Monkeys and Dolphins

riceryan · Joined: 18 Aug 2010 Posts: 82 Location: Rome

These are some of the smartest animals in the world, and I'm wondering if you guys know anything about their ability to dream, or if they have the ability to dream lucidly.

Also, fish oil and bananas are pretty much the only foods that I've found help with dream recall and there are staples in their diets. Do you think this is a coincidence, or maybe because of these foods they became more intelligent or better dreamers?
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You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

MUSHYTOKYO · Joined: 31 Jul 2010 Posts: 9

e-bandit · Joined: 05 Oct 2010 Posts: 54 Location: Australia

Not all animals dream. Animals of higher class (vertebrates) dream. While invertebrates don't.

Rik · Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:44 am Post subject:

Actually, this is an unanswered question. Animals have been shown to exhibit REM-sleep, but it is unclear whether they dream or not. There was one study done by Jouvet (an early dream researcher) in which REM atonia (the sleeping version of sleep paralysis) was disabled. The cats then acted as if they were hunting and all that. You cannot, however, conclude that the cats were experiencing visually imagery as we do.
Also, people with REM behaviour disorder (RBD) have the same thing, sometimes atonia just shuts off with them. They report dreams of being attacked and act out these dreams, so I think it likely that cats and other animals dream as well.
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riceryan · Joined: 18 Aug 2010 Posts: 82 Location: Rome

So, assuming they could dream, would it be possible for an animal like a monkey to WILD? (because bananas are proven to calm you down and help you go to sleep quicker)

Or maybe a dolphin would be able to lucid dream? (I can imagine that they could be much better at it than people, because they could use a breathing under water reality check (like our plug the nose one) and they'd be doing it constantly.
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You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

Rik · Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 2:13 pm Post subject:

Thunal · Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 2:46 pm Post subject:

I think the basic test for consciousness, a requirement for lucid dreaming, is having an animal look into a mirror and see if it recognizes itself. I think ravens and a lot of apes and monkeys passed the test.
But even if it's possible, I don't know how different a lucid dream would be from a normal dream in those animals, since they still are affected greatly by their instincts: what they want to do is no different from what they would do in normal dreams.
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pindalord · Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 7:17 am Post subject:

well, sometimes my dogs makes sounds and moves if he sleeps so mayby he is dreaming then but i don't know.
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riceryan · Joined: 18 Aug 2010 Posts: 82 Location: Rome

makes sense, I'm not sure if they would understand the concept quickly (even most people have trouble fully grasping what it means to be lucid ) but, over time they might know what superpowers they had in dreams, and have fun using them.
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You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one