How Do Blind People Dream? (Video)

If our dreams are a reflection of reality, how does someone who experiences a different reality dream?

A new study published in the journal Sleep Medicine took a little look to see how the blind dream. For the sighted people, dreaming is primarily a visual activity; you remember images. But if you don’t have a sense of sight, other sensory information—information you rely on the most, takes the lead.

The researchers looked at groups of people who are blind from birth or congenially blind—those who became blind later in life—and those who can see. Immediately after a dream they were asked about their sensory experiences, “what did you see?” “did you taste anything?” as well as how they felt emotionally in a dream and if there were any themes, like falling, or being able to fly for instance.

Amongst the blind participants, most of the content in their dreams was made up of things they heard. 86 percent of them experienced sounds and voices as opposed to 64 percent of the same group. The scientists said that the longer the person was able to see during their life, the more visual content there was in their dreams. The blind also experienced more sensations of touch in their dreams: 70 percent versus 45 percent of the seeing group. The blind were also very likely to taste and smell in the same group. In terms of emotional and thematic content, all of the groups reported similar results.

But the congenially blind group did stand out in one way: they had more nightmares. They were four times more likely to report nightmares than the late onset blindness and seeing groups. So why might those who are congenially blind have more nightmares than everyone else? Scientists aren’t really sure, but they have a theory. Nightmares are one of the ways that our brains process and cope with threats to our safety. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the blind tend to have nightmares about things like getting hit by a car, getting lost, or losing a guide dog. Yet it’s still unclear that this means that the blind generally experience more fear overall in their lives.