In “The Dreamscape of Nightmares,” Natalie Angier questions the intent of dreams and nightmares. A true nightmare is demonstrated by the dreamer being jolted awake. Yet, even while nightmares are disliked, scientists are convinced that dreaming is essential, not only that, but they also believe that nightmares offer insights to why we dream at all. Recently, the term “fear extinction memories” was created to identify the brain’s system of the cleansing of fearful memories to create space for future threats. Scientists found that bad dreams support this conclusion because of the brain's ability to overcome fearful emotions without awakening. However with nightmares, this system fails since the dreamer is startled awake due to intense emotion.