Ever woken up from a vivid dream you couldn’t shake, or struggled to recall a dream the moment you opened your eyes? Scientists believe dreams play a crucial role in processing emotions, memories, and even sparking creativity—here’s how you can start remembering yours.

What did you dream last night? Psychology teacher Jon Hartquist incorporates dream analysis into a unit of his psychology course, because he believes dreams give us a chance to mull things over. In the...