Do animals dream?- Animal Mystery

A tiger sleeps for 16 hours a day.

Horse sleeps only for three hours a day.

But two animals in general dream while sleeping.

If so what do they dream about?

How long do their dreams last?

Do animals dream in color or is it just black and white dreaming?

Humans mostly dream during the rapid eye movement phase of sleep which happens about 90 minutes into falling asleep. During this phase the eyes move rapidly the heartbeat becomes faster and blood pressure is almost as if one was awake.

This phase of sleep is also found in many animals but to understand what animals dream of we need to get into their heads.

Cat's brains have an area that prevents them from moving while sleeping. In an experiment conducted back in the 1960s this part of the brain was removed as a result cats began moving more during their sleep. As they entered into the REM phase they started moving their heads as if they were responding to a call.

What's interesting is that when these birds sleep for long periods they would not only replay their songs but also try different variations like changing notes or tempo which means sleep may not only allow birds to dream but also offers them a chance to be more creative.

Other animals like cattle fish behave even more interestingly in their sleep. During their sleep cattle fish demonstrate REM like behavior lasting between 2 to 3 minutes. When they enter deep sleep their arms twitch and they even change their body color.

What's worth remembering in a fascinating experiment scientists managed to engineer dreams in rats they placed rats in a maze and trained them to turn left or right when hearing two different sounds.

 Scientists played the sounds again when they sound associated with the right side was played neurons specific to the right side were activated and the dream content switched to the right side of the maze and vice versa.

This indicates that rats might not just be dreaming but also that their dreams could be modified. 

Although we have hints that animals dream in their sleep and can even observe and respond to their dreams. We still don't know what they actually feel while dreaming.

Do animals remember their dreams after waking up and can they share their experiences with their mates from the same species?

Could we someday visualize their dreams and see what they are seeing?

These are some of the most intriguing questions that science is attempting to answer.