People with epilepsy recall dreams on about 1.6 days per week, and 11% have at least one nightmare per week. Younger age, more nighttime awakenings, and fewer seizures predict more frequent dream recall. In patients with focal epilepsy, a seizure focus in the parieto-occipital area is linked to lower dream recall. About a third of patients have dreamed about epilepsy, and such dreams are associated with sleep-related seizures and more nightmares. The findings suggest that both general factors (age, awakenings, brain region) and epilepsy-specific factors (seizure frequency, focus location) shape dreaming in epilepsy.
People with epilepsy recall dreams less often than others, especially those with primary generalized seizures. Their dream content tends to be more negative and set in familiar surroundings. Although anti-seizure medications, depression, anxiety, and cognitive problems may partly explain these changes, some evidence points to seizures themselves affecting dreams. Seizure symptoms sometimes appear in dream content, with or without a focal epileptic discharge during sleep, suggesting epilepsy directly or indirectly interferes with dreaming. These findings, combined with knowledge of dream neurophysiology and epilepsy-sleep links, indicate epilepsy may impair cognition during both wakefulness and sleep.