Creativity and Dream Recall

High Dream Recall Frequency is Associated with Increased Creativity and Default Mode Network Connectivity

INTRODUCTION

Several results suggest that the frequency of dream recall is positively correlated with personality traits such as creativity and openness to experience. In addition, neuroimaging results have evidenced different neurophysiological profiles in high dream recallers (HR) and low dream recallers (LR) during both sleep and wakefulness, specifically within regions of the default mode network (DMN). These findings are consistent with the emerging view that dreaming and mind wandering pertain to the same family of spontaneous mental processes, subserved by the DMN.

METHODS

To further test this hypothesis, we measured the DMN functional connectivity during resting wakefulness, together with personality and cognitive abilities (including creativity) in 28 HR and 27 LR.

RESULTS

As expected, HR demonstrated a greater DMN connectivity than LR, higher scores of creativity, and no significant difference in memory abilities. However, there was no significant correlation between creativity scores and DMN connectivity.

DISCUSSION

These results further demonstrate that there are trait neurophysiological and psychological differences between individuals who frequently recall their dreams and those who do not. They support the forebrain and the DMN hypotheses of dreaming and leave open the possibility that increased activity in the DMN promotes creative-thinking during both wakefulness and sleep. Further work is needed to test whether activity in the DMN is causally associated with creative-thinking.

Assessing Individual Differences in the Affective Experience of Dreams: The Jena Dream Inventory–Affect Scales (JeDI-A)

The study reports on the validation of a new instrument for the assessment of emotional experiences in dreams. The Jena Dream Inventory–Affect (JeDI-A) contains 21 items and 3 scales, positive dream affect, negative dream affect, and dream intensity, providing a differentiated yet economic assessment of dream affect. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses in a sample of university students ( N = 426) and a clinical sample of patients with sleep disorders ( N = 149) supported factorial validity and measurement invariance, high temporal stability (over 1 year and 9 months in the students and patients, respectively), convergent and discriminant validity regarding established measures of dream affect and the Big Five, and criterion validity regarding subjective well-being. Cross-lagged panel models showed reciprocal longitudinal effects between dream affect and waking affect. We conclude that the JeDI-A is a valid instrument for differentiated investigations of individual differences in dream affect in clinical and nonclinical populations.

Increased creative thinking in narcolepsy

Some studies suggest a link between creativity and rapid eye movement sleep. Narcolepsy is characterized by falling asleep directly into rapid eye movement sleep, states of dissociated wakefulness and rapid eye movement sleep (cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations, sleep paralysis, rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder and lucid dreaming) and a high dream recall frequency. Lucid dreaming (the awareness of dreaming while dreaming) has been correlated with creativity. Given their life-long privileged access to rapid eye movement sleep and dreams, we hypothesized that subjects with narcolepsy may have developed high creative abilities. To test this assumption, 185 subjects with narcolepsy and 126 healthy controls were evaluated for their level of creativity with two questionnaires, the Test of Creative Profile and the Creativity Achievement Questionnaire. Creativity was also objectively tested in 30 controls and 30 subjects with narcolepsy using the Evaluation of Potential Creativity test battery, which measures divergent and convergent modes of creative thinking in the graphic and verbal domains, using concrete and abstract problems. Subjects with narcolepsy obtained higher scores than controls on the Test of Creative Profile (mean ± standard deviation: 58.9 ± 9.6 versus 55.1 ± 10, P = 0.001), in the three creative profiles (Innovative, Imaginative and Researcher) and on the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (10.4 ± 25.7 versus 6.4 ± 7.6, P = 0.047). They also performed better than controls on the objective test of creative performance (4.3 ± 1.5 versus 3.7 ± 1.4; P = 0.009). Most symptoms of narcolepsy (including sleepiness, hypnagogic hallucinations, sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, and rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder, but not cataplexy) were associated with higher scores on the Test of Creative Profile. These results highlight a higher creative potential in subjects with narcolepsy and further support a role of rapid eye movement sleep in creativity.

Dream Recall: State or Trait Variable? Part I: Model, Theories, Methodology and Trait Factors

The aim of the present article is to carefully review the research carried out hitherto regarding factors influencing dream recall. With respect to the hypotheses explaining the variation in dream recall frequency (DRF) and a model of the dream recall process, the empirical data has been divided into two groups, trait factors and state factors. In the first part of the article the studies on the influence of trait factors are reviewed. The second part incudes data concerning state factors, new empirical data and some final conclusions. State factors such as nocturnal awakening and focusing on dreams in the morning and trait factors such as fantasy life, creativity and visual memory play a major role in explaining variability in dream recall.

Reading dream literature: frequency, influencing factors, and self-rated benefit

Dream books have a very long history, but systematic research on how many people have read magazine articles or books on dreams and whether reading such literature is beneficial to the dreamer is scarce. In the present sample of 444 people (mostly psychology students), about 75% of the participants stated that they had read at least one magazine article on dreams, and more than 40% had read at least one book about dreams. The main factor associated with the frequency of reading dream literature was a positive attitude toward dreaming, whereas personality factors play a minor role in explaining interindividual differences in this variable. The self-rated benefit of reading dream literature varied greatly, from not helpful at all to very helpful, and was associated with dream recall frequency and positive attitude toward dreaming. Using this approach in a more sophisticated way, eliciting details about the kinds of information participants have read would help researchers learn more about what techniques of dream work are effective and thus complement the research carried out in therapist-guided sessions.

Frequency of dream sharing: the effects of gender and personality

Although dreaming is a private experience, dream sharing is a common experience for most people. Dreams are disclosed to romantic partners, friends, and relatives, and the sharing is often associated with enhancement of relational intimacy and stress relief (e.g., in the case of nightmares). Research has focused on factors that might affect dream sharing such as dream recall frequency, gender, and emotional intensity of the dream. The present findings indicate that about 14.5% of the dreams were shared and that dream recall frequency, nightmare frequency, attitude toward dreams, gender, extroversion, and thin boundaries are associated independently with the frequency of dream sharing. Longitudinal studies are needed to differentiate between state factors and trait factors and to validate the self-reported positive effects of dream sharing on intimacy in romantic relationships and friendships.

Different Factors Affect Different Aspects of Dream Recall

Dream recall is naturally a prerequisite for eliciting dream content. Therefore it is of importance to study factors (e.g., personality traits) that might affect dream recall because these factors might bias the content analytic findings in the field of dream research. The present findings indicate that different aspects of dream recall (dream recall frequency, dream recall detail, long-term dream memory) are affected by different factors or at least in different magnitudes by the same factors (e.g., imagination). Whether these variables have a confounding effect on dream content analytic findings using different sampling methods (most recent dreams, diary dreams, and laboratory dreams) is poorly understood, but the present results clearly indicate that there is a need for systematic research in this area in order to increase the representativeness of content analytic findings.

Self-Reported Effects of Dreams on Waking-Life Creativity: An Empirical Study

The authors studied the self-rated effect of dreams on creativity in participants who were not selected for creative abilities. Students (N = 444) and online respondents (N = 636) answered a questionnaire about dreams and creative dreams. In addition, the students completed several personality measures and creativity scales. Results indicated that dreams that stimulated waking-life creativity played a considerable role in the lives of ordinary people (about 8% of all dreams). Examples reported by the online participants fell into 4 categories: (a) dream images used for art, work, or similar areas; (b) dreams that solved a problem; (c) dreams that provided the impetus to do something that the dreamer otherwise had difficulty doing; and (d) dreams containing emotional insights. The main factors influencing frequency of creative dreams were dream recall frequency and the thin boundaries personality dimension. Future researchers should use diary techniques to study the effects of dreams on waking life and should develop techniques to increase the frequency of creative dreams that might be valuable as aids for people in creative jobs.

Dream recall and visual memory

The present study estimated correlations for 50 subjects among frequency of dream recall, length of dream report, and visual memory. Whereas the results confirmed the previously found relationship between frequency of dream recall and visual memory, influence of visual memory on length of dream report was not found.