Some people open their eyes and remember their dreams perfectly. For others, it’s a complete blank. This difference, which has long intrigued scientists, is the focus of a recent study published in the journal Communications Psychology.
Previous studies already suggest that young people, women and individuals prone to daydreaming are more likely to remember their dreams. However, these findings remain contentious, as it was unclear whether factors such as personality or cognitive ability had any real influence.
The pandemic rekindled interest in this question, with many people reporting more intense and frequent dreams during this period.
To explore this phenomenon in more detail, researchers at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca in Italy conducted a study involving over 200 participants aged between 18 and 70, between 2020 and 2024. For 15 days, they recorded their dream memories upon waking daily using a voice recorder.
At the same time, the researchers used wearable devices to analyse the quality of the participants’ sleep, and subjected them to psychometric tests to assess their cognitive function. Each morning, the volunteers were asked to state whether they clearly remembered a dream; whether they retained a vague impression of it with no precise details; or whether they had no recollection of their dreams.
The results show that the ability to remember dreams varies considerably according to a number of factors. State of mind plays a key role, as people with a positive attitude to their dreams and a propensity for mind wandering were more likely to remember them.
The structure of sleep also has a direct impact, particularly during longer light sleep phases, which favours waking up in the middle of a dream sequence.
The age of participants also seems to play a role: younger adults retain their dreams more easily, while older people are more likely to experience a dream impression without retaining its content – a phenomenon scientists call “white dreams”.
Finally, seasonality could play a part: dream memories appear more frequent in spring than in winter, a difference that could be linked to circadian rhythms and environmental variations.
This study serves as a reminder that dreaming is a multifaceted phenomenon influenced by our psyche and biology. Remembering dreams is not just a coincidence “but a reflection of how personal attitudes, cognitive traits, and sleep dynamics interact”, explained study lead author Giulio Bernardi.
Beyond scientific interest, this research sheds light on new clinical perspectives. As first author Valentina Elce notes, “data collected from this project will serve as a reference for future comparisons with clinical populations”, making it possible to assess the diagnostic and prognostic value of dreams in certain diseases.
So, can we train ourselves to remember our dreams? Some specialists think so. Before going to sleep, mentally repeat to yourself the intention of remembering your dreams, making this the last thought of the day.
When you wake up, avoid getting out of bed abruptly or allowing yourself to be distracted immediately, with your phone, for example. Instead, sit still for a few moments and try to focus on sensations or images that cross your mind.
Keeping a dream diary can help: writing down your impressions as soon as you wake up, even in the form of keywords or snippets of images, helps to anchor memories and train the brain to focus on these fleeting moments. Even if no specific dream seems to be present, a simple detail can be enough to revive the memory of a buried dream.