I sometimes have dreams with sensations of smell, taste or pain. Is this unusual?

Although the overwhelming majority of dream reports contain visual and, to a lesser extent, kinesthetic elements, the presence of other sensory modalities has also been noted in both lab and home dream reports.Over 50% of dream reports contain auditory experiences while explicit references to olfactory, gustatory and pain sensations occur in less than 1% of all dream reports. One study found that women’s dream reports were more likely to contain olfactory or gustatory sensations whereas references to auditory and pain experiences occurred in a higher percentage of men’s dreams. That the more infrequent modalities of smell, taste and pain occur at all in dreams is an important demonstration of the representational capacities of dreaming.

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