Dreaming for humans is a sort of escape, an imagination and a journey, it takes them to places they'd like to go to or places they've never been. A new study has found that even rodents dream of places they wish to visit someday.

According to Examiner, researchers from University College London found that just like humans, another living organism that is capable of dreaming is the rat.

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The researchers added, "When rats' rest, their brains simulate journeys to a desired future such as a tasty treat."

Humans and rats have neurons called "place cells" that help them store memories. These "place cells" are located in the hippocampus of the brain. And it's only activated when a subject is introduced to a new location, helping to create mental roadmaps and memories about the location.

Dr. Freyja Olafsdottir said, "What's really interesting is that the Hippocampus is normally thought of as being important for memory, with place cells storing details about locations you've visited."

Olafsdottir then went on to say, "What's surprising here is that we see the hippocampus planning for the future, actually rehearsing totally novel journeys that animal's need to take in order to reach the food." Examiner.com has learned.

According to Newsy, the research team from University College London made the discovery by keeping four rats in a T-shaped pathway. Inside the tiny labyrinth, the rats could see food but weren't able to get to where they can only assume cheese.

Then, the research team used electrodes to record the rodents brain activity while they sleep and found that the rats' hippocampus was prepping a path. The hippocampus just also happens to be the area of the brain that "replays journeys" and may also be responsible for the content of some dreams.

The rats being studied were not only dreaming about the places they have visited with food, they may also be dreaming on where to get that food in the future.

The study doesn't only tackle on how rats think and store information, but this may also be a lead to a better understanding in what goes on in human mind when they dream.

According to neuroscientist Hugo Spiers, a co-author on the study published in elife, "People are much better at doing the stuff that they'll make more money on after they've slept, something about sleep is using that desire information: that you do want to do better."

"People have talked in the past about these kind of replay and pre-play events as possible being the substrates of dreams, but you can't ask rats what they're thinking or dreaming," said Spiers.

He added, "There is that really interesting sense that we' re getting at the stuff of dreams, the stuff that goes on when you're sleeping," Discover magazine reports.