Why do some of us vividly remember dreams and others say they ‘don’t dream’?

Some mornings, you wake up and the dream is right there. Clear and vivid. You might still feel the emotion in your chest, and it can take a few minutes to remember where you are and what was real.

Other mornings, you open your eyes and there is nothing. Just a quiet sense of having slept.

You might know people who think they do not dream. However, the reality is we all do. Sometimes we have many in one night.

What varies is whether people remember their dreams and how often they remember them.

Dream recall myth vs reality

During the night, we cycle through periods of light sleep, deep sleep and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. A full cycle takes about 90 minutes.

People generally spend more time in deep sleep in the first half of the night and more time in REM sleep in the second half.

The main function of deep sleep is restorative: to replenish energy, repair our bodies and help store memories.

REM sleep is important for memory consolidation and emotional processing. Later in the night, REM sleep becomes longer. This is the stage most closely linked to vivid, emotional dreaming.

If you wake up during or just after REM sleep, you are much more likely to remember a dream. If you wake from deep sleep, you probably will not, even though you were dreaming earlier. It isn’t a sign something is wrong; it’s simply how the sleeping brain works.

Another myth is dreams only happen in REM sleep. While REM dreams tend to be more intense and story-like, dreaming can happen in other stages, too; they are just often quieter and harder to recall.

So if you wake up some mornings with a clear recollection of your dream, and other mornings with nothing at all, that is completely normal. It doesn’t mean you didn’t dream. It just means you woke up at a different point in your sleep cycle.

Why do some people remember their dreams more often?

Several factors affect whether you recall dreams.

As you get older, your capacity to recall dreams decreases. Some studies suggest women are more likely to remember dreams than men. Some medications, such as antidepressants and sedatives, can affect your dream recall.

Timing plays a big role. We spend more time in REM sleep later in the night, so dreams that happen closer to morning are easier to remember. Waking up briefly during the night offers a chance to remember dreams before they fade. That’s why parents of young children and light sleepers, who are more likely to wake up from REM sleep, often report remembering more dreams.

How you wake up also matters. If someone jolts you awake, the dream can vanish in an instant. But if you are woken gently, someone softly calling your name, there is a better chance the dream lingers long enough for you to remember.

Some people are naturally “high recallers” and are just better at capturing their dreams before they fade. And therefore, they consistently remember dreams.

Why do some dreams feel intense?

Dreams can sometimes feel highly emotional, dramatic or unusually vivid. This is largely because REM sleep, the stage most associated with dreaming, involves increased activation of regions of the brain that control our emotions, such as the amygdala and limbic system.

This occurs alongside relatively reduced activity in parts of the prefrontal cortex that regulate logic and emotional control.

Stress, life changes or heightened emotions can make dreams feel more intense. Dreams often reflect elements of real-life experiences as the brain tries to process events from the day and consolidate them into long-term memory.

In most cases, having intense dreams is entirely normal and part of healthy emotional processing.

So is dreaming a reflection of good sleep?

Remembering your dreams does not automatically mean you had poor sleep, and forgetting them does not mean your sleep was perfect.

Rather than using dream recall as an indicator of sleep quality, it is more helpful to focus on how you feel during the day. Indicators such as feeling rested on waking and daytime energy provide a more meaningful indicator of your sleep health.

For most people, differences in dream recall and dream intensity are normal and shouldn’t cause concern. Dream frequency varies widely among people and across lifespans.

However, it may be helpful to seek advice from a health professional if:

• you experience persistent daytime exhaustion despite adequate time in bed

• nightmares are frequent, highly distressing or interfere with your mood and functioning

• sleep is regularly disrupted by awakenings, panic or prolonged difficulty returning to sleep.

If you feel rested, functional and emotionally stable during the day, occasional vivid dreams or changes in recall are completely fine and simply part of how healthy sleep unfolds.

Read more: Could cutting back on caffeine really give you more vivid dreams? Here’s what the science says