The Activation-Synthesis Theory

The Activation-Synthesis Theory suggests that dreams result from the brain's attempt to make sense of random neural activity during sleep. When we sleep, certain areas of the brain become more active, producing random signals. The brain then tries to interpret these signals by weaving them into a coherent story or dream. Essentially, dreams are the brain’s way of synthesizing and giving meaning to spontaneous neural activity, which during wakefulness would be related to processing experiences and thoughts, but during sleep occurs without external input.