Recent studies of dreaming have brought out two interesting facts. The first is that dreaming in colour has become more frequent and widespread since the advent of colour cinematography, and in all likelihood ( though there are few statistics to support this assumption ) still more so since colour television became common. The second is that some drugs, in particular tranquillizers and sleeping tablets, make it more likely that a person will dream in colour. A doctor dealing with elderly patients has noted that "nothing on earth" would induce him to deprive the more lonely and unhappy of his patients of one particular tablet. This "helps them to dream in colour, and has a noticeable effect on their general morale". He added :" For these poor old people, dreaming is like going to the cinema. And dreaming in colour is the only amusement they can allow themselves."

           Often in dreams, colours do not correspond to what we would expect to find in reality. This is because, as we have seen, they express states of mind, and it has been shown that particular colours reflect different moods. Many experts believe that all our dreaming is done in colour, but we often forget this because when we try to remember and decipher our dreams, what we recall is their content, and not the form they took. Whether or not we dream in colour is still a matter of debate. One thing is certain : different colours correspond to different states of mind.