A new open database, the DREAM database, combines standardized sleep magneto/electroencephalography (M/EEG) recordings with dream reports from 505 participants across 20 datasets, totaling 2,643 awakenings. Each awakening includes at least 20 seconds of high-resolution sleep EEG (≥100 Hz, ≥2 electrodes) and a classification of the sleeper's reported experience. Analyses showed that reports of conscious experiences during sleep can be predicted from objective EEG features in both REM and NREM sleep. The database aims to overcome limitations of small sample sizes and methodological variability in dream research, enabling larger-scale investigations of the neurocognitive basis of dreaming.
The neural correlates of dreaming remain uncertain, especially regarding which brain regions and frequency bands reliably reflect conscious experience during sleep. This registered report describes a study that will use magnetoencephalography (MEG) during evening naps with a targeted serial-awakening paradigm to test whether previously reported EEG-based correlates of dreaming generalize to MEG. Pilot data from one participant supported hypotheses about low-frequency power across frontal and posterior regions but not high-frequency power; another participant provided insufficient evidence. An independent analysis team will test the pre-specified hypotheses on the remaining 10 participants who meet inclusion criteria.