Vitamin B ‘patch hole’ in dream recall

We all sometimes wake up knowing that we dreamed something vivid and intriguing, but we only remember it in traces in the morning. Scientists believe they have discovered which vitamin helps in remembering dreams.

In an article published in the journal Perceptual and Motor Skills, scientists reported that dreamers who took high doses of vitamin B6 before going to bed remembered their dreams better.

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The study conducted by the University of Adelaide involved 100 people. Half received 240mg of vitamin B6 before sleeping for five consecutive days, while the other half received a placebo. Neither group knew what they were taking. Participants ‘enriched’ with vitamins reported afterwards that their dreams were “clearer and more memorable and that the memory did not fade as the day went on.”

“Vitamin B6 did not affect the vividness, bizarreness, or color of their dreams, nor did it affect other aspects of their sleeping habits,” said the lead author of the study, psychologist Denholm Aspy.

It is a small sample of respondents, but the results clearly show that the group taking vitamin B6 remembers their dreams better than those receiving the placebo, Aspy added.

The average person spends six years of their life dreaming, Aspy says, which means we could use them more productively if we learn to control them.

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“Lucid dreaming, when we know we are dreaming while the dream is still happening, has many potential benefits. For example, lucid dreaming could help overcome nightmares, treat phobias, and solve creative problems,” says Aspy.

But to effectively lucid dream, one must first regularly remember dreams. This might be achieved by increasing the amount of vitamin B6 in the diet. This vitamin is found in whole grains, bananas, various legumes, avocados, spinach, potatoes, milk, cheese, eggs, red meat, and fish. Dreams are generally hard to recall because the brain processes that allow us to form long-term memories are not active at night.