Do our pets dream? If so, what dreams do they have?
Aristotle thought they were. He said horses, dogs, cows, sheep, goats and all “viviparous quadrupeds” seem to be dreaming. Aristotle's ideas seem to be close to what researchers currently believe.
There are two ways scientists have investigated whether pets dream. One way is to observe their behavior during different stages of the sleep cycle. Another is to see if their sleeping brains function similarly to ours.
Pet sleep cycle: Psychologist Dr. Stanley Coren says: However, their sleep architecture looks very human. Dogs go through stages of wakefulness, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and non-rapid eye movement sleep. ”
In 1977, scientists recorded the brain electrical activity of six pointers over a 24-hour period and found that the dogs spent 44% of their time awake, 21% drowsy, and 12% in REM sleep. did. They also spent the remaining 23% of their time in the deepest stage of non-REM sleep, called slow-wave sleep.
Did Edgar dream of being on the cover of the Afghan Hound Rescue Calendar? (That happened a few years after this photo.)
People dream during both REM and NREM sleep, but the dreams most people remember are during REM sleep. During this stage, dreams are memorable and often strange. Additionally, people are more likely to wake up immediately after REM sleep than after non-REM sleep.
The idea that animals dream was the hypothesis of a 2001 study using laboratory rats. Two researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Matthew Wilson and Kenway Lui, recorded brain waves of rats while they performed specific tasks, such as running a maze. Scientists measured data from the hippocampus, the part of the brain that stores information and memory. The rats had nearly identical brain waves during sleep, suggesting that they were likely dreaming of being in the maze.
What kind of dreams do dogs have? Humans dream about the same things they are interested in or have experienced on a daily basis. In 2016, Deirdre Barrett, Ph.D., a clinical and evolutionary psychologist at Harvard Medical School, conducted extensive research on sleep behavior and found that dogs are usually very attached to their human owners, and therefore concluded that dogs are likely dreaming about you, your face. , about your smell and whether it pleases or annoys you.
Has this sleeping cat just finished dreaming of a successful hunt?
“Dogs enter REM sleep about 20 minutes after a nap, and may stay in REM sleep for a few minutes,” says Stanley Koren. “Dogs may enter REM sleep about 20 minutes after a nap, and may remain in REM sleep for a few minutes. Owners may notice that their animal's breathing has become irregular. Puppies and older dogs may experience muscle spasms. In both dogs and humans, a part of the brainstem called the pons is responsible for paralyzing large muscles during sleep, which prevents humans and pets from achieving their dreams.
The bridge is underdeveloped in puppies and may not function efficiently in older dogs. Therefore, puppies and older dogs are more likely to twitch or run from side to side in dreams. (The same goes for very young and very old humans.) But my Afghans, at any age, run sideways like the wind, kick, and even sleep. I howled like a wolf inside.
Koren suggests that a dog's dreams can vary by breed. “The pointer points to the dream bird, and the Doberman chases the dream thief. Dog dream patterns seem to be very similar to human dream patterns,” he said. Do show dogs dream of getting into the ring and winning Best in Show? Do customs dogs or drug enforcement dogs dream of catching bad guys? Do border collies count sheep before falling asleep?
“For reasons unknown, the size of the dog may determine the size of its dreams,'' says Collen. “The frequency of dreams is low, but the duration of dreams is long.''
What kind of dreams do cats have? Cats sleep an average of 15 to 18 hours a day, so when you see your cat twitching its whiskers or wagging its tail, it's easy to conclude that it must be dreaming. However, some experts say cats are more likely to dream if they lie motionless. Cats spend about 30% of their time in REM sleep compared to 20% of their time in humans, and the brainwave patterns cats exhibit during REM sleep are similar to those of humans.
A 1960 study of cats and REM sleep conducted by French neuroscientist Michel Jouvet revealed that cats exhibit hunting-like behavior during REM sleep. They hissed and arched their backs, as if hunting prey. Scientists have concluded that cats are likely dreaming about being hunted.
But there's also another cat dream theory that fits perfectly into the cat mystique. Dr. Adrian R. Morrison of the University of Pennsylvania College of Veterinary Medicine's Anatomy and Neuroscience Laboratory points out that we have little idea what cats are thinking when they're awake, much less when they're dreaming. .
Dog dreams of finding a loving home: Bernex and Badger are both new dogs available for adoption at the Last Hope Adoption Center, located at 3300 Beltag Road, Wantagh. Bernex is a 3 year old big boy who weighs 60 pounds. He looks more like a St. Bernard and Anatolian Shepherd than a retriever mix as the shelter described him. He has double dewclaws on his back, suggesting that he is a member of the Pyrenees. Bernex loves everyone he meets and walks well on a leash. Badger is a beautiful shade of mahogany. He is an adorable 1 year old spaniel/setter who weighs only 36 pounds. For more information, call 631-671-2588.
