Why would you dream in black and white?

Answer 1

To dream in black and white, suggests that you need to be more objective in formulating your decisions. You may be a little too unyielding in your thought process and thus need to find some sort of balance between two opposing views. Consider the views and opinions of others. Alternatively, black and white dreams is a sign of depression or sadness. You may feel that there is not enough excitement in your life. = Scientifically = In retina of a human eye, there are two types of cells: Rod shaped cells and Cone shaped cells. Cone shaped cells are sensitive to bright light and can detect colors. Rod shaped cells are sensitive to dim light and are used for black and white vision. During sleeping, our eyes are not in working order but our brain is fully active. The image of dream enters the brain without passing through Light sensitive cone cells and the brain has no cells of its own to differentiate between colors. Therefore, we see only black and white pictures formed when rod shaped cells pass message along with optic nerve to the brain.

Answer 2

Sleep-laboratory research in the last decade by Robert van de Castle (Our Dreaming Mind, 1994) found that the majority (over 70%) of people report dreaming in color when awakened from sleep; that's close to the 80% of people awakened from REM who report dreaming at all. Yet only about 25% of people remember dreaming in color when they try to recall their dreams in the morning. It was concluded that the impression of dreaming in black and white is actually a result of inability to recall the colors in dreams. In other words, it's speculated that the black and white is related to recall rather than to actually dreaming in black and white. Robert Hoss, in his book Dream Language(which is about color in dreams), says that the state of consciousness just before awakening may affect whether we recall color or not. People awakened from REM sleep recall more colorful dreams than those awakened from a deeper level of sleep (NREM).