Brain Sciences
June 3, 2020
Serena Scarpelli, Aurora D'Atri, Chiara Bartolacci et al.
Several findings support the activation hypothesis, positing that cortical arousal promotes dream recall (DR). However, most studies have been carried out on young participants, while the electrophysiological (EEG) correlates of DR in older people are still mostly unknown. We aimed to test the activation hypothesis on 20 elders, focusing on the Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep stage. All the...
Nature and Science of Sleep
2020
Serena Scarpelli, Chiara Bartolacci, Aurora D'Atri et al.
In the current study, we aimed to investigate the EEG correlates of dream recall (DR) monitoring both the homeostatic and state-trait like factors. We assessed the influence of the time of night on the EEG correlates of DR from REM sleep. Specifically, we tested the continuity-hypothesis (on the theta EEG band) and the activation-hypothesis (on the delta and beta bands). Twenty-seven subjects...
Sleep Medicine Reviews
April 1, 2019
Valentina Alfonsi, Aurora D'Atri, Serena Scarpelli et al.
Sleep talking is one of the most common altered nocturnal behaviours in the whole population. It does not represent a pathological condition and consists in the unaware production of vocalisations during sleep. Although in the last few decades we have experienced a remarkable increase in knowledge about cognitive processes and behavioural manifestations during sleep, the literature regarding...
Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology
March 1, 2019
Aurora D'Atri, Serena Scarpelli, Cinzia Schiappa et al.
Narcolepsy type 1 widely affects the architecture of sleep with frequent fast transition to REM sleep at both nighttime and daytime sleep onset. The occurrence of repeated sleep onset REM periods over the Multiple Sleep Latency Test offers a unique opportunity to identify EEG patterns predictive of successful dream recall after short periods composed of only REM or NREM sleep. It also permits...
Frontiers in Psychology
2019
Serena Scarpelli, Chiara Bartolacci, Aurora D'Atri et al.
Dream experience (DE) represents a fascinating condition linked to emotional processes and the human inner world. Although the overlap between REM sleep and dreaming has been overcome, several studies point out that emotional and perceptually vivid contents are more frequent when reported upon awakenings from this sleep stage. Actually, it is well-known that REM sleep plays a pivotal role in...
Handbook of Sleep Research
2019
Serena Scarpelli, Maurizio Gorgoni, A. D’Atri et al.
Abstract Once questioned the assumption that dreaming depends on REM sleep, subsequent studies focused on the neural correlates of dream recall (DR). Considering the indirect access to the sleep mentation, this chapter reviews the main neuropsychological, neuroimaging, and electrophysiological findings on DR. Compelling evidence supports the idea that shared mechanisms between sleep and...
Frontiers in Neurology
2019
Serena Scarpelli, Aurora D'Atri, Chiara Bartolacci et al.
Several findings underlined that the electrophysiological (EEG) background of the last segment of sleep before awakenings may predict the presence/absence of dream recall (DR) in young subjects. However, little is known about the EEG correlates of DR in elderly people. Only an investigation found differences between recall and non-recall conditions during NREM sleep EEG in older adults,...
Behavioral and brain functions : BBF
December 26, 2018
Cinzia Schiappa, Serena Scarpelli, Aurora D'Atri et al.
Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. This disease affects significantly the overall patient functioning, interfering with social, work, and affective life. Some symptoms of narcolepsy depend on emotional stimuli; for instance, cataplectic attacks can be triggered by emotional inputs such...
Nature and Science of Sleep
2018
Anastasia Mangiaruga, Serena Scarpelli, Chiara Bartolacci et al.
40 citations
Brain and sleep maturation covary across different stages of life. At the same time, dream generation and dream recall are intrinsically dependent on the development of neural systems. The aim of this paper is to review the existing studies about dreaming in infancy, adulthood, and the elderly stage of life, assessing whether dream mentation may reflect changes of the underlying cerebral...
Brain Topography
September 1, 2017
Serena Scarpelli, Aurora D'Atri, Anastasia Mangiaruga et al.
The common knowledge of a uniqueness of REM sleep as a privileged scenario of dreaming still persists, although consolidated empirical evidence shows that the assumption that dreaming is just an epiphenomenon of REM sleep is no longer tenable. However, the brain mechanisms underlying dream generation and its encoding in memory during NREM sleep are still mostly unknown. In fact, only few...
July 20, 2017
Serena Scarpelli, L. Gennaro
Dreaming is a common human experience investigated from multiple perspectives over the centuries. Recently, this phenomenon has stimulated scientific interest, becoming a peculiar context to study memory processes and consciousness (1).
Human Brain Mapping
March 1, 2016
Luigi De Gennaro, Olimpia Lanteri, Fabrizio Piras et al.
We investigated the role of the dopamine system [i.e., subcortical-medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) network] in dreaming, by studying patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) as a model of altered dopaminergic transmission. Subcortical volumes and cortical thickness were extracted by 3T-MR images of 27 PD patients and 27 age-matched controls, who were asked to fill out a dream diary upon morning...
Frontiers in Psychology
2015
Serena Scarpelli, Aurora D'Atri, Maurizio Gorgoni et al.
Dreaming represents a peculiar form of cognitive activity during sleep. On the basis of the well-known relationship between sleep and memory, there has been a growing interest in the predictive role of human brain activity during sleep on dream recall. Neuroimaging studies indicate that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is characterized by limbic activation and prefrontal cortex deactivation. This...
Frontiers in Psychology
2015
Serena Scarpelli, Cristina Marzano, Aurora D'Atri et al.
We examined the question whether the role of EEG oscillations in predicting presence/absence of dream recall (DR) is explained by "state-" or "trait-like" factors. Six healthy subjects were awakened from REM sleep in a within-subjects design with multiple naps, until a recall and a non-recall condition were obtained. Naps were scheduled in the early afternoon and were separated by 1 week....