Monday, April 13, 2015

Genes and Nightmares

Researchers at the University of Helsinki have discovered a genetic basis for the inheritance of nightmares. The researchers based this off of a study on 2,276 pairs of identical twins and 4,172 pairs of non identical twins. According to their study they found that identical twins are twice as likely to share the frequent nightmare trait compared to non-identical twins. Another interesting thing the researchers discovered was that there was a 45% chance that the other identical twin reported a frequent nightmares during the same week.


In my opinion this is a pretty interesting discovery. I always thought that dreams were relative to things we encounter on a day to day basis. Rather then something that is genetically related. The study of dreams has always been a controversial and interesting topic, This research can put some of these controversies to rest and can spark new research in areas where we never thought to look for in the first place.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/119484.stm

4 comments:

  1. I also am a believer that dreams are a result of daily experiences. I am also a fraternal twin, and she and I don't usually share the same dreams or patterns of dreams.

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  2. Interesting research. I also find this surprising that nightmares are not solely based on personal experience but rather has a genetic factor as well.

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  3. This is fascinating! I always thought identical twins had some sort of "connection" that regular siblings did not possess. The only thing I would question from the study is if the twins spent more time together then other siblings because then I would almost expect their dreams to be similar based off day time events.

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  4. I agree with everyone above, this is an extremely interesting article. Dreams are an interesting and puzzling habit. I think Jamie brings up a good point about the articles faults, If dreams are thought to be expressed in relation to daily experience then did the twins spend time together? According to Sam, a twin, this is not true. I would love to personally do more research in the field of dreams, I think the source could tell a significant amount about how people think.

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