Sleep
February 27, 2015
Pauline Dodet, Mario Chávez, Smaranda Leu-Semenescu et al.
115 citations
People with narcolepsy are far more likely to experience lucid dreaming—being aware that they are dreaming while still asleep—than healthy individuals. In a case-control study, 77.4% of 53 narcolepsy patients reported having lucid dreams, compared to 49.1% of 53 controls, averaging 7.6 lucid dreams per month versus 0.3. During monitored naps, 7 of 12 narcoleptic frequent lucid dreamers (but none of 5 controls) successfully signaled from a lucid REM sleep state. Brain wave analysis showed lower delta, theta, and alpha power and reduced frontal coherence during lucid versus non-lucid REM sleep, along with longer REM duration. The findings suggest narcolepsy provides a useful model for studying lucid dreaming.
Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
April 1, 2021
Greta Mainieri, Jean-Baptiste Maranci, Pierre Champetier et al.
40 citations
Sleep paralysis and false awakenings are intermediate states between REM sleep and wakefulness. In a sleep-laboratory study of five participants, polysomnography recordings captured five sleep-paralysis episodes and two false awakenings. During sleep paralysis, 70.8% of 3-second mini-epochs showed theta brain waves (compared to 89.7% in normal REM sleep and 21.2% in wakefulness), 93.8% had chin-muscle atonia (vs 89.7% in REM and 33.3% in wakefulness), and 6.9% contained rapid eye movements (vs 11.9% in REM and 8.1% in wakefulness). The electroencephalography spectrum during sleep paralysis was intermediate between wakefulness and REM sleep for alpha, theta, and delta frequencies, while beta frequencies matched normal REM sleep.
Sleep
February 10, 2025
Yannis Idir, Régis Lopez, Amélie Barbier et al.
5 citations
Disorders of arousal (DoA) episodes, such as sleepwalking, are not a uniform state but involve varying levels of consciousness and responsiveness. In a retrospective questionnaire, 81% of 61 adult patients reported occasional conversations during episodes. Auditory stimulation during N3 sleep triggered episodes in only 7 of 157 trials, and only one patient indirectly responded to verbal prompts. Analysis of 364 home video-recorded episodes from 19 patients found 37 instances of discussion with a bed partner. Patients' ongoing mental content influenced their responses and perception of the outside world. These findings highlight limitations in current diagnostic criteria for DoA.
Consciousness and Cognition
May 1, 2020
Emma Chabani, Marie Charlotte Vionnet, Romy Beauté et al.
Patients with idiopathic hypersomnia more often report a night blackout—an absence of experiences or recall from sleep onset to offset—than patients with narcolepsy or healthy controls. In a questionnaire study of 133 idiopathic hypersomnia patients, 108 narcolepsy patients, and 128 controls, those with idiopathic hypersomnia and frequent night amnesia had lower dream recall, felt sleep as deeper and mind as blank, and showed a higher proportion of slow wave sleep on retrospectively collected recordings. The night blackout offers a model for studying loss of consciousness during sleep, experienced as contentless, selfless, and timeless upon awakening.
Scientific Reports
February 8, 2018
Delphine Oudiette, Pauline Dodet, Nahema Ledard et al.
Breathing is irregular during REM sleep but stable during non-REM sleep; the reason has been unknown. This study tested whether irregular breathing during REM sleep originates in the cortex and reflects dream content. Twenty-one patients with narcolepsy, who can lucid dream and signal awareness with eye movements, were monitored during naps. Participants were instructed to modify their dream to involve vocalizations or apnea. Most (86%) signaled lucidity in at least one nap. In 50% of lucid naps, dream reports (e.g., diving underwater) matched observed respiratory behavior (e.g., central apnea), sometimes with a preparatory breath. The findings suggest that cortical-subcortical networks controlling voluntary breathing remain active during REM sleep and that breathing irregularities reflect dream content.