Through his study he came to the idea that the mind worked outside of our awareness and that dreams had meaning. A century later, science is putting Freud to the test. New brain-imaging technologies allow researchers to see which parts of the brain are active during a dream, and which are dead to the world. Freud argued that dreams are a person's most deeply held wishes, expressed in symbolic form. To keep the unconscious drives that constantly pop up within us from waking us in the night.
Few psychoanalysts believe that today.
But Freud's more basic idea, that dreams are messages from a part of the mind beyond our conscious control, is stronger than ever. Scholars didn't always support that idea. In 1953, researchers discovered a stage of sleep called REM, for rapid eye movement. During REM sleep much of the brain becomes as active as it is during waking. The eyes dart around behind closed lids as if following an action-packed sporting event.