal with anxiety dreams.
• The meaning of repetitive dreams.
• Patients with REM behavior disorder.
• Dreams with empty emotional content.
• Dreams that portend psychosis.
• Measures to take for remembering more of your dreams.
• Dreams of animals.
• Remembering dreams under hypnosis.
• Sigmund Freud’s theory about dreams.
• Psychotherapy and dreams.

Tips for Writing Your Psychology Project

To get an excellent grade for your work, you should organize it in a correct order. First, pick an interesting topic like the ones above. Then, look for books and other sources to gain deep knowledge about the background of the question that you’re going to discuss. The next step is to make your own analysis and carry out your own experiments. Only when you have some research results, you may start writing.

Make a good outline in order to follow it during the writing process. This will help you remember to include every important detail in your text. You may start writing with body chapters rather than with an introduction, however. Usually, if you start with an introduction, you might have to make changes in it later. The contents of the body chapters might differ a little bit from your initial ideas.

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July 26, 2011

The Science Behind Dreaming

New research sheds light on how and why we remember dreams--and what purpose they are likely to serve

By Sander van der Linden

Getty Images

For centuries people have pondered the meaning of dreams. Early civilizations thought of dreams as a medium between our earthly world and that of the gods. In fact, the Greeks and Romans were convinced that dreams had certain prophetic powers. While there has always been a great interest in the interpretation of human dreams, it wasn’t until the end of the nineteenth century that Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung put forth some of the most widely-known modern theories of dreaming. Freud’s theory centred around the notion of repressed longing -- the idea that dreaming allows us to sort through unresolved, repressed wishes. Carl Jung (who studied under Freud) also believed that dreams had psychological importance, but proposed different theories about their meaning.

Since then, technological advancements have allowed for the development of other theories. One prominent neurobiological theory of dreaming is the “activation-synthesis hypothesis,” which states that dreams don’t actually mean anything: they are merely electrical brain impulses that pull random thoughts and imagery from our memories. Humans, the theory goes, construct dream stories after they wake up, in a natural attempt to make sense of it all. Yet, given the vast documentation of realistic aspects to human dreaming as well as indirect experimental evidence that other mammals such as cats also dream, evolutionary psychologists have theorized that dreaming really does serve a purpose. In particular, the “threat simulation theory” suggests that dreaming should be seen as an ancient biological defence mechanism that provided an evolutionary advantage because of  its capacity to repeatedly simulate potential threatening events – enhancing the neuro-cognitive mechanisms required for efficient threat perception and avoidance.

So, over the years, numerous theories have been put forth in an attempt to illuminate the mystery behind human dreams, but, until recently, strong tangible evidence has remained largely elusive.

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Yet, new research published in the Journal of Neuroscience provides compelling insights into the mechanisms that underlie dreaming and the strong relationship our dreams have with our memories. Cristina Marzano and her colleagues at the University of Rome have succeeded, for the first time, in explaining how humans remember their dreams. The scientists predicted the likelihood of successful dream recall based on a signature pattern of brain waves. In order to do this, the Italian research team invited 65 students to spend two consecutive nights in their research laboratory.

During the first night, the students were left to sleep, allowing them to get used to the sound-proofed and temperature-controlled rooms. During the second night the researchers measured the student’s brain waves while they slept. Our brain experiences four types of electrical brain waves: “delta,” “theta,” “alpha,” and “beta.” Each represents a different speed of oscillating electrical voltages and together they form the electroencephalography (EEG). The Italian research team used this technology to measure the participant’s brain waves during various sleep-stages. (There are five stages of sleep; most dreaming and our most intense dreams occur during the REM stage.) The students were woken at various times and asked to fill out a diary detailing whether or not they dreamt, how often they dreamt and whether they could remember the content of their dreams.

While previous studies have already indicated that people are more likely to remember their dreams when woken directly after REM sleep, the current study explains why. Those participants who exhibited more low frequency theta waves in the frontal lobes were also more likely to remember their dreams.

This finding is interesting because the increased frontal theta activity the researchers observed looks just like the successful encoding and retrieval of autobiographical memories seen while we are awake. That is, it is the same electrical oscillations in the frontal cortex that make the recollection of episodic memories (e.g., things that happened to you) possible. Thus, these findings suggest that the neurophysiological mechanisms that we employ while dreaming (and recalling dreams) are the same as when we construct and retrieve memories while we are awake.

In another recent study conducted by the same research team, the authors used the latest MRI techniques to investigate the relation between dreaming and the role of deep-brain structures. In their study, the researchers found that vivid, bizarre and emotionally intense dreams (the dreams that people usually remember) are linked to parts of the amygdala and hippocampus. While the amygdala plays a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions, the hippocampus has been implicated in important memory functions, such as the consolidation of information from short-term to long-term memory.

The proposed link between our dreams and emotions is also highlighted in another recent study published by Matthew Walker and colleagues at the Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab at UC Berkeley, who found that a reduction in REM sleep (or less “dreaming”) influences our ability to understand complex emotions in daily life – an essential feature of human social functioning.  Scientists have also recently identified where dreaming is likely to occur in the brain.  A very rare clinical condition known as “Charcot-Wilbrand Syndrome” has been known to cause (among other neurological symptoms) loss of the ability to dream.  However, it was not until a few years ago that a patient reported to have lost her ability to dream while having virtually no other permanent neurological symptoms. The patient suffered a lesion in a part of the brain known as the right inferior lingual gyrus (located in the visual cortex). Thus, we know that dreams are generated in, or transmitted through this particular area of the brain, which is associated with visual processing, emotion and visual memories.

Taken together, these recent findings tell an important story about the underlying mechanism and possible purpose of dreaming.

Dreams seem to help us process emotions by encoding and constructing memories of them. What we see and experience in our dreams might not necessarily be real, but the emotions attached to these experiences certainly are. Our dream stories essentially try to strip the emotion out of a certain experience by creating a memory of it. This way, the emotion itself is no longer active.  This mechanism fulfils an important role because when we don’t process our emotions, especially negative ones, this increases personal worry and anxiety. In fact, severe REM sleep-deprivation is increasingly correlated to the development of mental disorders. In short, dreams help regulate traffic on that fragile bridge which connects our experiences with our emotions and memories.

Are you a scientist who specializes in neuroscience, cognitive science, or psychology? And have you read a recent peer-reviewed paper that you would like to write about? Please send suggestions to Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist at the Boston Globe. He can be reached at garethideas AT gmail.com or Twitter @garethideas .

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114 I Have a Dream Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Are you struggling to find the perfect topic for your "I Have a Dream" essay? Don't worry, we've got you covered! In this article, we've compiled a list of 114 dream essay topic ideas and examples to help inspire you and get your creative juices flowing. Whether you're looking to write about your own personal dreams and aspirations, or explore the concept of dreams in a broader sense, there's sure to be a topic on this list that speaks to you. So grab a pen and paper, and start dreaming up your next essay masterpiece!

• My Dream Job: What do you want to be when you grow up, and why?
• A Dream Vacation: Describe your ideal travel destination and why it's your dream vacation.
• Dreams vs. Reality: Explore the gap between our dreams and the harsh realities of life.
• The American Dream: What does it mean to you, and is it still attainable in today's society?
• Dreams of Success: How do you define success, and what steps are you taking to achieve your dreams?
• Dreams of Love: Describe your ideal partner and what your dream relationship looks like.
• Dreaming Big: Why is it important to dream big and aim for the stars?
• Dreams of the Future: Where do you see yourself in 10 years, and what steps are you taking to achieve your goals?
• Dreaming in Color: Explore the significance of dreams and their impact on our waking lives.
• Dreams of Freedom: What does freedom mean to you, and how are you working towards achieving it?
• Dreaming of Change: How can we work together to create a better world for future generations?
• Dreams of Equality: Explore the concept of equality and what it means to live in a truly equal society.
• Dreams of Peace: How can we work towards a more peaceful world, both locally and globally?
• Dreams of Adventure: Describe your wildest adventure and what you hope to experience in the future.
• Dreaming of Success: What does success mean to you, and what steps are you taking to achieve it?
• Dreams of Creativity: How can we nurture our creative dreams and bring them to life?
• Dreaming of Change: What changes do you hope to see in the world, and how can you help make them happen?
• Dreams of Friendship: Describe your dream friend and what qualities they possess.
• Dreaming of Knowledge: How can we continue to grow and learn throughout our lives?
• Dreams of Happiness: What does true happiness look like to you, and how can you achieve it?
• Dreaming of Adventure: Describe your dream adventure and what you hope to experience.
• Dreams of Success: What steps are you taking to achieve your goals and make your dreams a reality?
• Dreams of Love: Explore the concept of love and what it means to find your soulmate.
• Dreaming of Change: How can we work towards creating a more just and equitable society?
• Dreams of the Future: Where do you see yourself in 10 years, and what steps are you taking to get there?
• Dreams of Freedom: What does freedom mean to you, and how can we fight for it?
• Dreaming of Equality: Explore the concept of equality and what it means to live in a truly equal society.
• Dreams of Peace: How can we work towards a more peaceful world

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International Journal of Dream Research

About the journal.

The scope of the journal is to publish peer-reviewed papers in the field of dream research including topics like dream recall, dream content, nightmares, lucid dreaming, dreaming in children and psychological aspects of sleep in general. In addition to empirical papers, comprehensive reviews and book/media reviews are also encouraged.

The IJoDR is indexed in the PsycINFO and Scopus databases.

The International Journal of Dream Research is an open access E-Journal and there is no page charge for authors!

Submitting a paper to the International Journal of Dream Research.

If you want to submit a paper please write an email to the editors ([email protected]) so we can create an account for you. The information regarding the account will be send via email and then you can start the submission process.

The next issue will be published in October 2024 .

The current issue or the online first articles can be assessed directly on this page.

Past issues can be found under the "Archives" heading (see top of the page).

 If you have questions about the Journal then please sent an email to the editors:

• Michael Schredl ([email protected])
• Daniel Erlacher ([email protected])

Current Issue

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Frontiers for Young Minds

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The Science of Dreams

Dreams are a common experience. Some are scary, some are funny. Recent research into how the brain works helps us understand why we dream. Strange combinations of ideas in our dreams may make us more creative and give us ideas that help us to solve problems. Or, when memories from the day are repeated in the brain during sleep, memories may get stronger. Dreams may also improve our moods. Together, these studies show that dreams and sleep are important for performing well when we are awake.

When she was 8, my daughter told me about one of her dreams. She was in a spaceship with some animals. Although she knew she was in a spaceship in her dream, when telling me about the dream, she realized the spaceship was actually a washing machine. At times, she and the animals would be out in space, but they also came back to earth. She told me the dream with a laugh and then moved on with her day, ignoring the crazy animals and spaceships that entertained her in her sleep.

Since we remember our dreams and then often forget them, what is their purpose? Why do we dream about the things we do? New research tools, particularly those that can be used to investigate the brain, are being used to answer these questions.

What Are Dreams?

Although it is hard to define what a dream is, for the purpose of this article, we will define dreams as our thoughts during sleep that we recall when we wake up. So, sleeping dreams are not the same as “daydreaming.” Dreams are mostly visual (made up of scenes and faces; sound, taste, and smell are rare in dreams [ 1 ]). Dreams can range from truly strange to rather boring, snapshots from a recent event.

To study dreams, scientists need a measure of dreaming. Most studies use dream reports (a person writes out her dreams when she wakes up) or questionnaires (a person answers questions like “How many dreams have you recalled in the past month?” [ 2 ]). Dreams are more likely to be recalled when a person is woken up from REM sleep. REM sleep is a type of sleep that is named for the rapid eye movements that can be measured during this stage of sleep. We do not dream as much in non-REM sleep, the sleep stages that make up the rest of the night, and dream reports from non-REM sleep are often less strange.

Dream frequency (how often dreams happen) and content (what dreams are about) is very different for everyone, and there are many reasons why this may be true. For example, you will remember dreams more if you are woken up by someone or by an alarm clock. This might be because you can still recall that dream memory while it is fresh but, if you wake up on your own, you will transition through a few sleep stages and possibly lose that dream memory. Dream recall changes with age, too. Older people are less likely to report dreaming. This could also be related to memory: since older people have weaker memories, it could be that they dream but cannot remember their dreams by the time they wake up. A brain area called the medial prefrontal cortex is also related to dream recall. If this brain area is damaged, the person recalls few dreams, which may mean the person dreams less (or not at all). Also, how tightly packed the brain cells are in the medial prefrontal cortex can vary from person to person, which may cause some healthy people to dream more or less than other healthy people. There are also genes that affect how much REM sleep people get. People with less REM sleep may not have the strange dreams that tend to come in REM. So, how long you sleep, your age, and your genetics may all explain why you dream more or less than someone else.

Do dreams actually happen while we sleep, or are they ideas that come to us when we wake up and we just “feel” like it happened during sleep? A recent study using a type of brain imaging called magnetic resonance imaging or (MRI: Read more in the Young Minds article “How Is Magnetic Resonance Imaging Used to Learn About the Brain?” [ 3 ]) helped answer this question ( Figure 1A ). The scientists made maps of the brain activity that occurred when people looked at pictures of things—keys, beds, airplanes. Later, the people in the study slept in the MRI machine. The scientists matched the pattern of brain activity from the people as they slept to brain activity patterns for the pictures they viewed earlier, and then chose the best match ( Figures 1B,C ). This match predicted what the person said they dreamed about 60% of the time. Although 60% is not perfect, it is better than guessing! [ 4 ]. This means that dreams are created in the brain during sleep.

• Figure 1 - (A) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a way to investigate the brain.
• The person lies on a bed inside a giant magnet. (B) MRI can measure the structure of the brain and the areas of the brain that are active. (C) MRI was used to measure dreaming. First, while the participant was awake, they viewed thousands of pictures in the MRI. This told scientists the specific brain responses to specific pictures. Later, when the participant slept in the MRI, scientists measured the brain activity patterns and matched this to the brain responses to the pictures the participant saw when they were awake. Scientists guessed that the best match would tell them what the participant was dreaming about. By asking the participant about their dreams in the MRI, scientists found that the dreams did tend to match the pictures predicted by the brain activity.

Dreams Support Memories

What is the purpose of our dreams? Researchers have found that sleep is important for memory (see this Frontiers for Young Minds article ; “Thanks for the Memories…” [ 5 ]). Memories move from temporary storage in the hippocampus , a brain structure that is very important for short-term memory, to permanent storage in other parts of the brain. This makes the memories easier to remember later. Memories improve with sleep because the memories are replayed during sleep [ 6 ]. If you want to learn all the words to your favorite scene in a movie, you might re-watch that scene over and over again. The brain works the same way: neurons (brain cells) that are active with learning are active again and replay the learned material during sleep. This helps store the memory more permanently.

Memory replay may show up in our dreams. Dreams in non-REM sleep, when most memory replay happens, often contain normal people and objects from recent events. However, sleep switches between non-REM and REM sleep (see Figure 2 ). So, bizarre dreams in REM sleep may come from a combination of many different recent memories, which were replayed in non-REM sleep, and get jumbled up during REM sleep. If dreams help with memory processing, does that mean your memories are not being processed if you do not dream? No. Memories are moving to storage even if we do not dream.

• Figure 2 - There are four types of sleep—REM sleep (purple) and three stages of non-REM sleep (blue).
• REM stands for rapid eye movements, which happen during this stage of sleep. During REM sleep, muscle and brain activity also differ from other sleep stages. Characteristics of dreams tend to be different for each of these sleep stages.

Dreams Improve Creativity and Problem Solving

My daughter’s dream of a spaceship made a great story that she recited to me, and later, to her classmates. The images were intense and interesting, inspiring her to draw scenes in a notebook and write about the dream for school. This is an example of how dreams can help make us more creative. Mary Shelley, the author of the book Frankenstein, got the idea for her book from a dream. Even scientists get ideas from dreams [ 7 ].

To measure creative problem solving, scientists used a remote associates task, in which three unrelated words are shown, and the person is to come up with a word they have in common. For instance, HEART, SIXTEEN, and COOKIES seem unrelated until you realize they all are related to SWEET (sweetheart, sweet sixteen, and cookies are sweet) ( Figure 3 ). The scientists wanted to see whether sleep helped people do better on this task. They found that people were better at thinking of the remote solution if they had a nap, particularly a nap with REM sleep. Given that REM is when most bizarre dreaming occurs, this supports the idea that these dreams might help us find creative solutions to problems [ 8 ].

• Figure 3 - REM sleep helps people find creative solutions.
• In the morning, participants did two tasks to test creativity and problem solving (A) . They did one task again in the afternoon. In between, they either stayed awake (“wake” group) or took a nap. Those that took naps either did not have REM sleep in their nap (“nREM” group) or had both nREM and REM sleep (“nREM + REM” group). (B) If subjects stayed awake between the morning and afternoon tests (yellow bar), they did not improve on the task. They also did not improve if they had a nap that was only nREM sleep (light blue bar). But, if they had a nap with both nREM and REM sleep, they did better in the afternoon compared with when they did the task in the morning (dark blue bar). So, REM sleep must help us find creative solutions (from Cai et al. [ 8 ]).

This study and research like it gives us reason to believe that REM dreams may help us be more creative and solve problems. Many different memories may be activated at the same time and when these memories are mixed together, the result when we wake up may be both the memory of a strange dream and a unique perspective on problems.

Dreams Regulate Our Moods and Emotions

Dreams are usually emotional. One study found that most dreams are scary, angry, or sad.

Dreams might seem to be emotional simply because we tend to remember emotional things better than non-emotional things. For example, in waking life, the day you got a puppy is more memorable than a normal school day. So, dreams about emotional events might be remembered more easily than boring, non-emotional dreams. It is also possible that dreams are emotional because one job of dreams is to help us process emotions from our day [ 9 ]. This may be why the amygdala , an area of the brain that responds to emotions when we are awake, is active during REM sleep. If you had a sad day, you are more likely to have sad dreams. But, sleep also improves mood–sleep after a disagreement or sad event will make you happier.

Dreams could also help prepare us for emotional events, through something called threat simulation theory [ 10 ]. For example, when I dreamt that my young daughter, who could not swim, fell into a swimming pool, recall of that dream convinced me to sign her up for swim lessons. By simulating this fearful situation, I could prevent it by being prepared.

These studies show us that sleep and dreams are important for our emotions. By processing emotions in sleep, we may be better prepared and in a better mood the next day.

Conclusions

There are different ways scientists measure dreams—from asking questions to using MRI. These studies show us that activity in the brain while we sleep gives us the interesting dreams we recall when we wake up. These dreams help us remember things, be more creative, and process our emotions.

We know most kids do not get enough sleep. Some diseases (like Alzheimer’s disease) also make people sleep less, while others (like REM sleep behavior disorder and mood disorders) affect dreams directly. It is important to study sleep and dreams to understand what happens when we do not get enough sleep and how we can treat people with these diseases.

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Rapid Eye Movement (REM) : ↑ A stage of sleep in which the eyes move rapidly and there is no muscle activity.

Medial Prefrontal Cortex : ↑ A specific area in the front of the brain that is associated with dream recall but also has a role in memory and decision-making.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) : ↑ A tool used to take pictures of internal body parts (including the brain). MRI can also be used to measure the activity in the brain.

Hippocampus : ↑ An area in the brain that is thought to be important for short-term memory.

Neuron : ↑ A cell in the nervous system (brain and spinal cord) that can transmit information to other cells.

Amygdala : ↑ An area of the brain involved in the experience of emotions.

Threat Simulation Theory : ↑ A theory of dreaming that says that threats (things that could be bad) are simulated or practiced in your dreams to prepare you for those situations when you are awake.

1. ↑ Zandra, A. L., Nielsen, T. A., and Donderi, D. C. 1998. Prevalence of auditory, olfactory, and gustatory experiences in home dreams. Percept. Mot. Skills 87:819–26.

2. ↑ Schredl, M. 2002. Questionnaires and diaries as research instruments in dream research: methodological issues. Dreaming 12:17–26. doi: 10.1023/A:1013890421674

3. ↑ Hoyos, P., Kim, N., and Kastner, S. 2019. How Is Magnetic Resonance Imaging Used to Learn About the Brain? Front. Young Minds . 7:86. doi: 10.3389/frym.2019.00086

4. ↑ Horikawa, T., Tamaki, M., Miyawaki, Y., and Kamitani, T. 2013. Neural decoding of visual imagery during sleep. Science 340:639–42. doi: 10.1126/science.1234330

5. ↑ Davachi, L., and Shohamy, D. 2014. Thanks for the Memories.… Front. Young Minds. 2:23. doi: 10.3389/frym.2014.00023

6. ↑ O’Neill, J., Senior, T. J., Allen, K., Huxter, J. R., and Csicsvari, J. 2008. Reactivation of experience-dependent cell assembly patterns in the hippocampus. Nat. Neurosci . 11:209–15. doi: 10.1038/nn2037

7. ↑ Barrett, D. 2001. The Committee of Sleep: How artists, scientists, and athletes use dreams for creative problem-solving–and How You Can Too . New York, NY: Crown.

8. ↑ Cai, D. J., Mednick, S. A., Harrison, E. M., Kanady, J. C., and Mednick, S. C. 2009. REM, not incubation, improves creativity by priming associative networks. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A . 106:10130–4. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0900271106

9. ↑ Cremone, A., Kurdziel, L. B. F., Fraticelli, A., McDermott, J., and Spencer, R. M. C. 2017. Napping reduces emotional attention bias during early childhood. Dev. Sci . 20:e12411. doi: 10.1111/desc.12411

10. ↑ Revonsuo, A. 2000. The reinterpretation of dreams: an evolutionary hypothesis of the function of dreaming. Behav. Brain Sci . 23:877–901. doi: 10.1017/s0140525x00004015

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Research Topics About Dreams

• What Dreams Are Possible?
• What Do All Athletes Dream of, But Few Achieve?
• What Fulfills Your Friend’s Dreams?
• What Are Dreams According to the Bible?
• When Do Reality and Dreams Collide?
• How Come We Forget Our Dreams?
• What Fascinates Philosophers About Dreams?
• What Characterizes A Nightmare?
• What Dream Comes True Most Often?
• What Are the Most Common themes in Nightmares, and What Do They Mean?
• Why Do Duddy Kravitz’s Dreams Matter to Him?
• What Do Dreams Mean, And Why Do People Dream them?
• What Are Dreams, and Do They Have Positive or Negative Effects on Us?
• What Are the Main Parallels and Disparities between Freud’s and Jung’s Dream Theories?
• How Are You Moving Toward Your Goals?
• How Do Dreams Affect Who We Are?
• How Can Dreams and Omens Relate to the Interconnectedness theme?
• How Do Dreams Help People Get Through Life or Destroy them When They Don’t Come True?
• What Is the Symbolic Meaning of Dreams?
• How Can Women Follow Their Dreams Without Feeling Self-Conscious?
• What Different Things Do People Use to Reduce Problems in Life or Find Inspiration for Dreams?
• Can Dreams Predict the Future?
• Are Dreams Signs from Our Subconscious Minds or Meaningless Manifestations?
• Are Dreams the Cause of Mythology?
• Can the Blind See Dreams?
• What Dreams Are the Most Uncommon?
• How Much Time Do Dreams Last?
• Can You Gain Knowledge from Your Dreams?
• Do Dreams Differ Around the World?
• Do We Understand When We Dream?

Research Topics on Domestic Violence

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The big idea: what if dreaming is the whole point of sleep?

Rather than being an optional extra, dreams might be vital to our functioning

E xposed, the undulating surface of the brain is shimmering and opalescent, punctuated with arteries and veins. Give any part of it the tiniest jolt of electricity with a pen-like probe and it will activate the neurons in that spot. Neurosurgeons use this technique during some types of brain surgery to locate the source of seizures, or to avoid damaging vital tissue.

While the procedure is happening, the patient is awake, but feels nothing, since the brain doesn’t have so-called nociceptors, or pain sensors . Because the thin, outermost layer is responsible for consciousness, language, perception, memory and thought, moving the probe from spot to spot can reveal quite a lot. It can trigger smells, memories of childhood – even nightmares. Use the probe to touch a particular part of the brain: nightmare on. Remove the probe: nightmare off. In this way, I’ve witnessed first-hand how dreams are truly part of the neural architecture. They’re very much built into our bodies.

I’ve also observed the power of dreams to persist in the face of terrible injury. I’ve seen how children who have had half their brains removed as a last-resort treatment for intractable seizures still report dreaming. I have come to realise that virtually everyone has dreams, though we often don’t remember them. And of course, people born blind dream. They make up for their lack of visual content by experiencing more sound, touch, taste and smell than sighted people.

Recent research suggests that dreams may also play a bigger role in our sleep than previously thought. For decades, scientists studying dreaming focused on only one stage of sleep, so-called rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep. They concluded that we spend about two hours a night dreaming, more or less. If you do the maths, this adds up to about a 12th of our lives immersed in dreams, a month out of every year. That would represent an enormous commitment to dreaming. But it turns out that even that may be a gross underestimate. When researchers at sleep labs wake up study participants at different points – not just during REM sleep – they find that dreaming is possible at any stage. It’s conceivable that we actually spend almost a third of our lives dreaming.

Dreams are the product of profound changes the brain automatically undergoes each night. The rational, executive network in the brain is switched off, and the imaginative, visual and emotional parts are dialled way up. As a result, the dreaming mind is given free rein in a way that has no parallel in our waking lives. We couldn’t think this way when we are awake even if we tried.

Far from being dormant, the sleeping brain burns glucose and pulses with electricity to produce dreams. But why devote this kind of energy to the creation of wildly imaginative and highly emotional nocturnal experiences for an audience of one – especially when they often seem nonsensical? I’m confident that we wouldn’t expend the resources required for dreaming, while leaving ourselves more vulnerable to predators, unless dreams were a vital feature of our minds.

There are a number of theories that attempt to explain the evolutionary benefits of dreaming. These include keeping our minds nimble while we sleep, making us more intuitive, giving us outrageous scenarios so we can better understand the everyday, serving as an overnight therapist, and rehearsing threats so that we’re better prepared. Evidence for the latter includes one study that showed prospective medical students who had dreamed about things going terribly wrong during their entrance exam tended to do better when they took it the following day.

I believe there may be some truth to all of these theories. As our brains have evolved over millions of years, it seems reasonable that the role of dreams has expanded and evolved with them. We don’t try to find a single evolutionary benefit for waking thought. Why should we attempt to constrain the purpose of dreams?

During my training, I spent some time in transplant surgery. When we put in hearts and lungs, kidneys and livers, we never connected the nerves. Give that some thought for a moment, as I have. What I realised was that our most vital organs are passive participants in the sleeping body. This suggests to me that it’s not so much the body that needs to sleep, but the brain. In fact, the dreaming brain shuts the body down through a form of chemical paralysis, liberating itself to fully experience the dream without risking bodily injury by it being acted out.

What should we conclude from all of this? Essentially, that dreaming is not some optional extra, a kind of decoration on top of the serious business of sleep. No, we need to dream. If we’re sleep deprived, the first thing we catch up on is dreaming. Spend a whole night awake, as I often did during training, and the next night of sleep explodes into vivid, REM dreaming, rather than following the normal 90-minute sleep cycle. And if you’ve had enough sleep but are dream deprived (something only possible because of interventions made in a sleep lab), you immediately start dreaming as soon as you fall asleep again.

Even in the total absence of sleep, vivid dreams can emerge. Among people with fatal familial insomnia , a rare and lethal genetic disease that makes sleep impossible, the need is so strong that dreams escape their normal confines, leaking into waking life.

There is so much focus these days on the benefits of sleep for our mental and physical health. That’s entirely justified. But given the many potential benefits of dreaming for our waking life, maybe it’s not the sleep we really need, but the dreams.

Rahul Jandial is a neuroscientist and author of  This Is Why You Dream ( Cornerstone ).

Further reading

Why We Sleep : The New Science of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker (Penguin, £10.99)

When Brains Dream : Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep by Antonio Zadra and Robert Stickgold (WW Norton, £13.99)

The Shapeless Unease : My Year in Search of Sleep by Samantha Harvey (Vintage, £9.99)

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 113 great research paper topics.

General Education

One of the hardest parts of writing a research paper can be just finding a good topic to write about. Fortunately we've done the hard work for you and have compiled a list of 113 interesting research paper topics. They've been organized into ten categories and cover a wide range of subjects so you can easily find the best topic for you.

In addition to the list of good research topics, we've included advice on what makes a good research paper topic and how you can use your topic to start writing a great paper.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

Not all research paper topics are created equal, and you want to make sure you choose a great topic before you start writing. Below are the three most important factors to consider to make sure you choose the best research paper topics.

#1: It's Something You're Interested In

A paper is always easier to write if you're interested in the topic, and you'll be more motivated to do in-depth research and write a paper that really covers the entire subject. Even if a certain research paper topic is getting a lot of buzz right now or other people seem interested in writing about it, don't feel tempted to make it your topic unless you genuinely have some sort of interest in it as well.

#2: There's Enough Information to Write a Paper

Even if you come up with the absolute best research paper topic and you're so excited to write about it, you won't be able to produce a good paper if there isn't enough research about the topic. This can happen for very specific or specialized topics, as well as topics that are too new to have enough research done on them at the moment. Easy research paper topics will always be topics with enough information to write a full-length paper.

Trying to write a research paper on a topic that doesn't have much research on it is incredibly hard, so before you decide on a topic, do a bit of preliminary searching and make sure you'll have all the information you need to write your paper.

#3: It Fits Your Teacher's Guidelines

Don't get so carried away looking at lists of research paper topics that you forget any requirements or restrictions your teacher may have put on research topic ideas. If you're writing a research paper on a health-related topic, deciding to write about the impact of rap on the music scene probably won't be allowed, but there may be some sort of leeway. For example, if you're really interested in current events but your teacher wants you to write a research paper on a history topic, you may be able to choose a topic that fits both categories, like exploring the relationship between the US and North Korea. No matter what, always get your research paper topic approved by your teacher first before you begin writing.

113 Good Research Paper Topics

Below are 113 good research topics to help you get you started on your paper. We've organized them into ten categories to make it easier to find the type of research paper topics you're looking for.

Arts/Culture

• Discuss the main differences in art from the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance .
• Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.
• How is sexism portrayed in different types of media (music, film, video games, etc.)? Has the amount/type of sexism changed over the years?
• How has the music of slaves brought over from Africa shaped modern American music?
• How has rap music evolved in the past decade?
• How has the portrayal of minorities in the media changed?

Current Events

• What have been the impacts of China's one child policy?
• How have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
• How has the Trump presidency changed international relations?
• Analyze the history of the relationship between the United States and North Korea.
• What factors contributed to the current decline in the rate of unemployment?
• What have been the impacts of states which have increased their minimum wage?
• How do US immigration laws compare to immigration laws of other countries?
• How have the US's immigration laws changed in the past few years/decades?
• How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
• What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare in the US?
• What factors contributed to the UK deciding to leave the EU (Brexit)?
• What factors contributed to China becoming an economic power?
• Discuss the history of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies  (some of which tokenize the S&P 500 Index on the blockchain) .
• Do students in schools that eliminate grades do better in college and their careers?
• Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
• Do students who receive free meals at school get higher grades compared to when they weren't receiving a free meal?
• Do students who attend charter schools score higher on standardized tests than students in public schools?
• Do students learn better in same-sex classrooms?
• How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Montessori Method ?
• Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
• What was the impact of the No Child Left Behind act?
• How does the US education system compare to education systems in other countries?
• What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students' health?
• Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
• Do homeschoolers who attend college do as well as students who attended traditional schools?
• Does offering tenure increase or decrease quality of teaching?
• How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
• Should graduate students be able to form unions?

• What are different ways to lower gun-related deaths in the US?
• How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
• Is affirmative action still necessary in education and/or the workplace?
• Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?
• How has stem cell research impacted the medical field?
• How can human trafficking be reduced in the United States/world?
• Should people be able to donate organs in exchange for money?
• Which types of juvenile punishment have proven most effective at preventing future crimes?
• Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
• Analyze the immigration policies of certain countries and how they are similar and different from one another.
• Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
• Do tariffs increase the number of domestic jobs?
• Which prison reforms have proven most effective?
• Should governments be able to censor certain information on the internet?
• Which methods/programs have been most effective at reducing teen pregnancy?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Keto diet?
• How effective are different exercise regimes for losing weight and maintaining weight loss?
• How do the healthcare plans of various countries differ from each other?
• What are the most effective ways to treat depression ?
• What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?
• Which methods are most effective for improving memory?
• What can be done to lower healthcare costs in the US?
• What factors contributed to the current opioid crisis?
• Analyze the history and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic .
• Are low-carbohydrate or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
• How much exercise should the average adult be getting each week?
• Which methods are most effective to get parents to vaccinate their children?
• What are the pros and cons of clean needle programs?
• How does stress affect the body?
• Discuss the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
• What were the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials?
• Who was responsible for the Iran-Contra situation?
• How has New Orleans and the government's response to natural disasters changed since Hurricane Katrina?
• What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
• What were the impacts of British rule in India ?
• Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
• What were the successes and failures of the women's suffrage movement in the United States?
• What were the causes of the Civil War?
• How did Abraham Lincoln's assassination impact the country and reconstruction after the Civil War?
• Which factors contributed to the colonies winning the American Revolution?
• What caused Hitler's rise to power?
• Discuss how a specific invention impacted history.
• What led to Cleopatra's fall as ruler of Egypt?
• How has Japan changed and evolved over the centuries?
• What were the causes of the Rwandan genocide ?

• Why did Martin Luther decide to split with the Catholic Church?
• Analyze the history and impact of a well-known cult (Jonestown, Manson family, etc.)
• How did the sexual abuse scandal impact how people view the Catholic Church?
• How has the Catholic church's power changed over the past decades/centuries?
• What are the causes behind the rise in atheism/ agnosticism in the United States?
• What were the influences in Siddhartha's life resulted in him becoming the Buddha?
• How has media portrayal of Islam/Muslims changed since September 11th?

Science/Environment

• How has the earth's climate changed in the past few decades?
• How has the use and elimination of DDT affected bird populations in the US?
• Analyze how the number and severity of natural disasters have increased in the past few decades.
• Analyze deforestation rates in a certain area or globally over a period of time.
• How have past oil spills changed regulations and cleanup methods?
• How has the Flint water crisis changed water regulation safety?
• What are the pros and cons of fracking?
• What impact has the Paris Climate Agreement had so far?
• What have NASA's biggest successes and failures been?
• How can we improve access to clean water around the world?
• Does ecotourism actually have a positive impact on the environment?
• Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
• What can be done to save amphibian species currently at risk of extinction?
• What impact has climate change had on coral reefs?
• How are black holes created?
• Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
• How will the loss of net neutrality affect internet users?
• Analyze the history and progress of self-driving vehicles.
• How has the use of drones changed surveillance and warfare methods?
• Has social media made people more or less connected?
• What progress has currently been made with artificial intelligence ?
• Do smartphones increase or decrease workplace productivity?
• What are the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom?
• How is Google search affecting our intelligence?
• When is the best age for a child to begin owning a smartphone?
• Has frequent texting reduced teen literacy rates?

How to Write a Great Research Paper

Even great research paper topics won't give you a great research paper if you don't hone your topic before and during the writing process. Follow these three tips to turn good research paper topics into great papers.

#1: Figure Out Your Thesis Early

Before you start writing a single word of your paper, you first need to know what your thesis will be. Your thesis is a statement that explains what you intend to prove/show in your paper. Every sentence in your research paper will relate back to your thesis, so you don't want to start writing without it!

As some examples, if you're writing a research paper on if students learn better in same-sex classrooms, your thesis might be "Research has shown that elementary-age students in same-sex classrooms score higher on standardized tests and report feeling more comfortable in the classroom."

If you're writing a paper on the causes of the Civil War, your thesis might be "While the dispute between the North and South over slavery is the most well-known cause of the Civil War, other key causes include differences in the economies of the North and South, states' rights, and territorial expansion."

#2: Back Every Statement Up With Research

Remember, this is a research paper you're writing, so you'll need to use lots of research to make your points. Every statement you give must be backed up with research, properly cited the way your teacher requested. You're allowed to include opinions of your own, but they must also be supported by the research you give.

#3: Do Your Research Before You Begin Writing

You don't want to start writing your research paper and then learn that there isn't enough research to back up the points you're making, or, even worse, that the research contradicts the points you're trying to make!

Get most of your research on your good research topics done before you begin writing. Then use the research you've collected to create a rough outline of what your paper will cover and the key points you're going to make. This will help keep your paper clear and organized, and it'll ensure you have enough research to produce a strong paper.

What's Next?

Are you also learning about dynamic equilibrium in your science class? We break this sometimes tricky concept down so it's easy to understand in our complete guide to dynamic equilibrium .

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Want to know the fastest and easiest ways to convert between Fahrenheit and Celsius? We've got you covered! Check out our guide to the best ways to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit (or vice versa).

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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113 American Dream Essay Topics

🏆 best american dream essay titles, ✍️ american dream essay topics for college, 🎓 interesting american dream topics for research papers, 💡 simple american dream titles for essays, ❓ research questions about the american dream, ✨ good american dream argumentative essay topics.

• Gran Torino Essay – Clint Eastwood’s Film Analysis
• The American Dream Theme in Ginsberg’s “America”
• “Paper Moon” as a Symbol of the American Dream
• The Concept of American Dream in Plays
• American Dream vs. Reality Throughout History
• “Watchmen” Film in Relation to the American Dream
• The Downside of the American Dream
• The Concept of the American Dream The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of the American Dream and discuss how Americans of European descent utilized the land and labor of others to realize it.
• Comparing American Dream Collapsing and the Fading American Dreams The first article is American dream collapsing done by Jim Tankersley in 2016. The author is writing about the decline in several children earning more than their parents.
• American Dream as a Symbol of Hopelessness in Gothic Fiction This paper aims to provide evidence that the characters of Lutie Johnson and Robin both failed to fulfill the American Dream.
• The American Dream as a Way of Crossing the Frame of Consciousness The American Dream is a concept that describes the ideal life to which the population of the United States aspired in the 30s and 40s.
• Failure of American Dream: “The Great Gatsby” by Fitzgerald Review Despite the seeming glamor and wealth, the character of Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald is deeply and inherently tragic.
• The Problems of American Dream and Race For a long time, many people have been coming to the United States to realize their goals. The cultural and social phenomenon of the American dream was formed.
• Changing the American Dream of Immigrants and African Americans The position of African Americans and other immigrants was not the same throughout US history, denoting that they had different dreams during various periods.
• American Dreams of Successful Life Historically Americans have been seeking to achieve the American dream of fame, success and immense wealth through changes and much effort.
• Stratification and Social Mobility and its Impact on the American Dream According to Kerbo, social stratification includes a ranking of people in a society. It is more concerned with systematic inequalities other than individualistic differences.
• Cruel Optimism: Karl Marx’s Ideas and the American Dream The work provides a summary and an analysis of the work of Berlant L. “Cruel optimism: On Marx, loss and the senses” in regard to Karl Marx’s ideas and the American Dream.
• American Dream and Poverty in the United States The concept of the American dream and its component has changed over the years and remains different for different people.
• Homeownership as the American Dream The paper identifies the current and previous asking prices, the seller’s investment yield, down payment, and other necessary costs.
• Ideals of the American Dream Even though working may not be fun all the time, there is still a reasonable number of opportunities provided: financial independence and a clearer perspective on one’s future.
• The American Dream: Values and Hopes The American Dream is a set of national values that can be traced back to 1620 when the Plymouth Colony was established.
• Crumbling American Dream: The Thrive of Capitalism The notion of the American dream has now become a universal matter. The thrive of capitalism has made the American dream a desirable state of things unachievable in the near future.
• The Challenge of the American Dream in Cinematography “Midnight Cowboy” and “McCabe & Mrs. Miller” are similar in challenging the idea of success presented in the conventional context of the American Dream.
• The American Dream and Social Disorganization American Dream is the belief that everyone in the state can attain success due to the uniqueness of the U.S society and environment.
• Recession and the American Dream for Education This paper analyses the ill effects of the recent recession which has occurred and the terrible consequence which families, students, and children in America are currently facing.
• Fleeing to U.S., the American Dream for Cubans From time immemorial Cubans have been moving to America in search for greener pastures. This eventually worked for the formation of American-Cuban connections around the United States.
• Youthful View of the American Dream During Uncertain Economic Times The American Dream for youth is now all about helping the country reclaim it’s rightful place of leadership in the world.
• American Dream in the XXI Century The understanding of the concept of the American dream today and several decades or even centuries ago is quite different.
• Conception of “The American Dream” in US “The American Dream” means living a better life. Americans have different opinions on describing this better life. Though some may express this issue as an illusion, it can become real.
• The American Dream: Civil Rights and Opportunities Civil rights have much to do with citizens having an opportunity to achieve the American dream. Discrimination is a massive obstacle that prevents the country from economic growth.
• American Dream, Religions and Sikhism The USA represent a unique cultural phenomenon. On the one hand, it is a country of many cultures, nationalities, and religions co-existing in the same area.
• Social Studies: The American Dream’s Concept The American dream focuses on making life better for its citizens and immigrants. It entails the aggressiveness instilled in the residents of America.
• Concepts of American Dreams Historically Americans have been seeking to achieve the American dream of fame, success and immense wealth through changes and much effort.
• Wealth and the American Dream in the Great Gatsby
• Choosing the Right Path Toward the American Dream
• American Liberalism and the Democratic Dream: Transcending the American Dream
• How Does Gatsby Represent the American Dream?
• Adam Smith’s American Dream
• Democracy and the American Dream
• Work Ethic and Ethical Work: Distortions in the American Dream
• Women and the American Dream
• Black Identity and the American Dream
• Depression and the American Dream
• Ben Franklin and the Definition of the American Dream
• How Are Millennials Redefining the American Dream?
• Disillusionment and the American Dream
• Debunking the American Dream
• Factors Influencing the American Dream
• American Tragedy and the Futility of the American Dream
• Westward Expansion and the American Dream
• Capitalism, Drug Abuse, and the American Dream
• British Colonization and the American Dream
• Exploring the American Dream in Great Gatsby and Grapes of Wrath
• Asian Americans and the American Dream
• Does Income Inequality Affect the American Dream Of Upward?
• American Dream and Ben Franklin
• Corporate Scandals: How Greed Consumed The American Dream
• Inequality and the American Dream
• How Has the American Dream Changed Over Time?
• African Americans Must Work to Achieve the American Dream
• American Dream America Immigrants British
• Albee and Twain: Demystifying an American Dream
• Deconstructing the American Dream
• American Dream: Accessibility vs. Achievability
• Crime and the American Dream With Regards to Sociology
• African Americans and the American Dream
• Dramatizing the American Dream
• Commercialism Deteriorates the American Dream
• American Exceptionalism and the American Dream
• How Long Has the American Dream Been Around?
• Understanding the Real Meaning of the American Dream
• American Dream Delayed: Shifting Determinants of Homeownership
• All Men and Women Have the Right to the American Dream
• How Social Stratification Dictates the American Dream, It Is?
• Abraham Lincoln and the American Dream
• Willy Loman’s Idealistic American Dream
• Can Everyone Achieve the American Dream?
• How Can Money Affect the American Dream?
• What Is the True Cost of the American Dream?
• How Does Poverty Affect the American Dream?
• Is the American Dream More About Money or Happiness?
• What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of the American Dream?
• How Does the American Dream Reinforce Socioeconomic Barriers?
• Do You Need Money for the American Dream?
• Was Walt Disney the Prisoner of the American Dream?
• How Does Social Class Affect the American Dream?
• What Is at the Heart of the American Dream?
• Is the American Dream Still Alive Today?
• What Is Success in the American Dream?
• Does the Growing Economic Threat to Individuals and the American Dream?
• How Expensive Is the American Dream?
• What Was the First American Dream and What Was the Result?
• Is the American Dream a Fallacy?
• Who Does the American Dream Exclude?
• How Does the Rising Cost of Education Affect the American Dream?
• Why Is the American Dream Harder Today?
• How Realistic Is the American Dream?
• What Is the Biggest Obstacle to Reaching the American Dream?
• Is the American Dream Real or Purely Imaginary?
• How Does Great Gatsby Represent the American Dream?
• Has Gatsby Achieved the American Dream?
• Keeping the Dream Alive: Perpetuating the American Dream in Changing Times
• Reimagining the American Dream: Cultural Pluralism and Identity
• The American Dream and Economic Inequality: Bridge or Divide?
• The Dream Project: Assessing the Impact of Public Policies on Achieving the American Dream
• Healthcare Accessibility and the American Dream: Health vs. Wealth
• The Illusion of Meritocracy: Challenging the Attainability of the Dream
• Is the American Dream Still Achievable?
• Consumerism and the American Dream
• The Shifting Landscape of the American Dream in the 21st Century
• Environmental Sustainability and the Future of the American Dream
• Addressing the Counterclaim: Crafting a Roadmap to Ensure Equality in Dream Attainment
• Perspectives on the American Dream Across Age Groups and Generation Gap

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StudyCorgi. (2022, January 16). 113 American Dream Essay Topics. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/american-dream-essay-topics/

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StudyCorgi . "113 American Dream Essay Topics." January 16, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/american-dream-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2022. "113 American Dream Essay Topics." January 16, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/american-dream-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on American Dream were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on December 26, 2023 .

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50+ Research Topics for Psychology Papers

How to Find Psychology Research Topics for Your Student Paper

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.

• Specific Branches of Psychology
• Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy
• Human Cognition
• Human Development
• Critique of Publications
• Famous Experiments
• Historical Figures
• Specific Careers
• Case Studies
• Literature Reviews
• Your Own Study/Experiment

Are you searching for a great topic for your psychology paper ? Sometimes it seems like coming up with topics of psychology research is more challenging than the actual research and writing. Fortunately, there are plenty of great places to find inspiration and the following list contains just a few ideas to help get you started.

Finding a solid topic is one of the most important steps when writing any type of paper. It can be particularly important when you are writing a psychology research paper or essay. Psychology is such a broad topic, so you want to find a topic that allows you to adequately cover the subject without becoming overwhelmed with information.

I can always tell when a student really cares about the topic they chose; it comes through in the writing. My advice is to choose a topic that genuinely interests you, so you’ll be more motivated to do thorough research.

In some cases, such as in a general psychology class, you might have the option to select any topic from within psychology's broad reach. Other instances, such as in an  abnormal psychology  course, might require you to write your paper on a specific subject such as a psychological disorder.

As you begin your search for a topic for your psychology paper, it is first important to consider the guidelines established by your instructor.

Research Topics Within Specific Branches of Psychology

The key to selecting a good topic for your psychology paper is to select something that is narrow enough to allow you to really focus on the subject, but not so narrow that it is difficult to find sources or information to write about.

One approach is to narrow your focus down to a subject within a specific branch of psychology. For example, you might start by deciding that you want to write a paper on some sort of social psychology topic. Next, you might narrow your focus down to how persuasion can be used to influence behavior .

Other social psychology topics you might consider include:

• Prejudice and discrimination (i.e., homophobia, sexism, racism)
• Social cognition
• Person perception
• Social control and cults
• Persuasion, propaganda, and marketing
• Attraction, romance, and love
• Nonverbal communication
• Prosocial behavior

Psychology Research Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy

Exploring a psychological disorder or a specific treatment modality can also be a good topic for a psychology paper. Some potential abnormal psychology topics include specific psychological disorders or particular treatment modalities, including:

• Eating disorders
• Borderline personality disorder
• Seasonal affective disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Antisocial personality disorder
• Profile a  type of therapy  (i.e., cognitive-behavioral therapy, group therapy, psychoanalytic therapy)

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Human Cognition

Some of the possible topics you might explore in this area include thinking, language, intelligence, and decision-making. Other ideas might include:

• False memories
• Speech disorders
• Problem-solving

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Human Development

In this area, you might opt to focus on issues pertinent to  early childhood  such as language development, social learning, or childhood attachment or you might instead opt to concentrate on issues that affect older adults such as dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Some other topics you might consider include:

• Language acquisition
• Media violence and children
• Learning disabilities
• Gender roles
• Child abuse
• Prenatal development
• Parenting styles
• Aspects of the aging process

Do a Critique of Publications Involving Psychology Research Topics

One option is to consider writing a critique paper of a published psychology book or academic journal article. For example, you might write a critical analysis of Sigmund Freud's Interpretation of Dreams or you might evaluate a more recent book such as Philip Zimbardo's  The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil .

Professional and academic journals are also great places to find materials for a critique paper. Browse through the collection at your university library to find titles devoted to the subject that you are most interested in, then look through recent articles until you find one that grabs your attention.

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Famous Experiments

There have been many fascinating and groundbreaking experiments throughout the history of psychology, providing ample material for students looking for an interesting term paper topic. In your paper, you might choose to summarize the experiment, analyze the ethics of the research, or evaluate the implications of the study. Possible experiments that you might consider include:

• The Milgram Obedience Experiment
• The Stanford Prison Experiment
• The Little Albert Experiment
• Pavlov's Conditioning Experiments
• The Asch Conformity Experiment
• Harlow's Rhesus Monkey Experiments

Topics of Psychology Research About Historical Figures

One of the simplest ways to find a great topic is to choose an interesting person in the  history of psychology  and write a paper about them. Your paper might focus on many different elements of the individual's life, such as their biography, professional history, theories, or influence on psychology.

While this type of paper may be historical in nature, there is no need for this assignment to be dry or boring. Psychology is full of fascinating figures rife with intriguing stories and anecdotes. Consider such famous individuals as Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner, Harry Harlow, or one of the many other  eminent psychologists .

Psychology Research Topics About a Specific Career

​Another possible topic, depending on the course in which you are enrolled, is to write about specific career paths within the  field of psychology . This type of paper is especially appropriate if you are exploring different subtopics or considering which area interests you the most.

In your paper, you might opt to explore the typical duties of a psychologist, how much people working in these fields typically earn, and the different employment options that are available.

Topics of Psychology Research Involving Case Studies

One potentially interesting idea is to write a  psychology case study  of a particular individual or group of people. In this type of paper, you will provide an in-depth analysis of your subject, including a thorough biography.

Generally, you will also assess the person, often using a major psychological theory such as  Piaget's stages of cognitive development  or  Erikson's eight-stage theory of human development . It is also important to note that your paper doesn't necessarily have to be about someone you know personally.

In fact, many professors encourage students to write case studies on historical figures or fictional characters from books, television programs, or films.

Psychology Research Topics Involving Literature Reviews

Another possibility that would work well for a number of psychology courses is to do a literature review of a specific topic within psychology. A literature review involves finding a variety of sources on a particular subject, then summarizing and reporting on what these sources have to say about the topic.

Literature reviews are generally found in the  introduction  of journal articles and other  psychology papers , but this type of analysis also works well for a full-scale psychology term paper.

Topics of Psychology Research Based on Your Own Study or Experiment

Many psychology courses require students to design an actual psychological study or perform some type of experiment. In some cases, students simply devise the study and then imagine the possible results that might occur. In other situations, you may actually have the opportunity to collect data, analyze your findings, and write up your results.

Finding a topic for your study can be difficult, but there are plenty of great ways to come up with intriguing ideas. Start by considering your own interests as well as subjects you have studied in the past.

Online sources, newspaper articles, books , journal articles, and even your own class textbook are all great places to start searching for topics for your experiments and psychology term papers. Before you begin, learn more about  how to conduct a psychology experiment .

What This Means For You

After looking at this brief list of possible topics for psychology papers, it is easy to see that psychology is a very broad and diverse subject. While this variety makes it possible to find a topic that really catches your interest, it can sometimes make it very difficult for some students to select a good topic.

If you are still stumped by your assignment, ask your instructor for suggestions and consider a few from this list for inspiration.

• Hockenbury, SE & Nolan, SA. Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers; 2014.
• Santrock, JW. A Topical Approach to Lifespan Development. New York: McGraw-Hill Education; 2016.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

86 A Midsummer Night’s Dream Essay Topics & Examples

🏆 best a midsummer night’s dream essay topics & examples, 📌 easy a midsummer night’s dream essay questions & titles, 🔖 interesting a midsummer night’s dream essay topics to write about.

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream As much as the tale is thought to a comic one, the events that place in this tale are not funny.
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Character Analysis of Helena Through My Eyes She narrates how being in the forest to sway his love is more of a drama and effect that she needs to beg him to love her. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Marriage in A Midsummer Night’s Dream The main theme of the play revolves around the marriage between Thesus, the Duke of Athens, and the Queen of Amazons called Hippolyta, as well as the events that surround the married couple.
• William Shakespeare “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” This paper examines romantic love as the source of joy and fulfillment in “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Love is the source of pain and suffering in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
• Puck’s Character in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare The essay delves on the power of Puck to change the love interests of the two parties. In the timeless Shakespearean masterpiece, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Puck is the most important and dynamic character in […]
• Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Psychological View As a fact, based on the way the author strategically presents various characters, psychological critics have suggested that some characters in the A Midsummer Night’s Dream can be seen as representations of the ego, the […]
• The Feminine Power in A Midsummer Night’s Dream Considering the Elizabethan times much was expected from women in terms of respect and submissiveness to the men in that society, such that a daughter going to an extent of going against a fathers choice […]
• “Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Felix Mendelssohn The Overture to a Midsummer Night’s Dream is a seminal piece composed by Felix Mendelssohn in the 19th century. This term refers to a format in which the composition itself is not designed to be […]
• “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Play and 1999 Reproduction The film A Midsummer Night’s Dream, although based on the play of the same name by Shakespeare, adopts a different approach to the storyline.
• Shakespeare’s Play A Midsummer Night’s Dream The synthesis of old and new traditions in play writing contributes to the development of new genres that Shakespeare makes use of to reflect the historic and cultural context of his epoch.
• The Adaptation of Shakespeare’s Play: A Midsummer Night’s Dream In spite of the fact that the film is based on the play appropriately, and Shakespeare’s words are followed strictly, there are some details which are added to adapt the play to the director’s vision […]
• Parental Issues in A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Reading the Science of Law Into a Cautious Tale About the Return Into the Lapse of Nature When Literature Meets Jurisdiction: The Mother, the Father and the Child As it has been mentioned above, the play incorporates the elements of a moral dilemma concerning who the parent of a child should be […]
• Carnival in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the carnival elements in the play are widely discussed topics in the literary world. When analyzing the gradual development of the plot of the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream […]
• Exploring Irony in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Trifles’ That is, it is the application of a character’s image in one line to represent another. Wright’s instability, which is evident through her sewing, leads the women and the audience to believe that Mrs.
• A Midsummer’s Night Dream Theseus- He is the Duke of Athens and is getting ready to marry Hippolyta at the beginning of the play. Lysander- He is Hermia’s lover and in the end of the play, the two marry.
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Shakespeare’s Play of Dreaming The author of the discussed article analyzes the role and meaning of dreams in one of the most prominent Shakespeare’s plays by referring to the psychological theories of dreaming.
• “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare: Act II, Scene I Analysis Act II, Scene I opens with Puck and the Fairy discussing the schism recently erupted between the power couple of Shakespeare’s fantasy world: Oberon, the king of the fairies and Titania, the queen of the […]
• Ovid as a Source for Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” Not only the figures of Pyramus and Thisbe were borrowed by Shakespeare from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” to create protagonists for his famous “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”, but the English genius was also parodying both manner and […]
• Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Even though a person is considered to be a rational creature, everything is directed by feelings and the greater the feeling is, the more rational pull there is to the object of affection.
• “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare The actors created compelling and relatable portrayals of the characters and their motivations for the audience, which made the play simpler to comprehend during the performance. The portrayal of Puck as a cunning and naughty […]
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare One of the brightest examples of such change among all the characters is Helena, one of the four young lovers of the story.
• Word Choices in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare The dark night that from the eye his function takes, The ear quicker of apprehension makes; Wherein in doth impair the seeing sense, It pays the hearing double recompense. Further, the author refers to the […]
• The Play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” William Shakespeare These cases explicate the fact that the institution of marriage is one of the contexts in which the rights of women are gravely abused in patriarchal societies. Women in patriarchal societies are also deprived of […]
• Magic in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare What fascinated me about A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the Shakespeare’s portrayal of life on the verge of the real world and the world of magic and dreams in the forest with fairies.
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Play by William Shakespeare The scene divulges the heightened parody presented by Shakespeare where there is bafflement and confusion among the young lovers. The scene sets the stage for confusion in and bickering among the young friends.
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Angels in America Hence, the similarities and differences depicted in the two plays in terms of plot, general structure and the way the issues are brought up.
• Ritual Performances in A Midsummer Night’s Dream Shakespeare uses this dream theme to bring out the comic nature of his play and ensure that the unusual happenings in the comedy serve to entertain the audience as opposed to depressing it.
• Athenian Woods in William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Comparison of the Theme of Female Conformity in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Othello”
• True Love and Unrequited Love in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Social Disruption and the Supernatural in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Setting the Stage for Comedy in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Masculine and Feminine in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Image of the Forest in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Customs of Marriage and the Rights of Women in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Supernatural Element in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Destabilizing the Social Norms Between Men and Women in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Reason and Love in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Men of Rule in William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Music as an Important Feature of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Theme of Love in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare
• The Supernatural in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• An Ecological Interpretation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Shakespeare’s Presentation of Relationships in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• What Makes “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” a Comedy
• Passion in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare
• The Grim Side of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Transition of Reality Into Ideality in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Two Critical Perspectives of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Power of Magic in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: Jealousy, Desperation, and Intervention
• Love Is Evil: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Williams Shakespeare
• Differences and Similarities in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Winter’s Tale”
• The Relation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to “Romeo and Juliet”
• Elizabethan Love and Marriage Customs Reflected in William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Imagination and Transformation in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Romanticism and Realism in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: How Concepts and Values Are Destabilized
• Examples of Inversion in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Role of Theseus and Hippolyta in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Comedy and Tragedy in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Parallel Plots in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” as a Means of Holding Four Very Different Groups Together
• The Oddly Dreamlike Quality of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Puck and Bottom: The Artist as Interpreter in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Gender Stereotypes in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Analysis of the “Happy Ending” of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Major Comedic Elements of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Place Between Human and Fey in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Moon as a Symbol in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Puck’s Motivation and Depiction in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Internal Danger and the External Perils Which Afflict Shakespeare’s Lovers In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Exposition in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Themes and Supporting Images in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Male Dominance and Female Oppression in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Hyperbole and Illusion in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• William Shakespeare’s Comic Technique in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Embodiment of Humanism in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Themes of Uncertainty and Doubt in “Hamlet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Multiple Marriages
• Problem-Solving in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Changeling”
• Staging a Historically Accurate Production of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Patriarchy and Gender Roles in King Lear and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Women Powerless in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• Comparison and Contrast Between Helena and Hermia in a “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Influence of Ovid’s Tale of Pyramus and Thisbe on Presentation of Young Lovers in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
• The Melodic Tune In Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Dream

Dream Essays

Writing an essay on the topic of dreams is important as it allows individuals to explore their subconscious thoughts and desires. Dreams have fascinated people for centuries and have been the subject of much speculation and interpretation. By writing an essay on dreams, individuals can delve into the meaning and significance of their own dreams, as well as explore the cultural and psychological aspects of dreaming.

When writing an essay on dreams, it is important to consider the various interpretations and theories surrounding dreams. This can include the psychological perspective, where dreams are seen as a reflection of one's subconscious thoughts and emotions. It can also include the cultural and spiritual significance of dreams, as seen in various religious and cultural traditions.

It is also important to include personal experiences and examples in the essay. This can help to make the essay more relatable and engaging for the reader. Sharing personal dreams and their interpretation can add depth and insight to the essay, and can also help to connect with the reader on a more personal level.

When writing about dreams, it is important to approach the topic with an open mind and a sense of curiosity. Dreams are complex and multifaceted, and there is no one-size-fits-all interpretation. By approaching the topic with an open mind, individuals can explore the various facets of dreams and their significance in different contexts.

Overall, writing an essay on dreams is important as it allows individuals to explore the fascinating and enigmatic world of dreams. By considering the various interpretations, sharing personal experiences, and approaching the topic with an open mind, individuals can create a compelling and thought-provoking essay on dreams.

What Makes a Good Dream Essay Topics

When it comes to writing an essay about dreams, choosing the right topic is crucial. A good dream essay topic should be thought-provoking, inspiring, and unique. To brainstorm and choose an essay topic, start by reflecting on your own dreams and aspirations. Consider what interests you the most and what you are passionate about. It's also important to consider the audience and the purpose of the essay. A good dream essay topic should be relevant, timely, and impactful. Ultimately, a good essay topic is one that allows you to explore your creativity and express your thoughts and ideas effectively.

Best Dream Essay Topics

• The power of lucid dreaming
• The significance of recurring dreams
• The impact of dreams on mental health
• The symbolism of dream interpretation
• The connection between dreams and reality
• The role of dreams in shaping our future
• The cultural significance of dream mythology
• The science of dream analysis
• The influence of dreams on artistic creativity
• The role of dreams in problem-solving
• The psychology of nightmares
• The relationship between dreams and memory
• The impact of technology on dream experiences
• The role of dreams in spiritual practices
• The connection between dreams and emotions
• The influence of dreams on decision-making
• The role of dreams in understanding the subconscious mind
• The significance of dream journals
• The impact of dream deprivation on overall well-being
• The future of dream research and exploration

Dream Essay Topics Prompts

• If you could control your dreams, what would you dream about and why?
• Write a story about a dream that changed your perspective on life.
• Imagine a world where everyone's dreams were visible to others. How would society be different?
• What do your recurring dreams say about your deepest desires and fears?
• If you could bring one dream to life, what would it be and how would it impact the world around you?

Writing an essay about dreams can be an exciting and insightful journey. By choosing a unique and compelling topic, you can explore the depths of your imagination and share your insights with others. Whether you're interested in the science, psychology, or cultural aspects of dreams, there are endless possibilities for creative and thought-provoking essay topics. So, take the time to brainstorm and choose a topic that resonates with you, and get ready to embark on an inspiring writing adventure.

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Dreams as The Most Important Part of Our Life

Why is it important to dream, dreams and sleep: how it affects a person’s well being, the way how i see the world, the reasons which helped decide whom i want to become, the best fragrance in the world is the smell of money, how to manage your life and reach your goals, discussion on the theme of truly desire, create inception in your dreams, limiting womens abilities to household chores, if i had a ticket to go anywhere, my short story of an afternoon at the bus station, literature review on broken dreams, how let our dreams come true, dreams and the life after losing them, things i want to do before i die, when nothing can ruin the happiness of realizing a dream, how i see my dream house, informative speech: the lucid dream body, relevant topics.

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7 Major Questions (and Answers) About Dreaming

Dreaming is a mysterious process — one that scientists are still figuring out..

Posted July 28, 2017 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

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As a sleep specialist, not a day goes by that I don't talk to someone about their dreams. My patients, my kids, the guy who sells me my morning coffee — everyone wants to know, “What do my dreams mean?” We’re all fascinated by dreams, and understandably so. Dreaming is a strange and mysterious process — one that we still don’t fully understand. Let’s take a closer look at the stuff of which dreams are made:

1. Why Do We Dream?

The why of dreaming is one of the great mysteries of sleep. There are many theories about why dreaming happens. Some think that dreaming has no specific underlying purpose, that our dreams might be a byproduct of other things going on in the brain during sleep. But many researchers studying sleep and dreams believe there is a primary purpose to our dreams. Some theories suggest that dreams are:

• A way to process memory and learning, moving memories from short-term to long-term storage and giving the brain a clean slate before the next waking day.
• A way to maintain emotional balance, by working through difficult, complicated, unsettling thoughts, emotions, and experiences.
• A different state of consciousness that unites past, present, and future — to process information from the first two, and prepare for the third.
• A kind of dress rehearsal for the brain, to prepare itself to face threats, dangers, and challenges in waking life.
• The brain responding to biochemical changes and electrical impulses that occur during sleep.

There may not be a single answer to why we dream. Our dreams might serve several purposes at once.

2. What Is a Dream? Do We All Dream?

At its most basic level, a dream is a collection of images, impressions, events, and emotions that we experience during sleep. Sometimes dreams have real storylines, with plots and characters that could be plucked from a movie screen. Other times dreams are more impressionistic, filled with emotions and visual imagery.

Typically, a person will spend two hours or more a night dreaming, experiencing somewhere between 3 to 6 dreams over the course of a night’s rest. Most dreams appear to last from 5 to 20 minutes.

I often hear people say, “I don’t dream.” You may not remember your dreams, but that doesn’t mean you’re not having them. Dreaming is a universal human experience. The truth is, the vast majority of dreams we experience will — for most of us — never be remembered. Memories of dreams usually fade very quickly after we awaken.

3. Why Can’t I Remember My Dreams?

The ability to recall dreams varies greatly from one individual to another. Some people regularly remember their dreams, while others may have only hazy recollections of themes or subjects — or no recollection at all.

There are a number of possible explanations for this. Studies suggest dream recall may be linked to patterns of activity in the brain. Our ability to recall our dreams may be influenced by interpersonal attachment styles — the way we tend to form bonds with other people in our lives.

Changing hormone levels throughout the night might also have a role in our ability to recall our dreams. During REM sleep — a time of active dreaming — levels of the hormone cortisol are high and may interfere with communication between areas of the brain that are involved in memory consolidation.

Our most active dreaming occurs during REM sleep. Adults spend roughly 25 percent of their sleep time in REM sleep, with longer periods of REM sleep occurring later in the night and in the early morning.

REM sleep is one part of the normal sleep cycle . In addition to REM sleep, sleep cycles contain three other stages. Dreaming can occur in every stage of sleep. Dreams during REM sleep appear to be more visually vivid, bizarre, and narratively driven than dreams during other sleep stages.

Have you ever woken and not been able to move or speak? This scary sleep phenomenon is indirectly related to dreaming. During REM sleep, the body goes into a state of temporary paralysis, a condition known as REM atonia. This appears to be the body’s way of protecting itself during dreaming. REM atonia keeps us from acting out physically in response to dreams. Think of some of the scary or exciting dreams you’ve experienced. Maybe you’ve been flying over a mountain range, or been chased by a masked intruder. Imagine if you could respond physically to these dream experiences? You might fly yourself right out of bed onto the floor.

It’s possible to awaken and still be in a state of sleep paralysis. This can be a really frightening experience, particularly the first time it happens. Waking in sleep paralysis is a sign that your body may not be making smooth transitions between the stages of sleep. This can be the result of stress, sleep deprivation, and other sleep disorders including narcolepsy, as well as a side effect of medications or over-consumption of drugs or alcohol .

4. Are There Different Kinds of Dreams?

Not all dreaming is the same. Dreaming runs the gamut of human experience. Our dreams encompass a dizzying range of emotions and events — and sometimes they’re just downright bizarre. Dreams can be funny, frightening, sad, and strange. Flying dreams can be euphoric, chasing dreams can be terrifying, forgot-to-study-for-my-exam dreams can be stressful .

There are several different types of dreams, including recurring dreams, wet dreams, and lucid dreams. (Nightmares are their own special kind of dream, which I’ll talk about in a separate article.) Let’s look at some distinct forms of dreaming.

Recurring dreams may contain more threatening and disturbing content than regular dreams. Research suggests there are links between recurring dreams and psychological distress in both adults and children.

Wet dreams are also called nocturnal emissions. These dreams involve ejaculation during sleep, usually accompanied by a sexual dream. Wet dreams may happen to boys during puberty , when testosterone starts to be produced in the body, and they are a normal part of healthy development.

Lucid dreams are an especially fascinating form of dream. In lucid dreams, the dreamer is aware of the fact that he or she is dreaming. Lucid dreamers often can even manipulate or control their dream as it unfolds. It seems that lucid dreaming is related to unusually elevated levels of brain activity. Lucid dreamers have shown significantly higher brain wave frequencies than non-lucid dreamers, as well as increased activity in parts of the frontal lobe of the brain. This area of the brain is deeply involved with our conscious awareness, a sense of self, as well as language and memory. Research into lucid dreams is not only shedding light on the mechanics of dreaming but also teaching us about the brain and about consciousness itself.

5. What Are the Most Common Dreams?

Examining and interpreting the content of dreams has fascinated people since ancient times. In ancient cultures, dream interpreters were sought-after and revered experts. Most of what we know today about dream content has been gathered using dream reports and questionnaires. Dream experiences vary widely, but some well-established themes occur among many dreamers across ages and cultures, including:

• School dreams (studying, taking tests)
• Being chased
• Sexual dreams
• Being attacked physically
• Dreaming of someone dead being alive, or someone alive being dead

New brain-imaging technology is allowing scientists to peek into dreaming minds like never before. Scientists are now analyzing brain activity during sleep to decode the content of dreams. A group of scientists in Japan has been able to predict dream content using MRI imaging with 70 percent accuracy. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently found that the areas of the brain used to perform tasks in our waking lives are also used for those tasks in dreams. One example: If a dream involves movement, the area of the brain used for movement perception becomes more active.

6. How Much of Dreaming Comes From My Daily Life?

Our waking lives seem to have an enormous influence over our dreams. A significant percentage of the people who appear in dreams are known to the dreamer. One study found more than 48 percent of dream characters were recognizable by name to dreamers. Another 35 percent of characters were identifiable to dreamers by their generic social role or relationship — as a friend, or a doctor or police officer, for example. Fewer than one-fifth of dream characters — 16 percent — were unrecognizable to dreamers.

A lot of our dreams contain content that’s related to autobiographical memories — memories about the self. Pregnant women dream more about pregnancy and childbirth. Hospice workers who act as caregivers to others dream about the experiences of caregiving and the people for whom they care. Musicians dream twice as often about music as non-musicians do.

There’s also some fascinating research that shows our capacity to dream beyond our waking experiences. Dream reports of people born paralyzed reveal that they walk, swim, and run in their dreams as often as people without paralysis. Dream reports of people born deaf indicate they often hear in their dreams.

Daily life experiences don’t always present themselves in dreams immediately. Sometimes an experience from life will filter through to a dream after several days or even a week. This delay is what’s known as dream lag. Scientists studying the relationship of memory to dreams have identified different types of memory that can be incorporated into dreams. Both very short-term memories (known as day-residue) and slightly longer-term memories (from a period of about a week) often present themselves in dreams. Dreaming of these events may actually be an important part of the memory consolidation process. The incorporation of memories into dreams isn’t necessarily seamless or even realistic. Rather, memories from waking life often appear in dreams in incomplete pieces, like shards of glass from a broken mirror.

As much as dreams may contain aspects of everyday, routine life, dreaming is also a state in which we can contend with extraordinary and difficult experiences. Another possible function of dreaming is processing and coming to terms with traumatic events. Grief , fear , loss, abandonment, even physical pain, are all emotions and experiences that often replay themselves in dreams. Studies of people who’ve experienced the loss of loved ones indicate that most of them dream about the deceased. Grieving people report several similar themes to these dreams, including:

• Recalling past experiences when loved ones were alive.
• Seeing loved ones happy and at peace.
• Receiving messages from loved ones.

The same study found that 60 percent of bereaved dreamers said their dreams exerted influence over their grieving process.

7. Can Dreaming Give Me a Performance Boost?

Dreams may help us solve problems and be creative. One study of musicians’ dreams found that not only did they dream frequently of music, but nearly half of the music they recalled from their dreams was unfamiliar and novel to them, suggesting that composing is possible in dreams. Paul McCartney famously credited the composition of "Yesterday” to a dream. Other artists, from the poet William Blake to the filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, have claimed to rely on dreams for creative inspiration and guidance. The golfer Jack Nicklaus said he sorted out a nagging problem with his golf swing in a dream.

Dreaming can help with at least some types of problem-solving. Lucid dreamers can use their dreams effectively to solve creative problems, according to research. Dreams seem to be fertile territory for influencing and enhancing our waking frame of mind.

Dreams can provide us with insight into what is preoccupying our minds and our hearts. Often healing, often mysterious, always fascinating, dreams can both shape us and show us who we are.

Michael J. Breus, Ph.D. , is a clinical psychologist and a diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine. He is the author of Beauty Sleep.

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Top-notch Research Paper Topics List

29 November, 2020

16 minutes read

Author:  Kate Smith

You know how they say: “Be strong; the beginnings to great things are always the hardest”? And though you might not consider writing a research paper and choosing a good research paper topic a really great thing, you see our point. If you are having troubles getting started with the composition in question, we have good news for you.

We have come up with a lengthy list of good research paper topics that will come in handy if you are running out of research paper ideas. Sounds like something you can use? Then don’t hesitate to make the most out of it!

And if you would rather order a whole piece from a professional, we can be of much help here too. Our research paper writing service can craft a piece for you at any time and on any topic. Just drop us a line!

But before we dive into various topics we have to offer, consider checking out our recommendations on how to find argumentative research paper topics all by yourself.

What is a Good Topic for a Research Paper?

There are several facets of a good research paper topic. To put it short, your theme should be:

When you pose a topic for your research, be sure that it is clear. A reader should be able to understand its purpose right away. If he doesn’t, you did not do a very good job formulating the subject line.

No kidding: you should do your best to be innovative even if you are writing a paper on something as old as time. It might not be simple, but we’re sure you can find a new perspective if you dedicate enough time to the search.

The paper must contain precise figures or facts. They are at the core of your research. Don’t confuse this type of composition with descriptive writing. They have nothing in common. So, focus on precise data: that’s exactly what your readers expect from you.

How to Choose Interesting Research Paper Topics

Before you take one of the topics we suggest, we recommend you to try to come up with a good topic yourself. It might be easier than you think. Here are several ways to spot an interesting idea:

Think of Something You Find Interesting.

There are always things we find astonishing but don’t have enough time to explore deeper. Maybe this is your chance to give it some time and conduct in-depth research. Of course, take into account the discipline and the academic level required. Thus, it’s pretty clear that you can’t talk about the Vietnam War for the Social Studies class paper (unless you’re looking into the differences of the military operations impact on the civilians and soldiers).

Choose a Topic With Sufficient Data for the Research.

The main point of writing this paper lies in finding information at various credible sources and refining it. Therefore, if you pick a subject that is somewhat new or wasn’t studied well in the past, you’ll have no information to work with. That is why the availability of credible information is vital to the success of the writing process.

Narrow the Subject Down.

The subject you find great interest in might be too broad. Not to sound too shallow, it’s better for you to pick just one perspective of the problem and study it carefully. This way you will be able to dive deep enough into the research instead of just hitting the high spots.

These are our recommendations on how to choose a theme on your own. Now let’s look into other tips we’d like to offer to you before you get down to writing.

Related post: How to write an Argumentative essay 

How to write an outline for a research paper

While you can find all the essential information in our guide on how to write a perfect research paper outline , here we’ll introduce you to the basics.

• Find an engaging topic. For it, read on to see what subject line we have to offer.
• Create a list of credible sources to take a look at. You can either ask you tutor for recommendations, surf the web, or go old school and visit a library for suggestions.
• Mark all the elements you will add to your outline.
• Briefly explain what each of these components will be about. But don’t bury the blueprint under too many details. Keep it short!
• Finally, find good examples to explore.

Now, that you understand how to craft a plan for your paper, have our tips to help you out along the way, your only job is to find good topic ideas to write about. And we can help you with that too!

Note that our company provides academic writing help. You can buy a research paper written from scratch by our  essay writer .

Now that you know your ways around crafting good research papers, we want to introduce you to our list of various ideas you can conduct a thorough research on. Use our ideas if coming up with your own is something you don’t want to deal with at the moment.

Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Are people with the IQ level above the average really unhappy?
• Eating disorders: Are they necessarily associated with the self-image issues?
• The impact of stress on the mental health of a person.
• The nature and causes of child violence.
• Insomnia as a valid excuse for breaking the rules or committing crimes.
• Race relations in the USA in the 20th century and today.
• The nature and causes of sexual orientation: Different perspectives on the issue.

Easy Research Paper Topics

• The glass ceiling: Myth or reality?
• Popular ventures started without money.
• The history of the social media boom around the globe.
• Top tech startups of the 21st century.
• Video games and their impact on the development of young people.
• Animal testing across the globe.
• Is global warming real?
• Has the Internet become a safer place with the cybersecurity principles implementation?
• The impact of the screen time on a child’s mental development.
• The US election system: The history and principles behind it.

World History Research Paper Topics

• The life and traditions of the first Gladiators.
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Bits and pieces of the tragedy.
• The history of Singapore: From worst to first.
• North Korea: Dictatorship ideology and its complications.
• The establishment of the League of Nations.
• Racial discrimination origins.
• The history of the Gutenberg Bible.
• The most powerful opponent of Germany in the WWI.
• Egyptian pyramids: The history and meaning.
• The history of Christianity.

Controversial Topics for Research Paper

• The history of modern Israel.
• Abortion: “My body – my rules” or the discrimination of the unborns’ rights?
• How Facebook shaped the way people communicate today.
• Beauty pageants: Celebration of the beauty or discrimination in disguise?
• Death penalty around the globe.
• Implications of gun control in the USA.
• Creationism against Evolution.
• Physical punishment as a core principle of children’s upbringing.
• The origins of the “invasion of privacy” notion across the world.
• The impact of social media addiction on young people.
• Genetic predisposition to committing a crime.

High School Research Paper Topics

• School uniform: The good, the bad, and the ugly.
• The effect of sexual acts displays on TV.
• The American Dream of Generation X and the Millennials.
• Biggest cults existing today in the world.
• Learning disabilities: Their nature, causes, and solutions.
• The history of Somalia.
• The portrayal of a woman in the social media today and 20 years ago.
• Freedom of expression.
• The poorest nations in the world.
• The effect of feminism on Europe.
• The impact of classical music on one’s brain.

Literature Research Paper Topics

• The relevance of the US Literature class choices to the modern youth.
• Examples of literature pieces that shaped whole cultures across the globe.
• Feminism in literature.
• The issue of the Holocaust in the world’s literature.
• The first translations of the Bible.
• Literature is known to be most effective in the struggle against illiteracy in different cultures.
• The brightest images of Death in literature.
• The history of slavery in Africa in world literature.
• Romanticism in Spanish literature.
• The moralism of the British literature of the 20th century.

College Research Paper Topics

• Success stories of college dropouts.
• The rarest phobias and fears people have.
• The history of e-learning around the globe.
• Can higher education grant a successful future career?
• Should grades be banned from the educational system?
• The use and harm of vaccination.
• The new emerging specializations and professions of the 21st century.
• The most effective teaching methods today.
• The History of the Ivy League.
• College re-organization for the better future of education.
• Private vs. Public colleges in the USA: Pros and cons.

Persuasive Research Paper Topics

• Antisemitism origins.
• Sex education pushes the youth to involve in sexual relations too early.
• The last days of newspapers in our media-controlled world.
• The danger of the GMO.
• Impact of Instagram on teenagers’ self-esteem.
• Pros and cons of studying at a single-sex school.
• Overpopulation management.
• Deforestation: Are we digging our own grave this way?
• People using cell phones while driving should be held criminally liable.
• Paying children for good grades: Different perspectives on the issue.

Sports Research Paper Topics

• The greatest athlete in the history of the world.
• The history of the Olympic Games.
• Why are cybersports considered sports?
• The history of marathons and their use today.
• Doping in sports.
• The use of playing competitive sports.
• The most dangerous sports from all over the world.
• Should sports be used as a therapy in prisons?
• Should student athletes be paid for playing sports?
• The effect of physical activities on the human’s brain.

Criminal Justice Research Paper Topics

• Prisoners falsely accused and then released should receive financial compensation from the state.
• Sexual harassment problem in Europe and the USA.
• Should corporate abuse be considered a criminal injustice case?
• The death penalty in different countries.
• Hate crime history in the USA.
• Control over the brutal behavior of guardsmen at prisons.
• Should mental issues affect the court judgment?
• Sex slavery: Should people buying and selling sex slaves be sentenced to the death penalty?
• Should the criminals be allowed to vote?
• Two sides of the Mandatory Minimum sentencing.

Topics about Technology for the Research Paper

• Will artificial intelligence substitute humans at a workplace?
• Saving the Earth today with the aid of state-of-the-art technologies.
• Self-driving cars development history.
• The history of Virtual and Augmented realities.
• Positive use of nuclear energy and the future.
• How does the lie detector work? Is this a trustworthy technology?
• The history of aviation in the world.

Medical Research Paper Topics

• Why animal testing should be stopped.
• The history of the Placebo treatment.
• Euthanasia: What doctors from different countries think about it.
• The use of vegetarianism: The myth or reality?
• Mental breakdown: Causes and prevention.
• The notion of mood in medicine.
• Should marijuana be allowed for recreational purposes?
• Should vaccination be mandatory?
• The history of plague in Europe.
• The most dangerous virus of today.

Ethics Research Paper Topics

• Religion and morality: Are people with strong moral beliefs more moral than atheists?
• Should teachers be allowed to carry weapons to school?
• Prostitution across the globe.
• Should recycling be made mandatory?
• Paparazzi and the invasion of celebrities’ privacy.
• Parents should monitor their kids’ Internet use.
• Do laws generally patronize women and discriminate against men?
• Adoption by single parents vs. adoption by a two-parent family today.
• Countries that use child labor: Should we use their products?
• Should breastfeeding in public be banned?

Tips on Writing a Research Paper

• Write an outline. An outline will help you stay focused. Since this type of writing is quite lengthy, it is easy to lose track along the way. That is why crafting a detailed outline is in your best interest. It will serve as a roadmap or a blueprint of the whole project.
• Start bright. You only have one chance to make a positive first impression. That is why you simply cannot afford writing a dull introduction. There are certain rules on how to start a research paper, and you’d better stick to the rules as described in our guide. A bright opening paragraph will ensure the genuine interest of your audience in what you have to say about the topic and will keep them engaged as you write.
• Use immaculate grammar and spelling. Nothing kills a good paper like poor grammar or spelling. It distracts the reader from the main point and makes him stumble while reading. And if you’re worried that grammar and spelling checking will take up too much of your time, don’t worry: you can always use technologies like Grammarly to do the job for you in seconds.
• Compose a compelling thesis statement. A thesis statement is the central point of your research paper. You need to insert it in the introduction and make sure that this central idea is exactly one sentence long. Make it loud and clear. However, given the length of this vital part of a research paper, don’t bore readers with too many unnecessary details. This means that you should mention what issue you will look into and why but don’t explain in which ways you will achieve this. Here is a complete guide on what is a thesis statement that will walk you through the process step by step. Enjoy!
• Stay within the word count limits. This type of writing has a rather strict word count limit. And you need to stay within it. Tutors don’t have all the time in the world to read long pieces. If you can’t stay within word count limits, they’ll assume you didn’t spend enough time filtering the most vital information out of the research (even if you did). So, not to give them that false impression, don’t make it too short or too long. Make it just right. This is the case when the size matters!
• Ask for help. After spending long hours crafting this paper, you are likely to miss some important points. The thing is that you know exactly what you wanted to say, and mistakes seem to be left unnoticed. Not to let them slip into your text, ask your peers, friends, or family to take a look at your writing. Their fresh perspective might be of much help to you!

We hope our research paper topics ideas will help you pick a theme you are genuinely interested in. We promise: conducting research and diving into the search can be a lot of fun as long as you choose an engaging subject.

Related posts: Argumentative essay topics | Compare&Contrast essay topics

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