Sex, being chased most common themes in dreams

Women have more nightmares and men dream more of sex, a new study has revealed.

For the study, scientists at the University of Montreal spent 11 years collecting data on the different nighttime dreams of men and women.

They found that the happiness index for dreams is at its lowest when we are between the ages of 20 and 30.

The new study found that both men and women both dream about sex, but men have it on their unconscious minds a little more often.

The survey lists 56 dream themes, including falling, floating, being chased, snakes, swimming, flooding and losing your teeth, the New York Daily News reported.

Sex was the most common dream theme for men, with 85 percent of respondents saying they dream about it at least occasionally.

Women weren't far behind, with 73 percent responding they dream about sex at least once in a while.

Women are more likely to dream about being chased - 83 percent compared to 78 percent for men.

For both men and women, dreams of falling are the third most frequent dream, the results indicate.

According to the Toronto Sun, researcher Tore Nielsen said that there appears to be a clear "dream theme diversity" between the two sexes.

Women are more likely to dream about someone dying, being paralyzed by fear, or spiders and snakes. Women also report more nightmares than men.

Men dream about flying, having magical powers, trying to kill someone or travelling to distant planets.

The least surprising part of the study was that as we age, the range of things we dream about becomes smaller.