Are delusional contents replayed during dreams?
Consciousness and Cognition September 1, 2013 Armando D'Agostino, Giacomo Aletti, Martina Carboni et al.
In acutely psychotic patients with a single fixed delusion, fragments of that delusional thought appear in their dreams, suggesting continuity between waking delusions and dream content. Ten patients reported dreams during an acute psychotic break. Sixteen judges, with varying familiarity with each patient's delusion, tried to group the dreams by matching them to the correct patient. Most judges performed only slightly above chance, and no significant differences emerged between groups with different levels of acquaintance. Scoring dreams for specific delusional themes revealed continuity for Grandiosity and Religion. The findings indicate that some delusional contents recur within patients' dreams, possibly reflecting ongoing memory consolidation processes relevant to delusion formation.