The Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis

The Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis suggests that dreams result from the brain's attempt to make sense of random electrical activity during sleep, particularly in the brain's memory and emotion regions. When we sleep, especially during REM sleep, the brain's neurons fire randomly, creating signals. The brain's higher centers then interpret these signals, weaving them into stories or images—our dreams. Essentially, dreams are the brain's way of synthesizing random activity into meaningful experiences, even though the original signals are unplanned, explaining why dreams can often seem bizarre or disconnected.