Vincent Rochas

2 papers in the library · 5 citations · publishing 2025

Papers

The cathartic dream: Using a large language model to study a new type of functional dream in healthy and clinical populations

Journal of Sleep Research February 9, 2025 Lampros Perogamvros, Vincent Rochas, Jean‐Baptiste Beau et al. 5 citations

Dreams may help regulate emotions by reducing negative feelings. A new concept, the cathartic dream, is defined as a dream with a dynamic plot and emotional twists where negative emotions are expressed and ultimately decreased, reflecting psychological relief akin to Aristotelian catharsis. Using a large language model to categorize dream diaries, researchers detected cathartic dreams in both healthy individuals and patients with nightmares. Their prevalence increased during two weeks of imagery rehearsal therapy and targeted memory reactivation during REM sleep. The increase in cathartic dreams correlated with decreased depression scores in nightmare patients, suggesting a functional role in well-being.

DOI: 10.1111/jsr.70001 Dream Cathartic Catharsis Categorization +9

Content-specific and temporally evolving neural correlates of dream experiences

Vincent Rochas, Kevin Mammeri, Laurence Bayer et al. preprint

Having a conscious experience with recall during N2 sleep is linked to increased beta/gamma brain activity across widespread cortical areas, with peak activity in posterior occipital-temporal regions in the 30-second window before awakening and in parietal regions in the 20-second window. This effect was significant for high-perceptual dreams but not for low-perceptual dreams, suggesting that the neural activity is driven by sensory experiences such as vision and audition. The findings emphasize the need to distinguish content-specific neural correlates of dreaming and to study their temporal dynamics.

DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/qbwnf_v2