Do Animals Dream?

Do animals dream? If they do – what do they dream about? Do cows dream about eating special golden grass? I doubt they dream about being James Bond. Every creature sleeps – in their own particular ways of course. Some – like Gandalf – dream with their eyes open and standing on their feet. If they had their eyes open in REM sleep, their eyes twitching back and forth, this would be a sight to see. Perhaps in the olden days people would think them possessed by the devil. Dreams do seem ethereal and supernatural. Especially nightmares. What are nightmares for and why would amoebas or sloths need them?

Experiments have been done to see whether animals dream. It seems that rats do - even learning from their dreams of how to best obtain food.

Dreams are supposed to have meaning – to be interpreted as signs perhaps from god. Would god want the animals of earth to have important dreams? Probably not – very often even people forget what they dreamt about. What chance then do animals have of remembering them and then interpreting them? Not much.

Dreams are important though – not just for the ancient Egyptians. By studying how memory is formed and which experiences are relived and retained, researchers hope to find help for victims of memory disorders like amnesia and diseases such as Alzheimer's. Dreams do seem magical.

Let us experiment more. And use its magic.