Recently at the University of California, Berkeley volunteers were shown images that triggered emotions, then were presented with them several hours later.
Those volunteers who were allowed to sleep in between the showings had less activity in the areas of the brain linked to emotion.
From the test it was discovered that the part of the brain linked to rational thought was more active for those who were allowed to sleep.
Published in the journal Current Biology, the study shows a beneficial relationship between dreams and memory.
What are the applications of a good sleep with a dream? Most people have to deal with traumatic events at some point in their lives, and, for some, these can produce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), leaving them emotionally disturbed long after the event itself.
For those who take UC Berkley findings and apply the sleep process as a way to heal the mind form painful memories, this is a step forward.
Mapping blood flow
From the report in the BBC News article:
There is significant evidence that the 20% of sleep in which we dream, also called REM sleep, plays a role in the processing of recent memories, and researchers believe that better understanding of this could eventually help PTSD patients.