International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
March 24, 2022
Maurizio Gorgoni, Serena Scarpelli, Valentina Alfonsi et al.
7 citations
Dream activity significantly shifted during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a sample of 108 participants revealing reduced dream frequency from 43% during total lockdown to 22% post-lockdown. Emotional intensity and vividness also declined, with fear remaining the dominant emotion in dreams (26.9% at lockdown, 22.2% post-lockdown). Despite improved sleep latency and fewer PTSD-related disruptions post-lockdown, poor sleep quality and high anxiety persisted. These findings suggest that the pandemic's emotional toll continues to shape our dreams, supporting the continuity hypothesis.
Brain Sciences
June 3, 2020
Serena Scarpelli, Aurora D'Atri, Chiara Bartolacci et al.
Among older adults, those who recall dreams show higher cortical arousal during NREM sleep than those who do not. In a study of 20 elders, dream recallers had lower delta power over parietal areas and higher activation index (delta/beta power) in fronto-temporal and parieto-occipital regions compared to non-recallers. No differences appeared in the last five minutes before awakening. Visual vividness and dream length correlated positively with arousal level. The findings support the activation hypothesis, which links dream recall to brain arousal, and highlight the temporo-parietal-occipital zone as crucial for storing dream content.
Nature and Science of Sleep
January 1, 2020
Serena Scarpelli, Chiara Bartolacci, Aurora D'Atri et al.
Dream recall is associated with higher brain activation during REM sleep, regardless of the time of night. Theta, delta, and beta EEG bands were analyzed in 10 subjects who underwent multiple awakenings during REM sleep across the night. Results showed no significant effect of time of night or interaction, but significant differences in beta band activity over the occipital area and in the delta/beta activation index over the parietal area. These findings support the activation-hypothesis, which links dream recall to desynchronized EEG activity, and suggest that such recall is related to state-like factors rather than homeostatic pressure.
Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology
March 1, 2019
Aurora D'Atri, Serena Scarpelli, Cinzia Schiappa et al.
In drug-free adults with narcolepsy type 1, successful dream recall after naps is linked to a more activated brain state during both REM and NREM sleep. Using scalp EEG, the study found that recall was associated with lower delta power over centro-parietal areas in both sleep stages, higher beta power in those areas during NREM, and a lower delta/beta ratio across most scalp locations during NREM. These results suggest that a more desynchronized, activated electrophysiological milieu promotes dream recall, and that parietal areas are important not only for generating dream experiences but also for the memory processes that enable recall.
Sleep Medicine Reviews
October 1, 2017
Carlo Cipolli, Michele Ferrara, Luigi De Gennaro et al.
Recent advances in electrophysiological techniques, video-polysomnography, transcranial stimulation, and neuroimaging allow more accurate investigation of the neural correlates of dreaming in healthy individuals and patients with brain damage, neurodegenerative diseases, sleep disorders, or parasomnias. Convergent evidence has led to reformulation of unresolved issues of dream generation and recall within more comprehensive models of human consciousness. These studies are casting new light on the neural bases—particularly activity in dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala—of inter- and intra-individual differences in dream recall, temporal location of dream content, and memory processing during sleep. Hd-EEG techniques appear able to provide further insights into how the brain generates dreaming and dreamlike waking experiences.
Brain Topography
September 1, 2017
Serena Scarpelli, Aurora D'Atri, Anastasia Mangiaruga et al.
Dream recall upon awakening from NREM sleep is predicted by reduced delta activity in left frontal and temporo-parietal areas during the final segment of sleep. This finding suggests that increased cortical activation is a prerequisite for remembering dreams from NREM sleep, challenging the traditional view that dreaming is unique to REM sleep. The study used a multiple nap protocol and within-subjects design to collect dream reports after stage 2 NREM sleep awakenings. The results indicate that the brain mechanisms underlying dream recall during NREM sleep may share features with those involved in encoding episodic memories during wakefulness, though they also depend on the specific electrophysiological state of sleep.
Human Brain Mapping
March 1, 2016
Luigi De Gennaro, Olimpia Lanteri, Fabrizio Piras et al.
Patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) show no substantial differences from healthy controls in sleep, dream, or neuroanatomical measures. Higher dopamine agonist dosages in PD patients are associated with qualitatively impoverished dreams—lower bizarreness and emotional load. Visual vividness of dream reports positively correlates with amygdala volume and left medial prefrontal cortex thickness, while emotional load correlates with hippocampal volume. These findings support the hypothesis that a dopamine network involving the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex plays a key role in dream generation, though causal relations cannot be established due to limitations in using dopamine agonist dosage as a proxy for hypodopaminergic state.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2015
Serena Scarpelli, Cristina Marzano, Aurora D'Atri et al.
Dream recall after REM sleep is linked to higher frontal theta oscillations, a brain rhythm also involved in encoding memories while awake. In six healthy subjects awakened from afternoon naps, theta activity in the frontal cortex was greater before a remembered dream than before a forgotten one, though only the measure of sustained theta oscillations reached statistical significance. The findings support the idea that dream recall depends on the momentary brain state during sleep rather than on a fixed individual trait.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2015
Serena Scarpelli, Aurora D'Atri, Maurizio Gorgoni et al.
Dream recall is predicted by theta (5-8 Hz) EEG oscillations over frontal regions just before awakening, paralleling the role of theta activity in successful episodic memory retrieval during wakefulness. This continuity suggests shared neurophysiological mechanisms between encoding and retrieval of episodic memories across sleep and wakefulness. REM sleep shows limbic activation and prefrontal deactivation, which may explain emotional dream content. Amygdala and hippocampus morphoanatomical measures predict dream bizarreness, vividness, and emotional load. Existing evidence cannot definitively determine whether this theta-dream recall relation reflects state- or trait-like differences.
Behavioural Brain Research
January 15, 2012
Luigi De Gennaro, Cristina Marzano, Carlo Cipolli et al.
Recent findings confirm that the neurophysiological mechanisms for encoding and recalling episodic memories are largely comparable across wakefulness and sleep. Brain lesion and neuroimaging studies indicate that the temporo-parieto-occipital junction and ventromesial prefrontal cortex play a crucial role in dream recall. Morphoanatomical measurements reveal direct relations between volumetric and ultrastructural measures of the hippocampus-amygdala and specific qualitative features of dreaming. Intracranial recordings in epileptic patients support the notion that hippocampal nuclei mediate memory formation during sleep as in wakefulness. Surface EEG studies show that sleep cortical oscillations associated with successful dream recall are the same as those involved in encoding and recall of episodic memories during wakefulness. These converging pieces of evidence strengthen the view that episodic/declarative memory mechanisms may be the same across different states of consciousness.
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
May 4, 2011
Cristina Marzano, Michele Ferrara, Federica Mauro et al.
Dream recall after awakening is linked to specific brain oscillations that differ between REM and NREM sleep. After REM sleep, higher frontal theta activity (5-7 Hz) predicts successful dream recall, mirroring the brain activity seen when encoding episodic memories while awake. After stage 2 NREM sleep, lower alpha activity (8-12 Hz) in the right temporal area predicts successful recall. These findings suggest that the neurophysiological mechanisms for encoding and recalling episodic memories may be consistent across different states of consciousness.
Behavioural Brain Research
January 20, 2010
Luigi De Gennaro, Cristina Marzano, Fabio Moroni et al.
After 40 hours of prolonged wakefulness, a recovery night of sleep almost completely abolished dream recall, reducing it by about 75% compared to adaptation and baseline nights. The number of dreams recalled by those who did remember dreams did not differ significantly between nights, and gender or sleep stage at awakening did not affect recall. The drastic impairment of dream recall was associated with a larger increase in slow-wave sleep and shorter REM sleep duration. The authors suggest dream recall may be impaired due to fewer spontaneous awakenings, less dreamlike mental experiences during SWS, and poorer consolidation of dream content as episodic memory during recovery sleep.