Dreams are very heavy things. Simply put, dreams are a stream of sights, sounds, and actions of something; like a movie. But dreams have never been explained. The Greeks and Romans claimed that dreams were signs from their gods and possessed prophetic magic (www.scientificamerican.com). Even though the purpose of dreams has not been discovered, a huge movement in the study of dreams occurred in the late 19th century. In 1952, scientists in Chicago discovered electrical readings during a certain phase of sleep. Upon waking at this stage, people almost always remember their dreams. This stage is the only stage of sleep where we dream, and it is known as the REM stage (YouTube.com). During the REM stage, your brain acts as if it is awake, with one small difference. Chemicals, such as norepinephrine, serotonin and histamine, are blocked. This causes your body to become paralyzed and prevents you from achieving your dreams. That being said, it's possible to wake up suddenly and not be able to move because your body hasn't stopped stopping chemicals from entering your system. The REM stage is the deepest stage of sleep. At this point, your heart rate and breathing become inconsistent. REM sleep is very important, even though it only makes up about 25% of your sleep cycle. Without REM sleep, your body is tired and can't remember things. Your body, even though it is paralyzed at this point, relaxes. REM sleep is vital for the body, although the exact reason is not known. Without us knowing it, this affects theories about why we dream. (YouTube.com) There are many theories about why we dream. Some of these are on the religious side of things, but most are... middle of paper ... the association between emotion and symbol helps the brain recognize emotions and integrate them into our personal story. Ultimately, this hypothesis leads us back to the narrative component of dreams. We seem to use these bizarre images and ideas to make sense of the events of the day, to transform random neural firings into something coherent, and even to understand how we should feel about what has happened to us. There is no doubt that dreams play a major role in our thought processes. The question remains, however: is this an evolutionary adaptation, or just a strange accident? (10 Theories That Explain Why We Dream) Whether it's a distraction or an adaptation, dreams remain a mystery. Scientists and society can ponder interpretations of their meanings and origins until the end of time. In the meantime, we will continue to dream!