[steelrat1 (OP)]

In other words,  if you have a memory of a dream and a memory of a real event, do they share the same part of the Brain? and if they do how do we tell what memory is real and which is not?

[maffsolo]

In other words,  if you have a memory of a dream and a memory of a real event, do they share the same part of the Brain? and if they do how do we tell what memory is real and which is not?

From what I read imagination, if it can be associated to (dreams), and real event memories share or overlap portions of the brain.
What is real and imaginary can be manipulated, psychotherapy, brain washing or a slight rinse in some cases.

What holds us to reality?
When all your senses are permitting you to believe something is real and breaks all the rules of physics, it is time for that reality check.

It was told to me, if I am always checking or questioning to see if I am crazy, I am not!
It is the ones that are sure that they are not crazy, just may be!

I tried this...
I sat back in my chase lounge, watching a rerun on TV I saw many times before and know the movie, but not exactly the sequence of the scenes.

Let us just say the events of the movie are established and consider them as a sequence of real events.
Now I close my eyes and listen to the movie, in my mind, I hear the story as the actors express themselves and the music emphasizes the drama.
 My mind starts working and imagine some kind of character references and a different scene then what the movie is.
I find my mental imagination of minds eye sees the scenes differently, comparing it when I open my eyes to view back to the TV story.

The mind is a precious item, I am going to have to watch out, I think I can be a candidate categorized, as a slight rinse is
 sufficient.

If you are dreaming, is there some kind of a traumatic event in your reality, only you know, that can not be artificlly duplicated, that can pull you back to reality, that only you can self induce with no questioning on your part... Takes a strong minded person.

[krool1969]

In other words,  if you have a memory of a dream and a memory of a real event, do they share the same part of the Brain? and if they do how do we tell what memory is real and which is not?

Most of the time we can't remember our dreams. Some nuroscientists think dreams ore nothing but random firings of the sleeping brain. Parhaps all of the imagages we remeber from the dream are only created AFTER we wake up.

When I was 10 or so I found a stray cat under our deck. He was in really bad shape, busted leg, belly split open infested with parasites... While we were trying to decide if we were going to adopt him or put him down I had a dream that my dad had decided to put him down and he made me stab the cat to death with a large nail.

We did end up adopting the cat and he lived with us several years before he contracted feline leukemia. For a very long time I felt terrible guilt about this dream, despite the fact I knew no attack ever took place.

[CliffordK]

In other words,  if you have a memory of a dream and a memory of a real event, do they share the same part of the Brain? and if they do how do we tell what memory is real and which is not?

Most of the time we can't remember our dreams. Some nuroscientists think dreams ore nothing but random firings of the sleeping brain. Parhaps all of the imagages we remeber from the dream are only created AFTER we wake up.

Certainly there is a portion of one's dreams that happens in the limbo between sleeping and being awake.  At which point one can somewhat control the dreams.  Still, they are often soon forgotten.

There are some pathological states in which a person will loose the inhibitions normally associated with dreams.  They then appear to move, or walk while still in the dreaming state.  I would assume a sleep study would confirm a sleep state, and the non-random movements would be indicative of more than random nerve firings.

Night Terrors can also wake up some individuals from apparent sound sleep.

I would assume it is a natural adaptation to be able to differentiate from daytime and nighttime experiences.  And, perhaps that is one of the reasons why we soon forget the dreams.  However, many elderly individuals seem to "remember" dream-like fantasies as if they are real.

[steelrat1 (OP)]

"However, many elderly individuals seem to "remember" dream-like fantasies as if they are real."
this is my point, if you can visualize a dream and visualize a distant memory in the minds eye they seem the same.. but you still know which is which..not by the image but by something else... though as you said some people / old or brain damaged cant tell the difference.
   

[RD]

"However, many elderly individuals seem to "remember" dream-like fantasies as if they are real."... some people / old or brain damaged cant tell the difference.

Ahh the old Cliff Richard hit "confabulations".

[Nizzle]

In other words,  if you have a memory of a dream and a memory of a real event, do they share the same part of the Brain? and if they do how do we tell what memory is real and which is not?

Most of the time we can't remember our dreams. Some nuroscientists think dreams ore nothing but random firings of the sleeping brain. Parhaps all of the imagages we remeber from the dream are only created AFTER we wake up.

When I was 10 or so I found a stray cat under our deck. He was in really bad shape, busted leg, belly split open infested with parasites... While we were trying to decide if we were going to adopt him or put him down I had a dream that my dad had decided to put him down and he made me stab the cat to death with a large nail.

We did end up adopting the cat and he lived with us several years before he contracted feline leukemia. For a very long time I felt terrible guilt about this dream, despite the fact I knew no attack ever took place.

I believe this is a classical example of improper memory pairings. You have probably put a nail in a wooden plank with a hammer, maybe because your dad asked you to do so, and a part of that memory (dad asking, you putting nail in something) crossed and linked with the event of you finding a cat under the porch due to a common factor (maybe the presence of your dad and a similar emotional state of yourself, ie excitement of finding a cat and excitement of you allowed to use a hammer for the first time).