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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] [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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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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3
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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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4
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Mangiaruga A, D'Atri A, Scarpelli S, Alfonsi V, Camaioni M, Annarumma L, Gorgoni M, Pazzaglia M, De Gennaro L. Sleep talking versus sleep moaning: electrophysiological patterns preceding linguistic vocalizations during sleep. Sleep 2022; 45:zsab284. [PMID: 34893917 DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsab284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2021] [Revised: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVES Sleep talking (ST) has been rarely studied as an isolated phenomenon. Late investigations over the psycholinguistic features of vocal production in ST pointed to coherence with wake language formal features. Therefore, we investigated the EEG correlates of Verbal ST as the overt manifestation of sleep-related language processing, with the hypothesis of shared electrophysiological correlates with wake language production. METHODS From a sample of 155 Highly frequent STs, we recorded 13 participants (age range 19-30 years, mean age 24.6 ± 3.3; 7F) via vPSG for at least two consecutive nights, and a total of 28 nights. We first investigated the sleep macrostructure of STs compared to 13 age and gender-matched subjects. We then compared the EEG signal before 21 Verbal STs versus 21 Nonverbal STs (moaning, laughing, crying, etc.) in six STs reporting both vocalization types in Stage 2 NREM sleep. RESULTS The 2 × 2 mixed analysis of variance Group × Night interaction showed no statistically significant effect for macrostructural variables, but significant main effects for Group with lower REM (%), total sleep time, total bedtime, sleep efficiency index, and greater NREM (%) for STs compared to controls. EEG statistical comparisons (paired-samples Student's t-test) showed a decrement in power spectra for Verbal STs versus Nonverbal STs within the theta and alpha EEG bands, strongly lateralized to the left hemisphere and localized on centro-parietal-occipitals channels. A single left parietal channel (P7) held significance after Bonferroni correction. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest shared neural mechanisms between Verbal ST and language processing during wakefulness and a possible functional overlapping with linguistic planning in wakefulness.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Aurora D'Atri
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Serena Scarpelli
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Milena Camaioni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Maurizio Gorgoni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Mariella Pazzaglia
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Action and Body Lab, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Luigi De Gennaro
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Action and Body Lab, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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5
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Vitali H, Campus C, De Giorgis V, Signorini S, Gori M. The vision of dreams: from ontogeny to dream engineering in blindness. J Clin Sleep Med 2022; 18:2051-2062. [PMID: 35499135 PMCID: PMC9340600 DOI: 10.5664/jcsm.10026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
The mechanisms involved in the origin of dreams remain one of the great unknowns in science. In the 21st century, studies in the field have focused on 3 main topics: functional networks that underlie dreaming, neural correlates of dream contents, and signal propagation. We review neuroscientific studies about dreaming processes, focusing on their cortical correlations. The involvement of frontoparietal regions in the dream-retrieval process allows us to discuss it in light of the Global Workspace theory of consciousness. However, dreaming in distinct sleep stages maintains relevant differences, suggesting that multiple generators are implicated. Then, given the strong influence of light perception on sleep regulation and the mostly visual content of dreams, we investigate the effect of blindness on the organization of dreams. Blind individuals represent a worthwhile population to clarify the role of perceptual systems in dream generation, and to make inferences about their top-down and/or bottom-up origin. Indeed, congenitally blind people maintain the ability to produce visual dreams, suggesting that bottom-up mechanisms could be associated with innate body schemes or multisensory integration processes. Finally, we propose the new dream-engineering technique as a tool to clarify the mechanisms of multisensory integration during sleep and related mental activity, presenting possible implications for rehabilitation in sensory-impaired individuals. The Theory of Proto-consciousness suggests that the interaction of brain states underlying waking and dreaming ensures the optimal functioning of both. Therefore, understanding the origin of dreams and capabilities of our brain during a dreamlike state, we could introduce it as a rehabilitative tool. CITATION Vitali H, Campus C, De Giorgis V, Signorini S, Gori M. The vision of dreams: from ontogeny to dream engineering in blindness. J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(8):2051-2062.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helene Vitali
- U-VIP: Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
| | - Claudio Campus
- U-VIP: Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
| | | | | | - Monica Gori
- U-VIP: Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
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6
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The Oneiric Activity during and after the COVID-19 Total Lockdown in Italy: A Longitudinal Study. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19073857. [PMID: 35409540 PMCID: PMC8997831 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19073857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Revised: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
A growing body of evidence highlights that the COVID-19 pandemic affected oneiric activity. However, only a few studies have assessed the longitudinal changes in dream phenomenology during different phases of the pandemic, often focused on a limited number of dream variables. The aim of the present study was to provide an exhaustive assessment of dream features during total lockdown (TL) and a post-lockdown (PL) period characterized by eased restrictive measures in Italy. We performed a longitudinal study using a web-based survey to collect demographic, COVID-19 related, clinical, sleep, and dream data at TL and PL. Our final sample included 108 participants. The high frequency of poor sleep quality, anxiety, and depressive symptoms observed during TL remained stable at PL, while sleep latency (t = −4.09; p < 0.001) and PTSD-related disruptive nocturnal behaviors (t = −5.68; p < 0.001) exhibited a reduction at PL. A PL decrease in time spent with digital media was observed (t = −2.77; p = 0.007). We found a strong PL reduction in dream frequency (t = −5.49; p < 0.001), emotional load (t = −2.71; p = 0.008), vividness (t = −4.90; p < 0.001), bizarreness (t = −4.05; p < 0.001), length (t = −4.67; p < 0.001), and lucid dream frequency (t = −2.40; p = 0.018). Fear was the most frequently reported emotion in dreams at TL (26.9%) and PL (22.2%). Only the frequency of specific lockdown-related dream contents exhibited a reduction at PL. These findings highlight that the end of the home confinement had a strong impact on the oneiric activity, in the direction of reduced dream frequency, intensity, and lockdown-related contents. The co-occurrence of such changes with a decline in nocturnal PTSD-related symptoms, sleep latency, and time with digital media suggests an influence of post-traumatic stress levels, lifestyle modifications, and sleep pattern on dream changes during different phases of the pandemic. The stable prevalence of fear in dreams and the large frequency of poor sleep quality, depressive symptoms, and anxiety are probably related to the persistence of many negative consequences of the pandemic. Overall, these results are consistent with the continuity hypothesis of dreams.
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7
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Blain S, de la Chapelle A, Caclin A, Bidet-Caulet A, Ruby P. Dream recall frequency is associated with attention rather than with working memory abilities. J Sleep Res 2022; 31:e13557. [PMID: 35102655 DOI: 10.1111/jsr.13557] [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: 09/01/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Several factors influencing dream recall frequency (DRF) have been identified, but some remain poorly understood. One way to study DRF is to compare cognitive processes in low and high dream recallers (LR and HR). According to the arousal-retrieval model, long-term memory encoding of a dream requires wakefulness while its multisensory short-term memory is still alive. Previous studies showed contradictory results concerning short-term memory differences between LR and HR. It has also been found that extreme DRFs are associated with different electrophysiological traits related to attentional processes. However, to date, there is no evidence for attentional differences between LR and HR at the behavioural level. To further investigate attention and working memory in HR and LR, we used a newly-developed challenging paradigm called "MEMAT" (for MEMory and ATtention), which allows the study of selective attention and working memory interaction during memory encoding of non-verbal auditory stimuli. We manipulated the difficulties of the distractor to ignore and of the memory task. The performance of the two groups were not differentially impacted by working memory load. However, HR were slower and less accurate in the presence of a hard rather than easy to-ignore distractor, while LR were much less impacted by the distractor difficulty. Therefore, we show behavioural evidence towards less resistance to hard-to-ignore distractors in HR. Using a challenging task, we show for the first time, attentional differences between HR and LR at the behavioural level. The impact of auditory attention and working memory on dream recall is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salomé Blain
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS, UMR5292, INSERM, U1028, Lyon, France.,University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Aurélien de la Chapelle
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS, UMR5292, INSERM, U1028, Lyon, France.,University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Anne Caclin
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS, UMR5292, INSERM, U1028, Lyon, France.,University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Aurélie Bidet-Caulet
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS, UMR5292, INSERM, U1028, Lyon, France.,University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Perrine Ruby
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS, UMR5292, INSERM, U1028, Lyon, France.,University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
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8
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Šćepanović S, Aiello LM, Barrett D, Quercia D. Epidemic dreams: dreaming about health during the COVID-19 pandemic. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:211080. [PMID: 35116145 PMCID: PMC8790359 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The continuity hypothesis of dreams suggests that the content of dreams is continuous with the dreamer's waking experiences. Given the unprecedented nature of the experiences during COVID-19, we studied the continuity hypothesis in the context of the pandemic. We implemented a deep-learning algorithm that can extract mentions of medical conditions from text and applied it to two datasets collected during the pandemic: 2888 dream reports (dreaming life experiences), and 57 milion tweets (waking life experiences) mentioning the pandemic. The health expressions common to both sets were typical COVID-19 symptoms (e.g. cough, fever and anxiety), suggesting that dreams reflected people's real-world experiences. The health expressions that distinguished the two sets reflected differences in thought processes: expressions in waking life reflected a linear and logical thought process and, as such, described realistic symptoms or related disorders (e.g. nasal pain, SARS, H1N1); those in dreaming life reflected a thought process closer to the visual and emotional spheres and, as such, described either conditions unrelated to the virus (e.g. maggots, deformities, snake bites), or conditions of surreal nature (e.g. teeth falling out, body crumbling into sand). Our results confirm that dream reports represent an understudied yet valuable source of people's health experiences in the real world.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Deirdre Barrett
- Harvard Medical School, 352 Harvard Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Daniele Quercia
- Nokia Bell Labs, 21 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB30FA, UK
- CUSP, King's College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK
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9
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Scarpelli S, Alfonsi V, Gorgoni M, Musetti A, Filosa M, Quattropani MC, Lenzo V, Vegni E, Borghi L, Margherita G, Freda MF, Saita E, Cattivelli R, Castelnuovo G, Manari T, Plazzi G, De Gennaro L, Franceschini C. Dreams and Nightmares during the First and Second Wave of the COVID-19 Infection: A Longitudinal Study. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11111375. [PMID: 34827374 PMCID: PMC8615577 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11111375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Revised: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 10/17/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent literature shows that the Coronovirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has provoked significant changes in dreaming. The current study intends to provide an update about dream variable changes during the second wave of COVID-19. A total of 611 participants completed a web survey from December 2020 to January 2021. Statistical comparisons showed that subjects had lower dream-recall frequency, nightmare frequency, lucid-dream frequency, emotional intensity, and nightmare distress during the second than the first wave of the pandemic. Dreams had a higher negative tone during the second than first wave. We revealed significant differences concerning post-traumatic growth, sleep-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and sleep measures between groups obtained as a function of the changes in the oneiric frequency between the first and second waves. We also found significant correlations between qualitative/emotional dream features and COVID-19-related factors (job change, forced quarantine, having COVID-19 infected relatives/friends, or asking for mental health help). Overall, we found that the second wave affected fewer quantitative features of dream activity and there was less emotional intensity. Moreover, we confirmed the relationship between nightmares and the high risk of PTSD when subjects were grouped as a function of the increasing/decreasing frequency. Finally, our findings are partly coherent with the continuity hypothesis between oneiric and waking experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serena Scarpelli
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (V.A.); (M.G.); (L.D.G.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Valentina Alfonsi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (V.A.); (M.G.); (L.D.G.)
| | - Maurizio Gorgoni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (V.A.); (M.G.); (L.D.G.)
| | - Alessandro Musetti
- Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries, University of Parma, 43125 Parma, Italy; (A.M.); (T.M.)
| | - Maria Filosa
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, 43126 Parma, Italy; (M.F.); (C.F.)
| | - Maria C. Quattropani
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy;
| | - Vittorio Lenzo
- Department of Social and Educational Sciences of the Mediterranean Area, “Dante Alighieri” University for Foreigners of Reggio Calabria, 89125 Reggio Calabria, Italy;
| | - Elena Vegni
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Milan, 20146 Milan, Italy; (E.V.); (L.B.)
| | - Lidia Borghi
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Milan, 20146 Milan, Italy; (E.V.); (L.B.)
| | - Giorgia Margherita
- Department of Humanistic Studies, Federico II University, 80138 Naples, Italy; (G.M.); (M.F.F.)
| | - Maria Francesca Freda
- Department of Humanistic Studies, Federico II University, 80138 Naples, Italy; (G.M.); (M.F.F.)
| | - Emanuela Saita
- Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, 20123 Milan, Italy; (E.S.); (R.C.); (G.C.)
| | - Roberto Cattivelli
- Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, 20123 Milan, Italy; (E.S.); (R.C.); (G.C.)
- Psychology Research Laboratory, Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, 28824 Verbania, Italy
| | - Gianluca Castelnuovo
- Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, 20123 Milan, Italy; (E.S.); (R.C.); (G.C.)
- Psychology Research Laboratory, Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, 28824 Verbania, Italy
| | - Tommaso Manari
- Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries, University of Parma, 43125 Parma, Italy; (A.M.); (T.M.)
| | - Giuseppe Plazzi
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, 40139 Bologna, Italy;
- Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41125 Modena, Italy
| | - Luigi De Gennaro
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (V.A.); (M.G.); (L.D.G.)
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Christian Franceschini
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, 43126 Parma, Italy; (M.F.); (C.F.)
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10
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da Mota Gomes M, Nardi AE. Charles Dickens' Hypnagogia, Dreams, and Creativity. Front Psychol 2021; 12:700882. [PMID: 34385963 PMCID: PMC8353174 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.700882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Marleide da Mota Gomes
- Laboratory of History of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Institute of Neurology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Antonio E Nardi
- Laboratory of History of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian Academy of Science, National Academy of Medicine, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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11
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Różyk-Myrta A, Brodziak A, Muc-Wierzgoń M. Neural Circuits, Microtubule Processing, Brain's Electromagnetic Field-Components of Self-Awareness. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11080984. [PMID: 34439603 PMCID: PMC8393322 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11080984] [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: 06/05/2021] [Revised: 07/18/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The known theories discussing the essence of consciousness have been recently updated. This prompts an attempt to integrate these explanations concerning several distinct components of the consciousness phenomenon such as the ego, and qualia perceptions. Therefore, it is useful to consider the latest publications on the ‘Orch OR’ and ‘cemi’ theories, which assume that quantum processing occurs in microtubules and that the brain’s endogenous electromagnetic field is important. The authors combine these explanations with their own theory describing the neural circuits realizing imagery. They try to present such an interdisciplinary, integrated theoretical model in a manner intuitively understandable to people with a typical medical education. In order to do this, they even refer to intuitively understandable metaphors. The authors maintain that an effective comprehension of consciousness is important for health care professionals because its disorders are frequent medical symptoms in emergencies, during general anesthesia and in the course of cognitive disorders in elderly people. The authors emphasize the current possibilities to verify these theses regarding the essence of consciousness thanks to the development of functional brain imaging methods—magnetoencephalography, transcranial magnetic stimulation—as well as clinical studies on the modification of perceptions and feelings by such techniques as mindfulness and the use of certain psychoactive substances, especially among people with self-awareness and identity disorders.
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12
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Scarpelli S, Gorgoni M, Alfonsi V, Annarumma L, Di Natale V, Pezza E, De Gennaro L. The impact of the end of COVID confinement on pandemic dreams, as assessed by a weekly sleep diary: a longitudinal investigation in Italy. J Sleep Res 2021; 31:e13429. [PMID: 34288197 PMCID: PMC8420281 DOI: 10.1111/jsr.13429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Revised: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
The Coronavirus 2019 pandemic strongly affected our sleep and dream activity. Many cross‐sectional studies highlighted increased dream recall frequency, and revealed a great presence of pandemic‐related oneiric contents. Here, we present the first prospective study carried out on an Italian sample. One‐hundred subjects were requested to fill out a web‐survey including socio‐demographic information, and questionnaires collecting sleep and clinical measures during lockdown. A final sample of 90 subjects participated in the longitudinal protocol lasting 2 weeks: (a) the first week (April 28–May 4) of full lockdown; and (b) the second week (May 5–May 11) of easing of restrictions. Subjects were asked to record at home their dream experiences, and complete a sleep‐dream diary each morning. Statistical comparisons showed that participants had higher numbers of awakenings, lower ease of falling asleep, higher dream recall and lucid dream frequency during lockdown than post‐lockdown. Further, subjects reported more dreams, including “being in crowded places” during post‐lockdown than lockdown. The poorer sleep quality during lockdown is quite consistent with previous findings. The relationship between traumatic events and dream recall frequency confirmed the idea of pandemic as “collective trauma”. Also, we hypothesized that the greater presence of lucid dreams during confinement could reflect the attempt to cope with the waking pandemic‐experiences. Finally, the presence of crowded places into dream scenarios during the second week of our protocol appears consistent with the continuity‐hypothesis, as the possibility to access places frequented by other people could represent a relevant experience after a long period of confinement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serena Scarpelli
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Maurizio Gorgoni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | | | | | - Emilio Pezza
- 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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Scarpelli S, Alfonsi V, D'Anselmo A, Gorgoni M, Musetti A, Plazzi G, De Gennaro L, Franceschini C. Dream Activity in Narcoleptic Patients During the COVID-19 Lockdown in Italy. Front Psychol 2021; 12:681569. [PMID: 34122276 PMCID: PMC8187856 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.681569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Some studies highlighted that patients with narcolepsy type-1 (NT1) experience high lucid dream frequency, and this phenomenon has been associated with a creative personality. Starting from the well-known “pandemic effect” on sleep and dreaming, we presented a picture of dream activity in pharmacologically treated NT1 patients during the Italian lockdown. Forty-three NT1 patients completed a web-survey during Spring 2021 and were compared with 86 matched-controls. Statistical comparisons revealed that: (a) NT1 patients showed greater sleepiness than controls; (b) controls showed higher sleep disturbances than NT1 patients, and this result disappeared when the medication effect in NT1 was controlled; (c) NT1 patients reported higher lucid dream frequency than controls. Focusing on dreaming in NT1 patients, we found that (a) nightmare frequency was correlated with female gender, longer sleep duration, higher intrasleep wakefulness; (b) dream recall, nightmare and lucid dream frequency were positively correlated with sleepiness. Comparisons between low and high NT1 lucid dreamers showed that patients more frequently experiencing lucid dreams reported a greater influence of dreaming during wakefulness, especially concerning problem-solving and creativity. Overall, our results are consistent with previous studies on pandemic dreaming carried out on healthy subjects. Moreover, we confirmed a link between lucidity and creativity in NT1 patients. Considering the small sample size and the cross-sectional design, our findings cannot provide a causal relationship between lucid dreams and the COVID-19 lockdown. Nevertheless, they represent a first contribution to address future studies on this issue, suggesting that some stable characteristics could interact with changes provoked by the pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serena Scarpelli
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Anita D'Anselmo
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Maurizio Gorgoni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandro Musetti
- Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Plazzi
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.,Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Luigi De Gennaro
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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