Frontiers in Sleep
May 28, 2024
Lucas Bellaiche, Adam Haar Horowitz, Mason McClay et al.
5 citations
Hypnagogia—the transitional state between wakefulness and sleep—is marked by “hypnagogic dreams,” during which our brains tend to forge connections among concepts that are otherwise unrelated. This process of creating novel associations during hypnagogic dreams is said to contribute to enhancing creativity, learning, and memory. Recently, researchers have proposed that mind-wandering—a form of...
British journal of psychology (London, England : 1953)
November 1, 2023
Betul Rauf, Rotem Perach, Juan J Madrid-Valero et al.
5 citations
Night-time is a period of great significance for many people who report paranormal experiences. However, there is limited understanding of the associations between sleep variables and seemingly paranormal experiences and/or beliefs. The aim of this review is to improve our understanding of these associations while unifying a currently fragmented literature-base into a structured, practical...
Journal of Sleep Research
August 1, 2023
Betul Rauf, Rotem Perach, Juan J Madrid-Valero et al.
8 citations
Previous studies have found significant associations between paranormal beliefs and sleep variables. However, these have been conducted on a small scale and are limited in the number of sleep variables investigated. This study aims to fill a gap in the literature by investigating paranormal beliefs in relation to a wide range of sleep variables in a large sample. Participants (N = 8853)...
Sleep Medicine
April 1, 2023
Betul Rauf, Brian A Sharpless, Dan Denis et al.
Isolated sleep paralysis is a benign but frightening condition characterised by a temporary inability to move at sleep onset or upon awakening. Despite the prevalence of this condition, little is known concerning its clinical features, associated demographic characteristics, and prevention as well as disruption strategies. An online cross-sectional study was conducted. The sample comprised 3523...
Sleep
December 13, 2018
Dan Denis, Giulia Poerio, Sarah Derveeuw et al.
25 citations
Exploding head syndrome is a sensory parasomnia characterized by the perception of loud noises and/or a sense of explosion in the head that occurs when transitioning to or from sleep. Despite receiving little attention from both researchers and clinicians, studies suggest that approximately 10%-15% of individuals have episodes, with significant levels of fear occurring in a subset of cases....
Journal of Sleep Research
October 1, 2018
Dan Denis, Christopher C. French, Melanie N. Schneider et al.
SummaryResearch suggests that poor sleep quality is related to the occurrence of sleep paralysis, although the precise relationship between these two variables is unknown. This association has generated interest due to the related possibility that improving sleep quality could help to combat episodes of sleep paralysis. To date, studies examining the association between sleep quality and sleep...
Nature and Science of Sleep
2018
Dan Denis
Sleep paralysis is the unusual experience of waking up in the night without the ability to move. Currently little is known about the experience, despite the fact that the vast majority of episodes are associated with extreme fear and in a minority of cases can lead to clinically significant levels of distress. The aim of this work was to review the existing literature pertaining to the...
Sleep Medicine Reviews
June 8, 2017
Dan Denis, Christopher C. French, Alice M. Gregory
129 citations
Sleep paralysis is a relatively common but under-researched phenomenon. While the causes are unknown, a number of studies have investigated potential risk factors. In this article, we conducted a systematic review on the available literature regarding variables associated with both the frequency and intensity of sleep paralysis episodes. A total of 42 studies met the inclusion criteria. For...
Unusual and Rare Psychological Disorders
November 1, 2016
Brian A Sharpless, Dan Denis
Isolated sleep paralysis involves the juxtaposition of certain aspects of REM sleep (e.g., muscle atonia, dream activity) with waking consciousness. It is a terrifying phenomenon that has played an important role in many supernatural and folkloric beliefs. Isolated sleep paralysis is also a surprisingly common phenomenon in the general population, with higher rates found among students and...
Journal of Sleep Research
July 27, 2016
Dan Denis, Giulia Poerio
70 citations
Sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming are both dissociated experiences related to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Anecdotal evidence suggests that episodes of sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming are related but different experiences. In this study we test this claim systematically for the first time in an online survey with 1928 participants (age range: 18-82 years; 53% female). Confirming...
Journal of Sleep Research
February 9, 2015
Dan Denis, C. French, R. Rowe et al.
Sleep paralysis is a relatively common but under‐researched phenomenon. In this paper we examine prevalence in a UK sample and associations with candidate risk factors. This is the first study to investigate the heritability of sleep paralysis in a twin sample and to explore genetic associations between sleep paralysis and a number of circadian expressed single nucleotide polymorphisms....