At one point in time or another, almost all of us have had a dream in which our spider friends have made an appearance. But, in your wildest dreams have you considered that spiders may be able to dream also? Me either, but now it seems that this might be the case.
Humans dream in the phase of our sleep cycles known as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. A team from universities in Italy, Germany and Harvard University in the US, have suggested that thousands of species of jumping spiders might also experience rapid eye movement stages of sleep. Although, this study stops short of concluding that spiders have dreams, it does suggest it is possible since this is the same state in which humans have their most vivid dreams. The research partnership observed the arachnids during night-time inactivity using infrared cameras, and found “periodic bouts of retinal movements coupled with limb twitching and stereotyped leg curling”. Germany’s University of Konstanz Daniela Rößler, told Scientific America, “They were just uncontrollably twitching in a way that really looked a lot like when dogs or cats dream and have their little REM phases”.
The researchers stress that before they can determine for certain whether spiders have dreams, they first must prove they are actually sleeping, which they intend to work on sometime in the future. They do say the evidence they’ve seen so far suggested it was possible.
Whether spiders can dream or not, you definitely don’t want the nightmare of getting them out of your home. Call the professionals at All Star Pest Control today! 316-847-6115
