Men and women have different nightmares

Men and women are alike in many ways, but 'Today' reports that there are some big differences in the scenarios taking place in our minds once we hit the hay.

'Psychologists coded thousands of dreams in a recent journals, and it turns out there are differences in what startles us in our sleep,' 'Today' explains

That's right, we're talking about nightmares. The study from the University of Montreal found men and women were awakened by different types of nightmares.

'Male nightmares were more likely to feature themes of disaster or calamity like floods. Women, though, were more likely to be tormented by conflicts with their spouse, a relative or a colleague,' WJXT reports.

According to Daily Mail, the study also discovered differences in the types of people found in our dreams.

Men tend to dream about fictitious characters, while women are more likely to dream about people and settings they know.

The study also found that women seemed to have more nightmares than men. One possible explanation is that women are more likely to remember their dreams and nightmares.

The co-author of the study told The Guardian about another possibility, noting that 'some men don't want to admit to having nightmares, so they intentionally lie about their frequency.'

Why the difference in nightmare scenarios? One of the authors says he's a firm believer that dreams are just an extension of our waking state.