We tend to speak in generalized terms of dreams happening in the unconscious (or subconscious) mind, or how it happens mostly in the right (intuitive) brain and that the left (logical) brain goes ‘offline’ during sleep (with exceptions such as lucid dreaming).  While these generalizations may apply, it is much more complicated than that. There are many parts of the brain involved during REM dreaming and the different stages of sleep.

If you have ever been curious about what parts of the brain are active during dreaming, here is an amazingly comprehensive article written by Bob Hoss:

http://dreamscience.org/idx_science_of_dreaming_section-3.htm

GREAT research and explanation. Thanks, Bob!

For a really great interactive online chart exploring the different stages of sleep, visit: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/sleep-memory.html  and click on “LAUNCH INTERACTIVE”.

What happens in your brain as you cycle through the various stages of sleep, and how does this activity affect learning and memory? See what scientists are learning about REM (rapid-eye movement) sleep and other phases, and explore recent research linking sleep—and sleep deprivation—to different types of memories.

Explore the stages of a good night’s sleep and the research linking sleep to memory.

“I dreamed I had sex with someone I’m not even attracted to!”

This is a common one, and can make for an awkward encounter next time you run into the person when you are awake! Even though they don’t know you had a hot dream about them, your feelings were so real in the dream you can’t help but feel embarrassed now.
The first thing to ask yourself when you have this dream is: What are the qualities this person represents to me that I am currently, or would like to be, embracing in myself?
This dream also usually has nothing to do with the actual person, but rather what they represent to you.  Sometimes the person is of the same gender, and we do not swing that way. This can create fear or confusion upon waking!  Rest assured that this does not mean you are suddenly

“What does it mean when I dream my partner cheated on me?”
The first reaction is usually to be mad or suspicious of your partner. But hold on! While again anything is possible – do your fact checking if you think they are literally having an affair – HOWEVER…This dream usually indicates that you are feeling cheated out of TIME with your partner.  So first ask yourself, has he/she taken up a new hobby? Working longer hours? Travelling without you? Anything that takes your partner away from you can feel like ‘the other man or woman’.  Even an illness, disease, or condition like depression can feel like something (translating to someone in the dream world) has taken away the closeness you previously shared.
Before jumping to the literal explanation, see if the metaphor fits.

One of the most common questions I hear goes something like this:  “I dreamed of my ex, does it mean I should get back together with them?”  Or, “Does it mean that they are thinking of me too?”
While I never rule out the mysterious and mystical ways of the dream world, and I do believe that anything is possible….The most common explanation is: This dream most likely has NOTHING to do with your ex.  It might, like I said, and do the fact checking with the other person should your heart pull you in that direction.
At the same time, keep in mind that what the dream is most likely bringing to your attention are the feelings you had in the dream, and your dreaming mind might be saying ‘hey, remember what this feels like? Wouldn’t it be nice to have again?’
Not all dreams of former loves come with pleasant feelings, however.  If the feelings are unpleasant or difficult, look at where in your life you might be currently experiencing those same challenges with another person. Perhaps you are responding to a new person in the same way you responded to the ex in the dream.  Or maybe they are behaving towards you in a way that the former partner did. These are some possible explanations to explore.

In Dean Radin’s book “Entangled Minds” he writes about many different scientific experiments that confirm the existence of psychic phenomena, also known as ESP or ‘psi’. It seems that people who are very closely bonded together experience more psychic connections with each other than those who are not close or emotionally invested in one another.
Dean cites an experiment involving a functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) scanner.  They found a couple who did well in other psi tests where they were able to send and/or receive information to/from each other with successful results much better than random chance.  One person was put in the fMRI scanner to act as the ‘receiver’ while the other person (the ‘sender’) was exposed to a flickering light. The purpose of the light was to stimulate the brain activity of the ‘sender’, and to see if anything would happen at the same time to the brain of the ‘receiver’.  The receiver’s brain showed a significant increase in activity, with odds against chance of 14,000 to 1!  Not only were they able to show an increase in brain activity at the exact same time, but the fMRI machine was able to show the specific location in the brain where the connection was found. WOW!
Why is this information such a well kept secret? Part of Dean’s plight is about how difficult it is for the existence of psi to be taken seriously, regardless of the scientific evidence confirming it.  I agree, and appreciate Dean’s humor as he comments on the nature of this:
“This discovery is so shocking that it virtually guaranteed no one would hear about it, despite it being published in a medical journal. This is worse than missing a story about aliens landing on the White House lawn. It’s more like spotting an alien shopping in the frozen food section of the local grocery store and no one caring.”
(For all his scientific expertise, the man has a sense of humor, too! Most of his writing is not pondering aliens, I just thought this excerpt was too funny to leave out!)
His other book “The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena” will be released in June, I can’t wait!
http://www.amazon.com/Conscious-Universe-Scientific-Psychic-Phenomena/dp/0061778990/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243404556&sr=1-2

Has anyone seen the movie “Click”? While Adam Sandler movies are usually not at the tip top of my list, this one actually goes down as a favorite in my book. The general gist of the movie is that Adam’s character recieves a ‘Universal’ remote control, that allows him to fast forward and skip through parts of his life that he doesn’t particularly want to bother with. If you’ve studied anything about the Laws of Attraction, you will quickly see that this ‘Universal remote’ is quite a good metaphor for how the Universe really works. When ever there is an activity that the character wants to skip through, he hits fast forward. But to his dismay he later realizes that the ‘Universe’ (remote) responds by remembering his requests, and always fast forwards over that particular activity (i.e. a fight w/his wife, and then unfortunately even making love with his wife!). In the end he realizes that by having lived his life with the ‘as soon as this is over with’ approach, he winds up at the end of his life having lost all that was truly dear to him. 
To me this movie is a great reminder that (as some wise person said): 

There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.

This can be a tough one to accept, but important to at least try to embrace along the way. I think about it often when I’m feeling stressed, or like ‘every thing will be fine as soon as (blank) is over with’.  There is always another twist, another turn and another challenge in life waiting for us just around the corner. The bigger challenge is to embrace the ride – twists, turns and all – infuse it with grattitude and magnetize happiness along the way.

I’m looking forward to hearing your dream stories, and solving your dream cases!
-Mimi

The Dream Detective