Bad Dreams Help to Deal with Fright

Bad dreams help us to react better to frightening situations, according to a new research done by University of Geneva (UNIGE) and University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG). The researchers analysed the dreams of a number of people to identify which areas of the brain were activated when they experienced fear in their dreams. Once they woke up, it was found that the brain areas responsible for controlling emotions responded to fear-inducing situations much more effectively. The breain regions implicated in the induction of fear expereinced during the dream are the insula and the cingulate cortex. The insula is also involved in evaluating em-otions when awake, and is automatically activated when someone feels afraid. The cingulate cortex, for its part, plays a role in preparing motor and behavioural reactions in the event of a threat. The new finding will pave the way for new dream-based therapeutic methods for combating anxiety.