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Scarpelli S, Alfonsi V, De Gennaro L, Gorgoni M. Dreaming for two: A systematic review of mental sleep activity during pregnancy. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 163:105763. [PMID: 38852848 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2024] [Revised: 06/03/2024] [Accepted: 06/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
Changes in sleep and dreams are often observed during pregnancy. Dreaming may represent privileged access to the inner world of individuals, providing relevant information about their well-being. For this reason, a growing but heterogeneous literature has investigated dream experiences of pregnant women. The present paper aimed to systematically review the available evidence on the relationship between pregnancy and oneric activity, focusing on dream and nightmare frequency, dream contents, and emotional features. Moreover, dream changes between pre-partum and post-partum periods and the impact of previous pregnancy-related adverse events on dreaming have been summarized. Overall, 17 studies have been examined. The reviewed evidence suggests that women tend to have an abundant production of dreams and nightmares during pregnancy, and some results support the view that a high rate of dream recall is associated with poor sleep quality. Most studies have shown a high presence of pregnancy-related dream content, likely reflecting waking experiences and concerns. Additionally, dreaming may promote psychological preparation and activation of functional coping strategies to face life changes after childbirth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serena Scarpelli
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
| | | | - Luigi De Gennaro
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Maurizio Gorgoni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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2
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Wang J, Feng X. Dreaming of being chased reflects waking-life experiences related to negative relationships with others metaphorically. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1413011. [PMID: 39131866 PMCID: PMC11310133 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1413011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2024] [Accepted: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 08/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction It has long been argued that there are dream metaphors which express waking-life experiences indirectly. Most of empirical evidence concerning this topic was in a qualitative way, while few studies explored the topic in a quantitative way. Under this background, we investigated whether dreaming of the typical theme 'being chased or pursued' was a metaphorical expression for waking-life experiences related to 'negative relationships with others'. Methods One hundred and sixty participants reported their waking-life experiences and dreams for a single day. Following this, two external judges rated whether there were any elements related to 'negative relationships with others' in both waking-life experiences and dreams. In addition, the judges assessed if there was any content related to 'being chased or pursued' in both waking-life experiences and dreams. Results The frequency of dreaming of 'negative relationships with others' was higher than the frequency of the same topic in waking-life experiences, which in turn was higher than the frequency of typical theme dreaming of 'being chased or pursued'. In addition, 'negative relationships with others' in waking-life experiences were correlated with both dreaming of 'being chased or pursued', and 'negative relationships with others' in dreams. Conclusion These results suggested that the typical theme 'being chased or pursued' in dreams may represent some waking-life experiences metaphorically. In addition, the results support the threat simulation theory of dreaming, which suggests that threatening events in waking life increase the possibility of threatening events in dreams.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaxi Wang
- School of Psychology, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
- Research Center for Embodied Cognition, Department of Psychology, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoling Feng
- Institute of Analytical Psychology, City University of Macau, Macau, China
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3
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Sharon O, Ben Simon E, Shah VD, Desel T, Walker MP. The new science of sleep: From cells to large-scale societies. PLoS Biol 2024; 22:e3002684. [PMID: 38976664 PMCID: PMC11230563 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/10/2024] Open
Abstract
In the past 20 years, more remarkable revelations about sleep and its varied functions have arguably been made than in the previous 200. Building on this swell of recent findings, this essay provides a broad sampling of selected research highlights across genetic, molecular, cellular, and physiological systems within the body, networks within the brain, and large-scale social dynamics. Based on this raft of exciting new discoveries, we have come to realize that sleep, in this moment of its evolution, is very much polyfunctional (rather than monofunctional), yet polyfunctional for reasons we had never previously considered. Moreover, these new polyfunctional insights powerfully reaffirm sleep as a critical biological, and thus health-sustaining, requisite. Indeed, perhaps the only thing more impressive than the unanticipated nature of these newly emerging sleep functions is their striking divergence, from operations of molecular mechanisms inside cells to entire group societal dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omer Sharon
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Eti Ben Simon
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Vyoma D. Shah
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Tenzin Desel
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Matthew P. Walker
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
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4
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Zhang J, Pena A, Delano N, Sattari N, Shuster AE, Baker FC, Simon K, Mednick SC. Evidence of an active role of dreaming in emotional memory processing shows that we dream to forget. Sci Rep 2024; 14:8722. [PMID: 38622204 PMCID: PMC11018802 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-58170-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Dreaming is a universal human behavior that has inspired searches for meaning across many disciplines including art, psychology, religion, and politics, yet its function remains poorly understood. Given the suggested role of sleep in emotional memory processing, we investigated whether reported overnight dreaming and dream content are associated with sleep-dependent changes in emotional memory and reactivity, and whether dreaming plays an active or passive role. Participants completed an emotional picture task before and after a full night of sleep and they recorded the presence and content of their dreams upon waking in the morning. The results replicated the emotional memory trade-off (negative images maintained at the cost of neutral memories), but only in those who reported dreaming (Dream-Recallers), and not in Non-Dream-Recallers. Results also replicated sleep-dependent reductions in emotional reactivity, but only in Dream-Recallers, not in Non-Dream-Recallers. Additionally, the more positive the dream report, the more positive the next-day emotional reactivity is compared to the night before. These findings implicate an active role for dreaming in overnight emotional memory processing and suggest a mechanistic framework whereby dreaming may enhance salient emotional experiences via the forgetting of less relevant information.
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5
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Samson DR, Clerget A, Abbas N, Senese J, Sarma MS, Lew-Levy S, Mabulla IA, Mabulla AZP, Miegakanda V, Borghese F, Henckaerts P, Schwartz S, Sterpenich V, Gettler LT, Boyette A, Crittenden AN, Perogamvros L. Evidence for an emotional adaptive function of dreams: a cross-cultural study. Sci Rep 2023; 13:16530. [PMID: 37783728 PMCID: PMC10545663 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43319-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 09/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The function of dreams is a longstanding scientific research question. Simulation theories of dream function, which are based on the premise that dreams represent evolutionary past selective pressures and fitness improvement through modified states of consciousness, have yet to be tested in cross-cultural populations that include small-scale forager societies. Here, we analyze dream content with cross-cultural comparisons between the BaYaka (Rep. of Congo) and Hadza (Tanzania) foraging groups and Global North populations, to test the hypothesis that dreams in forager groups serve a more effective emotion regulation function due to their strong social norms and high interpersonal support. Using a linear mixed effects model we analyzed 896 dreams from 234 individuals across these populations, recorded using dream diaries. Dream texts were processed into four psychosocial constructs using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC-22) dictionary. The BaYaka displayed greater community-oriented dream content. Both the BaYaka and Hadza exhibited heightened threat dream content, while, at the same time, the Hadza demonstrated low negative emotions in their dreams. The Global North Nightmare Disorder group had increased negative emotion content, and the Canadian student sample during the COVID-19 pandemic displayed the highest anxiety dream content. In conclusion, this study supports the notion that dreams in non-clinical populations can effectively regulate emotions by linking potential threats with non-fearful contexts, reducing anxiety and negative emotions through emotional release or catharsis. Overall, this work contributes to our understanding of the evolutionary significance of this altered state of consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- David R Samson
- Sleep and Human Evolution Lab, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada.
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada.
| | - Alice Clerget
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Noor Abbas
- Sleep and Human Evolution Lab, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada
| | - Jeffrey Senese
- Sleep and Human Evolution Lab, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada
| | - Mallika S Sarma
- School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Sheina Lew-Levy
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ibrahim A Mabulla
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage, Institute of Resource Assessment, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Audax Z P Mabulla
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage, Institute of Resource Assessment, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Valchy Miegakanda
- Laboratoire National de Santé Publique, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo
| | - Francesca Borghese
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Pauline Henckaerts
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Sophie Schwartz
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Virginie Sterpenich
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Lee T Gettler
- Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
| | - Adam Boyette
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Lampros Perogamvros
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Department of Psychiatry, Center for Sleep Medicine, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Department of Psychiatry, Center for Sleep Medicine, 2 Chemin du Petit-Bel-Air, 1226 Thônex, Switzerland.
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6
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Koppehele-Gossel J, Weinmann LM, Klimke A, Windmann S, Voss U. Dreaming during a pandemic: Low incorporation of COVID-19-specific themes and lucidity in dreams of psychiatric patients and healthy controls. Int J Clin Health Psychol 2023; 23:100364. [PMID: 36589551 PMCID: PMC9790876 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2022.100364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emotional quality of dreams, the incorporation of pandemic-related themes, and the occurrence of lucid dreaming. Dream reports and lucidity ratings of psychiatric outpatients (n = 30) and healthy controls (n = 81) during two lockdowns in Germany were compared to those of healthy controls (n = 33) before the pandemic. Results confirmed previous reports that pandemic-specific themes were incorporated into dreams. Overall, however, incorporation into dreams was rare. Contrary to expectations, psychiatric outpatients did not differ from controls in the frequency of dream incorporation of pandemic-related content. Moreover, incorporation was independent of psychiatric symptoms and loneliness. Loneliness was, however, associated with threat-related content, suggesting that it represents a risk for bad dreams but not for crisis-specific dream incorporation. Regarding lucid dreaming, both groups had similar scores for its underlying core dimensions, i.e., insight, control, and dissociation, during the two lockdowns. Scores for control and dissociation but not insight were lower compared to the pre-pandemic sample. Our working hypothesis is that REM sleep during lockdowns intensified as a means of increased emotional consolidation, rendering the associated mental state less hybrid and thereby less lucid.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lena-Marie Weinmann
- Department of Psychology, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Building PEG, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 6, Frankfurt/Main 60629, Germany
| | - Ansgar Klimke
- Department of Clinical Sleep Research, VITOS Hochtaunus Klinik, Friedrichsdorf, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Duesseldorf University, Duesseldorf, Germany
| | - Sabine Windmann
- Department of Psychology, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Building PEG, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 6, Frankfurt/Main 60629, Germany
| | - Ursula Voss
- Department of Clinical Sleep Research, VITOS Hochtaunus Klinik, Friedrichsdorf, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Building PEG, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 6, Frankfurt/Main 60629, Germany
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7
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Raffaelli Q, Andrews ES, Cegavske CC, Abraham FF, Edgin JO, Andrews-Hanna JR. Dreams share phenomenological similarities with task-unrelated thoughts and relate to variation in trait rumination and COVID-19 concern. Sci Rep 2023; 13:7102. [PMID: 37130841 PMCID: PMC10152021 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33767-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/04/2023] Open
Abstract
While recent neurocognitive theories have proposed links between dreams and waking life, it remains unclear what kinds of waking thoughts are most similar in their phenomenological characteristics to those of dreams. To investigate this question and examine relevance of dreams to significant personal concerns and dispositional mental health traits, we employed ecological momentary assessment and trait questionnaires across 719 young adults who completed the study during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time marked by considerable societal concern. Across the group and at the level of individual differences, dreams showed the highest correspondence with task-unrelated thoughts. Participants who self-reported greater COVID-19 concern rated their dreams as more negative and unconstructive, a relationship which was moderated by trait rumination. Furthermore, dreams perceived as more negative unconstructive and immersive in nature associated with increased trait rumination beyond variation in rumination explained by waking task-unrelated thoughts alone. Together, these results point to similarities between perceived characteristics of dreams and task-unrelated thoughts, and support a relationship between dreams, current concerns, and mental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quentin Raffaelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, 1503 E University Blvd., Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
- Cognitive Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
| | - Eric S Andrews
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, 1503 E University Blvd., Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
- Cognitive Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Caitlin C Cegavske
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, 1503 E University Blvd., Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Freya F Abraham
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, 1503 E University Blvd., Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Jamie O Edgin
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, 1503 E University Blvd., Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Jessica R Andrews-Hanna
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, 1503 E University Blvd., Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
- Cognitive Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
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8
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Paré D, Headley DB. The amygdala mediates the facilitating influence of emotions on memory through multiple interacting mechanisms. Neurobiol Stress 2023; 24:100529. [PMID: 36970449 PMCID: PMC10034520 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2023.100529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2022] [Revised: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Emotionally arousing experiences are better remembered than neutral ones, highlighting that memory consolidation differentially promotes retention of experiences depending on their survival value. This paper reviews evidence indicating that the basolateral amygdala (BLA) mediates the facilitating influence of emotions on memory through multiple mechanisms. Emotionally arousing events, in part by triggering the release of stress hormones, cause a long-lasting enhancement in the firing rate and synchrony of BLA neurons. BLA oscillations, particularly gamma, play an important role in synchronizing the activity of BLA neurons. In addition, BLA synapses are endowed with a unique property, an elevated post-synaptic expression of NMDA receptors. As a result, the synchronized gamma-related recruitment of BLA neurons facilitates synaptic plasticity at other inputs converging on the same target neurons. Given that emotional experiences are spontaneously remembered during wake and sleep, and that REM sleep is favorable to the consolidation of emotional memories, we propose a synthesis for the various lines of evidence mentioned above: gamma-related synchronized firing of BLA cells potentiates synapses between cortical neurons that were recruited during an emotional experience, either by tagging these cells for subsequent reactivation or by enhancing the effects of reactivation itself.
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9
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Dreaming during the COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 138:104710. [PMID: 35643121 PMCID: PMC9132492 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Revised: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
According to several influential models, dreams can be affected by state- and trait-like factors, sleep features, and diurnal experiences. The COVID-19 pandemic globally affected daily habits, emotional experiences, and sleep. Previous studies suggested an influence of collective traumatic events on dreaming. Starting from these premises, several studies assessed the effect of the pandemic on dreams. This paper aims to review findings concerning the oneiric activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We report pandemic-related changes in dreams and nightmares, and we consider the possible factors associated with dreaming. Moreover, we provide results about changes in the oneiric activity in different phases of the pandemic. The reviewed findings suggest a pandemic-related enhancement of dream and nightmare frequency, emotional intensity, and distressing contents, modulated by modifications in restrictive measures and associated with diurnal experiences, emotional status, and sleep pattern. We highlight several methodological issues and a large heterogeneity in the present literature, limiting results’ generalizability. However, we provide possible interpretations of the most consistent findings in light of the main theoretical frameworks about dreaming.
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10
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Fischmann T, Ambresin G, Leuzinger-Bohleber M. Dreams and Trauma Changes in the Manifest Dreams in Psychoanalytic Treatments - A Psychoanalytic Outcome Measure. Front Psychol 2021; 12:678440. [PMID: 34594260 PMCID: PMC8476791 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.678440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Although psychoanalysts are interested in symptom reduction as an outcome, they are looking for instruments to measure sustaining changes in the unconscious mental functioning. In this article it is discussed that conceptually well-founded transformation of manifest dreams analyzed with precise empirical methods could be considered as a promising indicator for such therapeutic changes. We are summarizing a dream generation model by Moser and von Zeppelin which has integrated a large interdisciplinary knowledge base of contemporary dream and sleep research. Based on this model the authors have developed a valid and reliable coding system for analyzing manifest dreams, the Zurich Dream Process Coding System (ZDPCS). One exemplary dream from the beginning and one from the third year of a severely traumatized, chronic depressed patient from the LAC Depression Study collected in psychoanalytic sessions as well as in the sleep laboratory have been analyzed applying the ZDPCS. Authors hypothesize that transformation in dreams as measured with the ZDPCS is the result of memory processes of traumatic embodied memories in the state of dreaming.
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11
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Abstract
Understanding of the evolved biological function of sleep has advanced considerably in the past decade. However, no equivalent understanding of dreams has emerged. Contemporary neuroscientific theories often view dreams as epiphenomena, and many of the proposals for their biological function are contradicted by the phenomenology of dreams themselves. Now, the recent advent of deep neural networks (DNNs) has finally provided the novel conceptual framework within which to understand the evolved function of dreams. Notably, all DNNs face the issue of overfitting as they learn, which is when performance on one dataset increases but the network's performance fails to generalize (often measured by the divergence of performance on training versus testing datasets). This ubiquitous problem in DNNs is often solved by modelers via "noise injections" in the form of noisy or corrupted inputs. The goal of this paper is to argue that the brain faces a similar challenge of overfitting and that nightly dreams evolved to combat the brain's overfitting during its daily learning. That is, dreams are a biological mechanism for increasing generalizability via the creation of corrupted sensory inputs from stochastic activity across the hierarchy of neural structures. Sleep loss, specifically dream loss, leads to an overfitted brain that can still memorize and learn but fails to generalize appropriately. Herein this "overfitted brain hypothesis" is explicitly developed and then compared and contrasted with existing contemporary neuroscientific theories of dreams. Existing evidence for the hypothesis is surveyed within both neuroscience and deep learning, and a set of testable predictions is put forward that can be pursued both in vivo and in silico.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Hoel
- Allen Discovery Center, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
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12
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Gorgoni M, Scarpelli S, Alfonsi V, Annarumma L, Cordone S, Stravolo S, De Gennaro L. Pandemic dreams: quantitative and qualitative features of the oneiric activity during the lockdown due to COVID-19 in Italy. Sleep Med 2021; 81:20-32. [PMID: 33631710 PMCID: PMC7868738 DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2021.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2020] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Objective The lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic had a strong impact on daily habits, emotional experience, mental health and sleep. A large body of evidence suggests that dreams are affected by both waking experiences and sleep pattern. In this view, the lockdown should have induced intense modifications in dreaming activity. The aim of the study was to assess dream features during the lockdown in Italy. Methods We used an online survey to collect self-reported demographic, clinical, sleep and dream data. Our sample included 1091 participants. Results Results point to an increased dream frequency, emotional load, vividness, bizarreness and length during the lockdown, compared to a pre-lockdown period. Higher dream frequency and specific qualitative features were found in females and subjects with poor sleep quality, nocturnal disruptive behaviours and depressive symptoms. Most of the dream features assessed during the lockdown were predicted by age, gender, depressive symptoms, presence/absence of other people at home, and territorial area. A specific focus on sleep features revealed that sleep duration and several sleep quality indexes were the best predictors of dream variables. During the lockdown, dreams were also characterized by increased negative emotions, which were particularly frequent in females, younger adults, and participants with poor sleep quality, nocturnal disruptive behaviours, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Conclusions Our results confirm the hypothesis of a strong influence of the pandemic on dreaming, supporting both the hypothesis of continuity between wake and sleep mental processes and the view of a crucial influence of sleep quality and duration on dreaming activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maurizio Gorgoni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
| | | | | | | | - Susanna Cordone
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Serena Stravolo
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Luigi De Gennaro
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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13
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The Effects of Sleep Quality on Dream and Waking Emotions. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18020431. [PMID: 33430454 PMCID: PMC7827529 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18020431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2020] [Revised: 01/04/2021] [Accepted: 01/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Despite the increasing interest in sleep and dream-related processes of emotion regulation, their reflection into waking and dream emotional experience remains unclear. We have previously described a discontinuity between wakefulness and dreaming, with a prevalence of positive emotions in wakefulness and negative emotions during sleep. Here we aim to investigate whether this profile may be affected by poor sleep quality. Twenty-three ‘Good Sleepers’ (GS) and 27 ‘Poor Sleepers’ (PS), identified through the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) cut-off score, completed three forms of the modified Differential Emotions Scale, assessing, respectively, the frequency of 22 emotions over the past 2 weeks, their intensity during dreaming and during the previous day. The ANOVA revealed a different pattern of emotionality between groups: GS showed high positive emotionality in wakefulness (both past 2 weeks and 24 h) with a significant shift to negative emotionality in dreams, while PS showed evenly distributed emotional valence across all three conditions. No significant regression model emerged between waking and dream affect. In the frame of recent hypotheses on the role of dreaming in emotion regulation, our findings suggest that the different day/night expression of emotions between groups depends on a relative impairment of sleep-related processes of affect regulation in poor sleepers. Moreover, these results highlight the importance of including sleep quality assessments in future dream studies.
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14
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Aazh H, Stevens J, Moore BCJ. Preliminary Examination of the Incidence of and Factors Related to Hearing Tinnitus in Dreams. J Am Acad Audiol 2020; 32:76-82. [PMID: 33296927 DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1718929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of the perception of tinnitus in dreams among patients seeking help for tinnitus and/or hyperacusis and to assess whether this is related to the severity of tinnitus and/or hyperacusis. RESEARCH DESIGN This was a retrospective study. STUDY SAMPLE The data for 148 consecutive adult patients who attended a tinnitus/hyperacusis clinic in the United Kingdom were included. The average age of the patients was 56 years (standard deviation [SD] = 15 years). DATA COLLECTION Data were collected retrospectively from their records held at the audiology department. Audiological measures were pure-tone audiometry and uncomfortable loudness levels. Questionnaires administered were: Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), Hyperacusis Questionnaire, Insomnia Severity Index, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of tinnitus loudness, annoyance, and effect on life, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Patient Health Questionnaire. Patients were also asked "If you dream have you ever perceived tinnitus in your dreams?" RESULTS Five percent of patients (7/148) reported hearing tinnitus in their dreams. There was a nonsignificant trend for patients who reported hearing tinnitus in their dreams to be younger (mean age = 46 years, SD = 15 years) than those who did not (mean age = 57 years, SD = 15 years). The mean scores for the THI and VAS for effect of tinnitus on life were significantly higher (worse) for patients who reported hearing tinnitus in their dreams than for those who did not. CONCLUSION A small proportion of patients reported hearing tinnitus in their dreams and this was associated with higher tinnitus handicap as measured via the THI and more effect of tinnitus on life as measured via the VAS. These preliminary results may indicate that those who are greatly affected by their tinnitus are more likely to hear it in their dreams or to be woken by it. Future studies should use methods that can be used to reliably assess if and when tinnitus is perceived during the sleep cycle, using more physiological measures and testing a wider population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hashir Aazh
- Audiology Department, Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Guildford, United Kingdom
| | - Jennifer Stevens
- Audiology Department, Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Guildford, United Kingdom
| | - Brian C J Moore
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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15
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Barnes CM, Watkins T, Klotz A. An exploration of employee dreams: The dream-based overnight carryover of emotional experiences at work. Sleep Health 2020; 7:191-197. [PMID: 33250392 DOI: 10.1016/j.sleh.2020.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Revised: 11/02/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE We sought to explore the manner in which daily challenge and hindrance stressors at work may be associated with mood the next day, through the mediating mechanisms of presleep rumination and moods experienced while asleep during dreams. METHODS A daily diary study in which 94 adults with full-time jobs completed 2 surveys per day for 2 work weeks. Each morning, participants reported the degree to which they engaged in rumination before sleep the previous night, the affective tone of their dreams, and their mood at that moment. Each evening participants reported their experiences of challenge and hindrance stressors at work that day. RESULTS Hindrance stressors were positively related to next-morning negative affect via the effects of rumination and negative affect in dreams. Challenge stressors negatively related to positive affect in the morning, via rumination and lowered positive affect in dreams. These results occurred above and beyond the effects of sleep quantity, sleep quality, and several other time-based control variables. CONCLUSIONS Dreams play an important role in how work stressors which are experienced in a given workday are associated with mood the next morning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher M Barnes
- Foster School of Business, University of Washington, 585 Paccar Hall, Seattle, WA 98195.
| | - Trevor Watkins
- College of Business, West Texas A&M University, Classroom Center, Room 213J, Canyon, TX 79016
| | - Anthony Klotz
- Mays Business School, Texas A&M University, 483D Wehner, College Station, TX 77843
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16
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Effects of all-night exposure to ambient odour on dreams and affective state upon waking. Physiol Behav 2020; 230:113265. [PMID: 33245999 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.113265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2019] [Revised: 10/19/2020] [Accepted: 11/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Previous laboratory research has shown that exposure to odours of contrasting pleasantness during sleep differentially affects the emotional tone of dreams. In the present study, we sought to investigate how a generally pleasant (vanillin) and unpleasant (thioglycolic acid [TGA]) smell influenced various dream characteristics, dream emotions, and post-sleep core affect during all-night exposure, controlling for appraisal of the olfactory environment during the assessments and sleep stage from which the participants woke up. We expected that exposure to vanillin would result in more pleasant dreams, more positive and less negative dream emotions, and a more positive post-sleep core affect compared to the control condition, whereas exposure to TGA would have the opposite effect. Sixty healthy volunteers (36 males, mean age 24 ± 4 years) were invited to visit the sleep laboratory three times in weekly intervals. The first visit served to adapt the participants to the laboratory environment. On the second visit, half the participants were exposed to an odour (vanillin or TGA, 1:1) and the other half to the odourless control condition. On the third visit, they received control or exposure in a balanced order. On each visit, the participants woke up twice, first from the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stage and then in the morning, usually from a non-REM sleep stage. Repeated measures were taken upon each awakening. Dream pleasantness, emotional charge of the dream, positive and negative emotions experienced in the dream, and four dimensions of post-sleep core affect (valence, activation, pleasant activation - unpleasant deactivation, and unpleasant activation - pleasant deactivation) were assessed. We found a small effect of condition (exposure vs. control) in interaction with appraisal of the ambient olfactory environment on dream pleasantness. Specifically, false alarms (i.e., perceiving odour in the absence of the target stimulus) were associated with lower dream pleasantness than correct rejections. Although exposure had a statistically significant positive influence on post-sleep core affect (namely, valence, activation, and pleasant activation - unpleasant deactivation), the size of the effect was small and lacked practical significance. The hypothesised differential effects of vanillin and TGA were only modelled for dream ratings because they decreased the fit of the other models. Neither dream pleasantness nor emotionality differed according to the odour used for stimulation. The results of the present study suggest that all-night exposure to odours is unlikely to produce practically significant positive effects on dreams and post-sleep core affect.
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17
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Sándor P, Horváth K, Bódizs R, Konkolÿ Thege B. Attachment and dream emotions: The mediating role of trait anxiety and depression. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-018-9890-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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18
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Conte F, Cellini N, De Rosa O, Caputo A, Malloggi S, Coppola A, Albinni B, Cerasuolo M, Giganti F, Marcone R, Ficca G. Relationships between Dream and Previous Wake Emotions Assessed through the Italian Modified Differential Emotions Scale. Brain Sci 2020; 10:brainsci10100690. [PMID: 33003600 PMCID: PMC7601812 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10100690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 09/25/2020] [Accepted: 09/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the increasing interest in sleep and dream-related processes of emotion regulation, their reflection into wake and dream emotional experience remains unclear. Here, we aimed to assess dream emotions and their relationships with wake emotions through the modified Differential Emotions Scale (Fredrickson, 2003), which includes a broad array of both positive and negative emotions. The scale has been first validated on 212 healthy Italian participants, in two versions: a WAKE-2wks form, assessing the frequency of 22 emotions over the past 2 weeks, and a WAKE-24hr form, assessing their intensity over the past 24 h. Fifty volunteers from the wider sample completed the WAKE-24hr mDES for several days until a dream was recalled, and dream emotions were self-reported using the same scale. A bifactorial structure was confirmed for both mDES forms, which also showed good validity and reliability. Though Positive and Negative Affect (average intensity of positive and negative items, PA, and NA, respectively) were balanced in dreams, specific negative emotions prevailed; rmANOVA showed a different pattern (prevalence of PA and positive emotions) in wake (both WAKE-2wks and WAKE-24hr), with a decrease of PA and an increase of NA in the dream compared to previous wake. No significant regression model emerged between waking and dream affect, and exploratory analyses revealed a stable proportion of PA and NA (with prevailing PA) over the 3 days preceding the dream. Our findings highlight a discontinuity between wake and dream affect and suggest that positive and negative emotions experienced during wake may undertake distinct sleep-related regulation pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Conte
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania L. Vanvitelli, Viale Ellittico 31, 81100 Caserta, Italy; (O.D.R.); (A.C.); (A.C.); (B.A.); (M.C.); (R.M.); (G.F.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-0823-274790
| | - Nicola Cellini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy;
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Ugo Bassi 58/B, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Via Giuseppe Orus 2, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Human Inspired Technology Center, University of Padova, Via Luzzatti 4, 35121 Padova, Italy
| | - Oreste De Rosa
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania L. Vanvitelli, Viale Ellittico 31, 81100 Caserta, Italy; (O.D.R.); (A.C.); (A.C.); (B.A.); (M.C.); (R.M.); (G.F.)
| | - Antonietta Caputo
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania L. Vanvitelli, Viale Ellittico 31, 81100 Caserta, Italy; (O.D.R.); (A.C.); (A.C.); (B.A.); (M.C.); (R.M.); (G.F.)
| | - Serena Malloggi
- Department NEUROFARBA, University of Firenze, Via di San Salvi 12, 50135 Firenze, Italy; (S.M.); (F.G.)
| | - Alessia Coppola
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania L. Vanvitelli, Viale Ellittico 31, 81100 Caserta, Italy; (O.D.R.); (A.C.); (A.C.); (B.A.); (M.C.); (R.M.); (G.F.)
| | - Benedetta Albinni
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania L. Vanvitelli, Viale Ellittico 31, 81100 Caserta, Italy; (O.D.R.); (A.C.); (A.C.); (B.A.); (M.C.); (R.M.); (G.F.)
| | - Mariangela Cerasuolo
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania L. Vanvitelli, Viale Ellittico 31, 81100 Caserta, Italy; (O.D.R.); (A.C.); (A.C.); (B.A.); (M.C.); (R.M.); (G.F.)
| | - Fiorenza Giganti
- Department NEUROFARBA, University of Firenze, Via di San Salvi 12, 50135 Firenze, Italy; (S.M.); (F.G.)
| | - Roberto Marcone
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania L. Vanvitelli, Viale Ellittico 31, 81100 Caserta, Italy; (O.D.R.); (A.C.); (A.C.); (B.A.); (M.C.); (R.M.); (G.F.)
| | - Gianluca Ficca
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania L. Vanvitelli, Viale Ellittico 31, 81100 Caserta, Italy; (O.D.R.); (A.C.); (A.C.); (B.A.); (M.C.); (R.M.); (G.F.)
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19
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Gauchat A, Zadra A, El-Hourani M, Parent S, Tremblay RE, Séguin JR. Disturbing Dreams and Psychosocial Maladjustment in Children: A Prospective Study of the Moderating Role of Early Negative Emotionality. Front Neurol 2020; 11:762. [PMID: 32849218 PMCID: PMC7427048 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.00762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 06/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Although frequent disturbing dreams, including bad dreams and nightmares, have been repeatedly associated with poor psychological well-being in adults, considerably less information exists on their psychosocial correlates in children. Recent empirical and theoretical contributions suggest that the association between disturbing dream frequency and psychosocial adaptation in children may differ as a function of children's negative emotionality. The current study assessed the moderating effect of very early negative emotionality (17 months of age) in the relation between disturbing dream frequency and psychosocial maladjustment (i.e., externalizing + internalizing behaviors) in a sample of 173 11-year-old children. Mixed-model analyses revealed that disturbing dream frequency was associated with some internalizing behaviors but that the association between disturbing dream frequency and most externalizing behaviors was moderated by early negative emotionality. The latter result indicates that the relation between disturbing dream frequency and externalizing behaviors was significant in 11-year-old children showing moderate negative emotionality early in life, but particularly strong in those children with high early negative emotionality. Whereas, a moderating effect of early negative emotionality was not found between disturbing dream frequency and internalizing behaviors, the findings highlight the more specific role of early emotional negativity as a developmental moderator for the link between disturbing dreams and externalizing behaviors in children. The results are discussed in light of recent models of disturbed dreaming production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aline Gauchat
- Clinique de Consultation Conjugale et Familiale Poitras-Wright, Côté, Longueuil, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Antonio Zadra
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Mira El-Hourani
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.,CHU Ste-Justine Research Center, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Sophie Parent
- School of Psychoeducation, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Richard E Tremblay
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.,CHU Ste-Justine Research Center, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Pediatrics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.,School of Public Health, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Jean R Séguin
- CHU Ste-Justine Research Center, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
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20
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Sterpenich V, Perogamvros L, Tononi G, Schwartz S. Fear in dreams and in wakefulness: Evidence for day/night affective homeostasis. Hum Brain Mapp 2019; 41:840-850. [PMID: 31663236 PMCID: PMC7267911 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2019] [Revised: 10/04/2019] [Accepted: 10/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent neuroscientific theories have proposed that emotions experienced in dreams contribute to the resolution of emotional distress and preparation for future affective reactions. We addressed one emerging prediction, namely that experiencing fear in dreams is associated with more adapted responses to threatening signals during wakefulness. Using a stepwise approach across two studies, we identified brain regions activated when experiencing fear in dreams and showed that frightening dreams modulated the response of these same regions to threatening stimuli during wakefulness. Specifically, in Study 1, we performed serial awakenings in 18 participants recorded throughout the night with high‐density electroencephalography (EEG) and asked them whether they experienced any fear in their dreams. Insula and midcingulate cortex activity increased for dreams containing fear. In Study 2, we tested 89 participants and found that those reporting higher incidence of fear in their dreams showed reduced emotional arousal and fMRI response to fear‐eliciting stimuli in the insula, amygdala and midcingulate cortex, while awake. Consistent with better emotion regulation processes, the same participants displayed increased medial prefrontal cortex activity. These findings support that emotions in dreams and wakefulness engage similar neural substrates, and substantiate a link between emotional processes occurring during sleep and emotional brain functions during wakefulness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginie Sterpenich
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Lampros Perogamvros
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Center for Sleep Medicine, Division of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.,Wisconsin Institute for Sleep and Consciousness, Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
| | - Giulio Tononi
- Wisconsin Institute for Sleep and Consciousness, Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
| | - Sophie Schwartz
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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21
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Eichenlaub JB, van Rijn E, Gaskell MG, Lewis PA, Maby E, Malinowski JE, Walker MP, Boy F, Blagrove M. Incorporation of recent waking-life experiences in dreams correlates with frontal theta activity in REM sleep. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2019; 13:637-647. [PMID: 29868897 PMCID: PMC6022568 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsy041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2017] [Accepted: 05/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and its main oscillatory feature, frontal theta, have been related to the processing of recent emotional memories. As memories constitute much of the source material for our dreams, we explored the link between REM frontal theta and the memory sources of dreaming, so as to elucidate the brain activities behind the formation of dream content. Twenty participants were woken for dream reports in REM and slow wave sleep (SWS) while monitored using electroencephalography. Eighteen participants reported at least one REM dream and 14 at least one SWS dream, and they, and independent judges, subsequently compared their dream reports with log records of their previous daily experiences. The number of references to recent waking-life experiences in REM dreams was positively correlated with frontal theta activity in the REM sleep period. No such correlation was observed for older memories, nor for SWS dreams. The emotional intensity of recent waking-life experiences incorporated into dreams was higher than the emotional intensity of experiences that were not incorporated. These results suggest that the formation of wakefulness-related dream content is associated with REM theta activity, and accords with theories that dreaming reflects emotional memory processing taking place in REM sleep.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Penelope A Lewis
- School of Psychological Science, Manchester University, Manchester, UK
| | - Emmanuel Maby
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM, CNRS, University of Lyon, Lyon, France
| | | | - Matthew P Walker
- Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Frederic Boy
- Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | - Mark Blagrove
- Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
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22
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Simard V, Laverdière O, Bédard MM, Brassard C, Merlo-Galeazzi H. Early maladaptive schemas in most recent dreams: Core fears never sleep. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-018-9917-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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23
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Feige B, Nanovska S, Baglioni C, Bier B, Cabrera L, Diemers S, Quellmalz M, Siegel M, Xeni I, Szentkiralyi A, Doerr JP, Riemann D. Insomnia—perchance a dream? Results from a NREM/REM sleep awakening study in good sleepers and patients with insomnia. Sleep 2018; 41:4845543. [DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsy032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Bernd Feige
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Svetoslava Nanovska
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Chiara Baglioni
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Benedict Bier
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Laura Cabrera
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Sarah Diemers
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Maximilian Quellmalz
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Markus Siegel
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Ireni Xeni
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Andras Szentkiralyi
- Institute for Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Germany
| | - John-Peter Doerr
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Dieter Riemann
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
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24
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van Rijn E, Reid AM, Edwards CL, Malinowski JE, Ruby PM, Eichenlaub JB, Blagrove MT. Daydreams incorporate recent waking life concerns but do not show delayed ('dream-lag') incorporations. Conscious Cogn 2017; 58:51-59. [PMID: 29128282 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2017.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2017] [Revised: 09/21/2017] [Accepted: 10/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
This study investigates the time course of incorporation of waking life experiences into daydreams. Thirty-one participants kept a diary for 10 days, reporting major daily activities (MDAs), personally significant events (PSEs) and major concerns (MCs). They were then cued for daydream, Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and N2 dream reports in the sleep laboratory. There was a higher incorporation into daydreams of MCs from the previous two days (day-residue effect), but no day-residue effect for MDAs or PSEs, supporting a function for daydreams of processing current concerns. A day-residue effect for PSEs and the delayed incorporation of PSEs from 5 to 7 days before the dream (the dream-lag effect) have previously been found for REM dreams. Delayed incorporation was not found in this study for daydreams. Daydreams might thus differ in function from REM sleep dreams. However, the REM dream-lag effect was not replicated here, possibly due to design differences from previous studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alexander M Reid
- Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea, UK; Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK
| | | | | | - Perrine M Ruby
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM, CNRS, University of Lyon, Lyon, France
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25
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Vallat R, Chatard B, Blagrove M, Ruby P. Characteristics of the memory sources of dreams: A new version of the content-matching paradigm to take mundane and remote memories into account. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0185262. [PMID: 29020066 PMCID: PMC5636081 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2017] [Accepted: 09/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Several studies have demonstrated that dream content is related to the waking life of the dreamer. However, the characteristics of the memory sources incorporated into dreams are still unclear. We designed a new protocol to investigate remote memories and memories of trivial experiences, both relatively unexplored in dream content until now. Upon awakening, for 7 days, participants identified the waking life elements (WLEs) related to their dream content and characterized them and their dream content on several scales to assess notably emotional valence. Thanks to this procedure, they could report WLEs from the whole lifespan, and mundane ones before they had been forgotten. Participants (N = 40, 14 males, age = 25.2 ± 7.6) reported 6.2 ± 2.0 dreams on average. For each participant, 83.4% ± 17.8 of the dream reports were related to one or more WLEs. Among all the WLEs incorporated into dreams dated by the participants (79.3 ± 19%), 40.2 ± 30% happened the day before the dream, 26.1 ± 26% the month before (the day before excluded), 15.8 ± 21% the year before the dream (the month before excluded), and 17.9 ± 24% happened more than one year before the dream. As could be expected from previous studies, the majority of the WLEs incorporated into dreams were scored as important by the dreamers. However, this was not true for incorporated WLEs dating from the day before the dream. In agreement with Freud's observations, the majority of the day residues were scored as mundane. Finally, for both positive and negative WLEs incorporated into dreams, the dreamt version of the WLE was rated as emotionally less intense than the original WLE. This result, showing that dreams tend to attenuate the emotional tone of waking-life memories towards a more neutral one, argues in favor of the emotional regulation hypothesis of dreaming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raphael Vallat
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Brain Dynamics and Cognition Team (DYCOG), INSERM UMRS 1028, CNRS UMR 5292, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Benoit Chatard
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Brain Dynamics and Cognition Team (DYCOG), INSERM UMRS 1028, CNRS UMR 5292, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Mark Blagrove
- Swansea University, Sleep laboratory, Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom
| | - Perrine Ruby
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Brain Dynamics and Cognition Team (DYCOG), INSERM UMRS 1028, CNRS UMR 5292, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
- * E-mail:
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26
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Lukowski AF, Valentovich V, Bohanek JG, Slonecker EM. Sleep Quality and the Subjective Experience of Autobiographical Memory: Differential Associations by Memory Valence and Temporality. APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/acp.3356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
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27
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Perogamvros L, Baird B, Seibold M, Riedner B, Boly M, Tononi G. The Phenomenal Contents and Neural Correlates of Spontaneous Thoughts across Wakefulness, NREM Sleep, and REM Sleep. J Cogn Neurosci 2017; 29:1766-1777. [PMID: 28562209 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Thoughts occur during wake as well as during dreaming sleep. Using experience sampling combined with high-density EEG, we investigated the phenomenal qualities and neural correlates of spontaneously occurring thoughts across wakefulness, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, and REM sleep. Across all states, thoughts were associated with activation of a region of the midcingulate cortex. Thoughts during wakefulness additionally involved a medial prefrontal region, which was associated with metacognitive thoughts during wake. Phenomenologically, waking thoughts had more metacognitive content than thoughts during both NREM and REM sleep, whereas thoughts during REM sleep had a more social content. Together, these results point to a core neural substrate for thoughts, regardless of behavioral state, within the midcingulate cortex, and suggest that medial prefrontal regions may contribute to metacognitive content in waking thoughts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lampros Perogamvros
- University of Wisconsin-Madison.,Geneva University Hospitals.,University of Geneva
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28
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Daily Life Experiences in Dreams and Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE OF MEMORY CONSOLIDATION 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-45066-7_10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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29
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Dream content and intrusive thoughts in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Psychiatry Res 2016; 244:410-4. [PMID: 27525832 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2016.08.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2016] [Revised: 07/28/2016] [Accepted: 08/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Although central to any exhaustive theory of human subjectivity, the relationship between dream and waking consciousness remains uncertain. Some findings suggest that dream consciousness can be influenced by severe disorders of thought content. The suppression of unwanted thoughts has been shown to influence dream content in healthy individuals. In order to better define this phenomenon, we evaluated the persistence of obsessive/compulsive themes across the dream and waking cognition of OCD patients and in a control group of healthy subjects. Participants were administered a shortened version of the Thematic Apperception Test to produce a waking fantasy narration, and were trained to keep a dream diary. Dream and waking narrative contents were analyzed in order to recognize obsessive/compulsive themes, and to calculate Mean Dream Obsession/Compulsion (MDO, MDC) and Mean TAT Obsession/Compulsion (MTO, MTC) parameters. No differences were found between the two populations in terms of MDO, MDC, MTO, nor MTC. Density of obsessive and compulsive themes were significantly higher in dream reports than in waking narratives for both groups. No correlation was observed between MDO/MDC scores and Y-BOCS obsession/compulsion scores in the OCD group. These findings strengthen the discontinuity hypothesis, suggesting that ruminative aspects of cognition are somehow interrupted during dream activity.
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Koppehele-Gossel J, Klimke A, Schermelleh-Engel K, Voss U. A template model of embodiment while dreaming: Proposal of a mini-me. Conscious Cogn 2016; 46:148-162. [PMID: 27718407 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2016.09.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2015] [Revised: 09/03/2016] [Accepted: 09/28/2016] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Dreams are usually centered around a dream self capable of tasks generally impossible in waking, e.g. flying or walking through walls. Moreover, the bodily dream self appears relatively stable and insensitive to changes of the embodied wake self, raising the question of whether and to what extent the dream self is embodied. To further explore its determinants, we tested whether the dream self would be affected by either pre-sleep focused attention to a body part or by its experimental alteration during the day. Choosing a repeated-measures design, we analyzed how often key words reflecting the experimental manipulations appeared in the dream reports. Results suggest that the dream self is not affected by these manipulations, strengthening the hypothesis that, in the majority of dreams, the dream self is only weakly embodied, utilizing a standard template of embodiment akin to a prototype of self operating independently from the physical waking self.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ansgar Klimke
- Department of Psychiatry, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Germany; Department of Psychiatric Neurophysiology, VITOS Hochtaunus Klinik, Germany
| | | | - Ursula Voss
- Department of Psychiatric Neurophysiology, VITOS Hochtaunus Klinik, Germany; Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
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Baglioni C, Nanovska S, Regen W, Spiegelhalder K, Feige B, Nissen C, Reynolds CF, Riemann D. Sleep and mental disorders: A meta-analysis of polysomnographic research. Psychol Bull 2016; 142:969-990. [PMID: 27416139 PMCID: PMC5110386 DOI: 10.1037/bul0000053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 538] [Impact Index Per Article: 67.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Investigating sleep in mental disorders has the potential to reveal both disorder-specific and transdiagnostic psychophysiological mechanisms. This meta-analysis aimed at determining the polysomnographic (PSG) characteristics of several mental disorders. Relevant studies were searched through standard strategies. Controlled PSG studies evaluating sleep in affective, anxiety, eating, pervasive developmental, borderline and antisocial personality disorders, attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and schizophrenia were included. PSG variables of sleep continuity, depth, and architecture, as well as rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep were considered. Calculations were performed with the "Comprehensive Meta-Analysis" and "R" software. Using random effects modeling, for each disorder and each variable, a separate meta-analysis was conducted if at least 3 studies were available for calculation of effect sizes as standardized means (Hedges' g). Sources of variability, that is, sex, age, and mental disorders comorbidity, were evaluated in subgroup analyses. Sleep alterations were evidenced in all disorders, with the exception of ADHD and seasonal affective disorders. Sleep continuity problems were observed in most mental disorders. Sleep depth and REM pressure alterations were associated with affective, anxiety, autism and schizophrenia disorders. Comorbidity was associated with enhanced REM sleep pressure and more inhibition of sleep depth. No sleep parameter was exclusively altered in 1 condition; however, no 2 conditions shared the same PSG profile. Sleep continuity disturbances imply a transdiagnostic imbalance in the arousal system likely representing a basic dimension of mental health. Sleep depth and REM variables might play a key role in psychiatric comorbidity processes. Constellations of sleep alterations may define distinct disorders better than alterations in 1 single variable. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Baglioni
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Center for Mental Disorders, University of Freiburg Medical Center, Germany
| | - Svetoslava Nanovska
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Center for Mental Disorders, University of Freiburg Medical Center, Germany
| | - Wolfram Regen
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Center for Mental Disorders, University of Freiburg Medical Center, Germany
| | - Kai Spiegelhalder
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Center for Mental Disorders, University of Freiburg Medical Center, Germany
| | - Bernd Feige
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Center for Mental Disorders, University of Freiburg Medical Center, Germany
| | - Christoph Nissen
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Center for Mental Disorders, University of Freiburg Medical Center, Germany
| | | | - Dieter Riemann
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Center for Mental Disorders, University of Freiburg Medical Center, Germany
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Cipolli C, Ferrara M, De Gennaro L, Plazzi G. Beyond the neuropsychology of dreaming: Insights into the neural basis of dreaming with new techniques of sleep recording and analysis. Sleep Med Rev 2016; 35:8-20. [PMID: 27569701 DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2016.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2015] [Revised: 07/14/2016] [Accepted: 07/14/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Recent advances in electrophysiological [e.g., surface high-density electroencephalographic (hd-EEG) and intracranial recordings], video-polysomnography (video-PSG), transcranial stimulation and neuroimaging techniques allow more in-depth and more accurate investigation of the neural correlates of dreaming in healthy individuals and in patients with brain-damage, neurodegenerative diseases, sleep disorders or parasomnias. Convergent evidence provided by studies using these techniques in healthy subjects has led to a reformulation of several unresolved issues of dream generation and recall [such as the inter- and intra-individual differences in dream recall and the predictivity of specific EEG rhythms, such as theta in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, for dream recall] within more comprehensive models of human consciousness and its variations across sleep/wake states than the traditional models, which were largely based on the neurophysiology of REM sleep in animals. These studies are casting new light on the neural bases (in particular, the activity of dorsal medial prefrontal cortex regions and hippocampus and amygdala areas) of the inter- and intra-individual differences in dream recall, the temporal location of specific contents or properties (e.g., lucidity) of dream experience and the processing of memories accessed during sleep and incorporated into dream content. Hd-EEG techniques, used on their own or in combination with neuroimaging, appear able to provide further important insights into how the brain generates not only dreaming during sleep but also some dreamlike experiences in waking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlo Cipolli
- Department of Specialty, Diagnostic and Experimental Medicine, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Michele Ferrara
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Luigi De Gennaro
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Roma, Roma, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Plazzi
- DIBINEM - Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; IRCCS - Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche, AUSL di Bologna, Italy.
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Zanini MA, Castro J, Cunha GR, Asevedo E, Pan PM, Bittencourt L, Coelho FM, Tufik S, Gadelha A, Bressan RA, Brietzke E. Abnormalities in sleep patterns in individuals at risk for psychosis and bipolar disorder. Schizophr Res 2015; 169:262-267. [PMID: 26391284 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2015.08.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2015] [Revised: 08/12/2015] [Accepted: 08/17/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
AIM To compare patterns of sleep and the presence of sleep disturbances in individuals in at-risk mental states (ARMS) for psychosis and bipolar disorder (BD) with a healthy control (HC) group. METHODS This was a comparative study involving 20 individuals in ARMS for psychosis or BD, according to the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States, and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Quality of sleep in the previous month was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, diurnal somnolence was evaluated using The Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and chronotype was determined using the Questionnaire of Morningness/Eveningness (QME). All of the participants underwent polysomnography (PSG) during the entire night for two consecutive nights. The first night aimed to adapt the subject to the environment, and only the data from the second night were used for the analysis. RESULTS Compared with the HC group, individuals in the ARMS group reported significantly worse sleep quality, as measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Both groups had scores consistent with daytime sleepiness on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and there were no differences with regard to chronotype between the groups, with a predominance of the indifferent type in both groups. In the PSG assessment, we observed increased Sleep Latency (SL) and increased Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Onset Latency (REMOL) in the ARMS group, compared to the HC group. CONCLUSION The results of this study indicated that sleep abnormalities could be found early in the course of mental diseases, even in at-risk stages, and support the further investigation of their predictive value in the transition to psychosis and BD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcio A Zanini
- Program for Recognition and Intervention in Individuals in At-Risk Mental States (PRISMA), Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Neuroscience (LINC), Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Sleep Institute, Department of Psychobiology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Juliana Castro
- Sleep Institute, Department of Psychobiology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Graccielle R Cunha
- Program for Recognition and Intervention in Individuals in At-Risk Mental States (PRISMA), Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Neuroscience (LINC), Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Elson Asevedo
- Program for Recognition and Intervention in Individuals in At-Risk Mental States (PRISMA), Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Neuroscience (LINC), Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Pedro M Pan
- Program for Recognition and Intervention in Individuals in At-Risk Mental States (PRISMA), Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Neuroscience (LINC), Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Lia Bittencourt
- Sleep Institute, Department of Psychobiology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Sergio Tufik
- Sleep Institute, Department of Psychobiology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ary Gadelha
- Program for Recognition and Intervention in Individuals in At-Risk Mental States (PRISMA), Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Neuroscience (LINC), Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo A Bressan
- Program for Recognition and Intervention in Individuals in At-Risk Mental States (PRISMA), Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Neuroscience (LINC), Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Elisa Brietzke
- Program for Recognition and Intervention in Individuals in At-Risk Mental States (PRISMA), Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Neuroscience (LINC), Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
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Jerath R, Crawford MW, Barnes VA. A unified 3D default space consciousness model combining neurological and physiological processes that underlie conscious experience. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1204. [PMID: 26379573 PMCID: PMC4550793 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2015] [Accepted: 07/29/2015] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The Global Workspace Theory and Information Integration Theory are two of the most currently accepted consciousness models; however, these models do not address many aspects of conscious experience. We compare these models to our previously proposed consciousness model in which the thalamus fills-in processed sensory information from corticothalamic feedback loops within a proposed 3D default space, resulting in the recreation of the internal and external worlds within the mind. This 3D default space is composed of all cells of the body, which communicate via gap junctions and electrical potentials to create this unified space. We use 3D illustrations to explain how both visual and non-visual sensory information may be filled-in within this dynamic space, creating a unified seamless conscious experience. This neural sensory memory space is likely generated by baseline neural oscillatory activity from the default mode network, other salient networks, brainstem, and reticular activating system.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Vernon A Barnes
- Department of Pediatrics, Georgia Prevention Institute, Georgia Regents University Augusta, GA, USA
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35
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Malinowski JE, Horton CL. Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1132. [PMID: 26347669 PMCID: PMC4539471 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2015] [Accepted: 07/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper we propose an emotion assimilation function of sleep and dreaming. We offer explanations both for the mechanisms by which waking-life memories are initially selected for processing during sleep, and for the mechanisms by which those memories are subsequently transformed during sleep. We propose that emotions act as a marker for information to be selectively processed during sleep, including consolidation into long term memory structures and integration into pre-existing memory networks; that dreaming reflects these emotion assimilation processes; and that the associations between memory fragments activated during sleep give rise to measureable elements of dream metaphor and hyperassociativity. The latter are a direct reflection, and the phenomenological experience, of emotional memory assimilation processes occurring during sleep. While many theories previously have posited a role for emotion processing and/or emotional memory consolidation during sleep and dreaming, sleep theories often do not take enough account of important dream science data, yet dream research, when conducted systematically and under ideal conditions, can greatly enhance theorizing around the functions of sleep. Similarly, dream theories often fail to consider the implications of sleep-dependent memory research, which can augment our understanding of dream functioning. Here, we offer a synthesized view, taking detailed account of both sleep and dream data and theories. We draw on extensive literature from sleep and dream experiments and theories, including often-overlooked data from dream science which we believe reflects sleep phenomenology, to bring together important ideas and findings from both domains.
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36
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The dream-lag effect: Selective processing of personally significant events during Rapid Eye Movement sleep, but not during Slow Wave Sleep. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2015; 122:98-109. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2015.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2014] [Revised: 12/23/2014] [Accepted: 01/28/2015] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
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Carr M, Nielsen T. Morning rapid eye movement sleep naps facilitate broad access to emotional semantic networks. Sleep 2015; 38:433-43. [PMID: 25409100 PMCID: PMC4335534 DOI: 10.5665/sleep.4504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2014] [Accepted: 10/08/2014] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVES The goal of the study was to assess semantic priming to emotion and nonemotion cue words using a novel measure of associational breadth for participants who either took rapid eye movement (REM) or nonrapid eye movement (NREM) naps or who remained awake; assess relation of priming to REM sleep consolidation and REM sleep inertia effects. DESIGN The associational breadth task was applied in both a priming condition, where cue-words were signaled to be memorized prior to sleep (primed), and a nonpriming condition, where cue words were not memorized (nonprimed). Cue words were either emotional (positive, negative) or nonemotional. Participants were randomly assigned to either an awake (WAKE) or a sleep condition, which was subsequently split into NREM or REM groups depending on stage at awakening. SETTING Hospital-based sleep laboratory. PARTICIPANTS Fifty-eight healthy participants (22 male) ages 18 to 35 y (Mage = 23.3 ± 4.08 y). MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS The REM group scored higher than the NREM or WAKE groups on primed, but not nonprimed emotional cue words; the effect was stronger for positive than for negative cue words. However, REM time and percent correlated negatively with degree of emotional priming. Priming occurred for REM awakenings but not for NREM awakenings, even when the latter sleep episodes contained some REM sleep. CONCLUSIONS Associational breadth may be selectively consolidated during REM sleep for stimuli that have been tagged as important for future memory retrieval. That priming decreased with REM time and was higher only for REM sleep awakenings is consistent with two explanatory REM sleep processes: REM sleep consolidation serving emotional downregulation and REM sleep inertia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Carr
- Dream and Nightmare Laboratory, Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
| | - Tore Nielsen
- Dream and Nightmare Laboratory, Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
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38
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The role of rapid eye movement sleep for amygdala-related memory processing. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2015; 122:110-21. [PMID: 25638277 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2015.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2014] [Revised: 12/19/2014] [Accepted: 01/19/2015] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Over the years, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep has been associated with general memory consolidation, specific consolidation of perceptual, procedural, emotional and fear memories, brain maturation and preparation of waking consciousness. More recently, some of these associations (e.g., general and procedural memory consolidation) have been shown to be unlikely, while others (e.g., brain maturation and consciousness) remain inconclusive. In this review, we argue that both behavioral and neurophysiological evidence supports a role of REM sleep for amygdala-related memory processing: the amygdala-hippocampus-medial prefrontal cortex network involved in emotional processing, fear memory and valence consolidation shows strongest activity during REM sleep, in contrast to the hippocampus-medial prefrontal cortex only network which is more active during non-REM sleep. However, more research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms.
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39
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The reorganisation of memory during sleep. Sleep Med Rev 2014; 18:531-41. [DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2014.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2013] [Revised: 03/10/2014] [Accepted: 03/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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40
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Neuroscience-driven discovery and development of sleep therapeutics. Pharmacol Ther 2014; 141:300-34. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2013.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2013] [Accepted: 10/25/2013] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
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41
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Göder R, Nissen C, Rasch B. [Sleep, learning and memory: relevance for psychiatry and psychotherapy]. DER NERVENARZT 2014; 85:50-6. [PMID: 24399500 DOI: 10.1007/s00115-013-3894-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sleep has been identified as a state that optimizes the consolidation of newly acquired information in the memory. Sleep disturbances might essentially contribute to memory impairment in relevant psychiatric disorders, such as major depression and schizophrenia. METHODS This article provides a brief review of the latest research results on sleep and its association with memory consolidation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION Specific disturbances of sleep structure are associated with particular memory deficits in psychiatric patients. Effective treatment of sleep disorders should not only improve signs of sleep but should also heal associated memory impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Göder
- Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, Niemannsweg 147, 24105, Kiel, Deutschland,
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42
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D'Agostino A, Castelnovo A, Scarone S. Dreaming and the neurobiology of self: recent advances and implications for psychiatry. Front Psychol 2013; 4:680. [PMID: 24133470 PMCID: PMC3783843 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2013] [Accepted: 09/09/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Armando D'Agostino
- Department of Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano Milan, Italy ; Department of Mental Health, San Paolo Hospital Milan, Italy
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43
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Lara-Carrasco J, Simard V, Saint-Onge K, Lamoureux-Tremblay V, Nielsen T. Maternal representations in the dreams of pregnant women: a prospective comparative study. Front Psychol 2013; 4:551. [PMID: 23986734 PMCID: PMC3753535 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2013] [Accepted: 08/02/2013] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Dreams are thought to respond to self- and socially-relevant situations that evoke strong emotions and require rapid adaptation. First pregnancy is such a situation during which maternal mental representations (MMR) of the unborn baby, the self and significant others undergo remodeling. Some studies suggest that dreams during pregnancy contain more MMR and are more dysphoric, but such studies contain important methodological flaws. We assessed whether dreamed MMR, like waking MMR, change from the 7th month of pregnancy to birth, and whether pregnancy–related themes and non-pregnancy characteristics are also transformed. Sixty non-pregnant and 59 pregnant women (37 early and 22 late 3rd trimester) completed demographic and psychological questionnaires and 14-day home dream logs. Dream reports were blindly rated according to four dream categories: (1) Dreamed MMR, (2) Quality of baby/child representations, (3) Pregnancy-related themes, (4) Non-pregnancy characteristics. Controlling for age, relationship and employment status, education level and state anxiety, women in both pregnant groups reported more dreams depicting themselves as a mother or with babies/children than did non-pregnant women (all p = 0.006). Baby/child representations were less specific in the late 3rd than in the early 3rd trimester (p = 0.005) and than in non-pregnant women (p = 0.01). Pregnant groups also had more pregnancy, childbirth and fetus themes (all p = 0.01). Childbirth content was higher in late than in early 3rd trimester (p = 0.01). Pregnant groups had more morbid elements than did the non-pregnant group (all p < 0.05). Dreaming during pregnancy appears to reflect daytime processes of remodeling MMR of the woman as a mother and of her unborn baby, and parallels a decline in the quality of baby/child representations in the last stage of pregnancy. More frequent morbid content in late pregnancy suggests that the psychological challenges of pregnancy are reflected in a generally more dysphoric emotional tone in dream content.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Lara-Carrasco
- Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal Montréal, QC, Canada ; Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal Montréal, QC, Canada
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44
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Perogamvros L, Dang-Vu TT, Desseilles M, Schwartz S. Sleep and dreaming are for important matters. Front Psychol 2013; 4:474. [PMID: 23898315 PMCID: PMC3722492 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2013] [Accepted: 07/06/2013] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies in sleep and dreaming have described an activation of emotional and reward systems, as well as the processing of internal information during these states. Specifically, increased activity in the amygdala and across mesolimbic dopaminergic regions during REM sleep is likely to promote the consolidation of memory traces with high emotional/motivational value. Moreover, coordinated hippocampal-striatal replay during NREM sleep may contribute to the selective strengthening of memories for important events. In this review, we suggest that, via the activation of emotional/motivational circuits, sleep and dreaming may offer a neurobehavioral substrate for the offline reprocessing of emotions, associative learning, and exploratory behaviors, resulting in improved memory organization, waking emotion regulation, social skills, and creativity. Dysregulation of such motivational/emotional processes due to sleep disturbances (e.g., insomnia, sleep deprivation) would predispose to reward-related disorders, such as mood disorders, increased risk-taking and compulsive behaviors, and may have major health implications, especially in vulnerable populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Perogamvros
- Sleep Laboratory, Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva Geneva, Switzerland ; Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva Geneva, Switzerland ; Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva Geneva, Switzerland
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45
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D'Agostino A, Aletti G, Carboni M, Cavallotti S, Limosani I, Manzone M, Scarone S. Are delusional contents replayed during dreams? Conscious Cogn 2013; 22:708-15. [PMID: 23703023 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2013.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2012] [Revised: 01/22/2013] [Accepted: 04/08/2013] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The relationship between dream content and waking life experiences remains difficult to decipher. However, some neurobiological findings suggest that dreaming can, at least in part, be considered epiphenomenal to ongoing memory consolidation processes in sleep. Both abnormalities in sleep architecture and impairment in memory consolidation mechanisms are thought to be involved in the development of psychosis. The objective of this study was to assess the continuity between delusional contents and dreams in acutely psychotic patients. Ten patients with a single fixed and recurring delusional content were asked to report their dreams during an acute psychotic break. Sixteen judges with four different levels of acquaintance to the specific content of the patients' delusions were asked to group the dreams, expecting that fragments of the delusional thought would guide the task. A mathematical index (f,t) was developed in order to compare correct groupings between the four groups of judges. Most judges grouped the dreams slightly above chance level and no relevant differences could be found between the four groups [F(3,12)=1.297; p=n.s.]. Scoring of dreams for specific delusional themes suggested a continuity in terms of dream and waking mentation for two contents (Grandiosity and Religion). These findings seem to suggest that at least some delusional contents recur within patients' dreams. Future studies will need to determine whether such continuity reflects ongoing consolidation processes that are relevant to current theories of delusion formation and stabilization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Armando D'Agostino
- Department of Mental Health, San Paolo Hospital, Milan, Italy; Department of Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy.
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Abstract
This study examined the extent to which dreams of close others would predict subsequent waking experiences with those partners, suggesting a process for the effects of dreams parallel to findings on “priming” as observed in other contexts. Participants in committed relationships completed measures of attachment and relationship health (interdependence), followed by a 2-week diary of dream reports and interactions with their partners. Multilevel modeling results indicated (among other effects) that certain types of content (e.g., infidelity) and emotions (e.g., jealousy) in participants’ dream reports were associated with less intimate feelings and more conflict with their partners on subsequent days. These associations were unidirectional and they remained significant while controlling for trait attachment styles, overall relationship heath, and the previous day’s activity, thus identifying for the first time a unique and important role for dreams in affecting relationship behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Arthur Aron
- Department of Psychology, SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, USA
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47
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Simor P, Horváth K. Altered sleep in Borderline Personality Disorder in relation to the core dimensions of psychopathology. Scand J Psychol 2013; 54:300-12. [PMID: 23574575 DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2012] [Accepted: 01/19/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The aim of the study was to review the literature regarding sleep disturbances in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and to relate the reported sleep alterations to the underlying core dimensions of BPD pathology. We present a qualitative and theoretical review regarding the empirical studies that investigated objective and subjective sleep quality in BPD and in different psychiatric conditions showing high co-morbidity with this disorder. We show that disturbed sleep including sleep fragmentation, alterations in Slow Wave Sleep and REM sleep, and dysphoric dreaming are prevalent symptoms in BPD. We provide a framework relating the specific sleep alterations to the core dimensions of BPD pathology in order to clarify the inconsistencies of the different findings. The specific sleep disturbances in BPD seem to be related to different dimensions of psychopathological functioning and may have detrimental consequences on waking affect and cognition. Investigating disturbed sleep in BPD in relation to waking symptoms and underlying neural functioning would shed more light on the nature of this complex disorder. Moreover, a stronger emphasis on sleep disturbances would enrich the treatment protocols of BPD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Péter Simor
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary.
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Perogamvros L. Consciousness and the invention of Morel. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:61. [PMID: 23467765 PMCID: PMC3587797 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2012] [Accepted: 02/15/2013] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
A scientific study of consciousness should take into consideration both objective and subjective measures of conscious experiences. To this date, very few studies have tried to integrate third-person data, or data about the neurophysiological correlates of conscious states, with first-person data, or data about subjective experience. Inspired by Morel's invention (Casares, 1940), a literary machine capable of reproducing sensory-dependent external reality, this article suggests that combination of virtual reality techniques and brain reading technologies, that is, decoding of conscious states by brain activity alone, can offer this integration. It is also proposed that the multimodal, simulating, and integrative capacities of the dreaming brain render it an “endogenous” Morel's machine, which can potentially be used in studying consciousness, but not always in a reliable way. Both the literary machine and dreaming could contribute to a better understanding of conscious states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lampros Perogamvros
- Department of Psychiatry, Division of Neuropsychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva Geneva, Switzerland ; Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva Geneva, Switzerland
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Perogamvros L, Schwartz S. The roles of the reward system in sleep and dreaming. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2012; 36:1934-51. [PMID: 22669078 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2011] [Revised: 05/23/2012] [Accepted: 05/25/2012] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The mesolimbic dopaminergic system (ML-DA) allows adapted interactions with the environment and is therefore of critical significance for the individual's survival. The ML-DA system is implicated in reward and emotional functions, and it is perturbed in schizophrenia, addiction, and depression. The ML-DA reward system is not only recruited during wakeful behaviors, it is also active during sleep. Here, we introduce the Reward Activation Model (RAM) for sleep and dreaming, according to which activation of the ML-DA reward system during sleep contributes to memory processes, to the regulation of rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, and to the generation and motivational content of dreams. In particular, the engagement of ML-DA and associated limbic structures prioritizes information with high emotional or motivational relevance for (re)processing during sleep and dreaming. The RAM provides testable predictions and has clinical implications for our understanding of the pathogenesis of major depression and addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lampros Perogamvros
- Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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