Can You Really Read in Your Dreams?

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posted on 1 year ago — updated on 1 second ago

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In dreams, you can fly, you can shapeshift, you can travel through space and time, you can do pretty much anything…well, except read. Or can you? While scientists theorize it’s not possible to read in our sleep, there are some people who claim to be able to read and write while navigating dreamland—even if the words don’t exactly make sense! To learn more about the psychology of dreams and why reading in a dream is probably not possible (but could be!), keep scrolling.

Things You Should Know

Generally speaking, no, you can’t read in a dream because the parts of your brain that process language are inactive while you sleep.
That said, people who study language, like poets and writers, may be among the rare few who can read or write in dreams.
Anecdotally speaking, people who lucid dream may be more likely to read in dreams, though this hasn’t been proven.

Is it possible to read in a dream?

Most people can’t read in dreams. It’s believed that the parts of our brains that process language—Broca’s area (which is responsible for speech) and Wernicke’s area (which helps us with grammar and syntax, i.e., the ability to connect words in meaningful ways)—are less active while we sleep. Therefore, most communication in dreams occurs through something more like telepathy or “vibes” rather than actual language.

Why can some people read in dreams?

Some people may think about language more and therefore dream it. While it’s rare for anyone to read or write in a dream in any legible way, poets and writers, for instance, may be more likely to be able to do so simply because they spend a lot of their waking life dwelling on language. Broca’s area may be slightly active in the sleeping brains of such people, while Wernicke’s area is not, which is why they may dream words that make no sense.

Can you read in a lucid dream?

It’s not proven, but some people claim they can read while lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming refers to dreams in which the dreamer has awareness that they’re dreaming and control over their activity in the dream. 55% of people will lucid dream at some point in their life, with around 23% claiming to lucid dream at least once a month. It’s not known whether or not lucid dreaming makes it possible to read in a dream, but anecdotally speaking, it may be possible.

What are dreams, anyway?

Dreams are mental activity or imagery that we experience in our sleep. It’s not totally clear what happens when we dream or why, but scientists can generally agree on the basics. Dreaming is most likely to occur during REM sleep, when brain activity increases, and we can dream in any of the 5 senses, although the majority of people’s dreams employ sight.