(1) To critically test whether a previously reported increase in frontolateral 40 Hz power in lucid REM sleep, used to justify the claim that lucid dreaming is a "hybrid state" mixing sleep and wakefulness, is attributable to the saccadic spike potential (SP) artifact as a corollary of heightened REM density. (2) To replicate the finding that lucid dreams are associated with physiological...
SleepFebruary 18, 2022Stephanie Bourboulis, Michael Gradisar, Michal Kahn5 citations
STUDY OBJECTIVES: Recurrent nightmares in childhood may have a range of detrimental effects for both the child and parents. This randomized controlled trial evaluated the efficacy of a novel parent-based intervention for childhood nightmares, using a new device called the "Dream Changer." METHODS: A total of 56 children aged 3-10 years (M = 7.1 ± 2.1 years; 51.8% boys), and one of their parents...
SleepDecember 1, 2021Johan Natter, Taïoh Yokoyama, Bruno Michel
Study objectives: It is known that antidepressant drugs can induce sleep disorders in patients, but little data exist about high or low-risk molecules. The aim was to study the frequency of antidepressant drug-induced sleep disorders (DISD) by molecule. Methods: 77,391 patient comments for 32 antidepressant drugs were collected from drug review websites and screened for DISD. Association...
Recurrent isolated sleep paralysis (RISP) is a rapid eye movement (REM) parasomnia characterized by a dissociative state with characteristics of REM sleep and wakefulness. Pathophysiology has not yet been clarified and very little research has been performed using objective polysomnographic measures with inconsistent results. The main aim of our study was to find whether higher REM sleep...
Functional connectivity (FC) metrics describe brain inter-regional interactions and may complement information provided by common power-based analyses. Here, we investigated whether the FC-metrics weighted Phase Lag Index (wPLI) and weighted Symbolic Mutual Information (wSMI) may unveil functional differences across four stages of vigilance-wakefulness (W), NREM-N2, NREM-N3, and REM sleep-with...
Abstract Introduction The presence of hypnopompic hallucinations raises concerns for narcolepsy. However, sleep-related hallucinations may occur in other settings. Dreams at sleep-wake transitions may be difficult for patients to differentiate from sleep-related hallucinations. Sleep-related hallucinations are predominantly visual, although they can be auditory, tactile and/or kinetic. However,...
Abstract Introduction During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals have faced unprecedented events, which are often stressful. Stress has an important impact on dreams, and stress-induced sleep difficulties may also impact dream recall. The present study evaluated associations between sleep, stress and dream content on dream recall during the pandemic. Methods A sample of N=419 US adults completed...
SleepMay 1, 2021Tommy Begay, Dora Valencia, Sadia Ghani et al.
Abstract Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted individuals in many ways, including anecdotal reports of nightmares. However, little data exists regarding the experience of COVID-related nightmares, especially among the distressed population at the US-Mexico Border. This is especially relevant given the clinical importance of nightmares as risk factors for poor mental health and sleep...
Why do some individuals recall dreams every day while others hardly ever recall one? We hypothesized that sleep inertia-the transient period following awakening associated with brain and cognitive alterations-could be a key mechanism to explain interindividual differences in dream recall at awakening. To test this hypothesis, we measured the brain functional connectivity (combined...
STUDY OBJECTIVES Nurses are a group at high risk for nightmares, yet little is known about the rate of nightmare disorder and associated psychosocial factors in this group in part attributable to the lack of a self-report questionnaire to assess DSM-5 criteria for nightmare disorder. Aims of the current study were to 1) report on development and initial validity of a self-report measure of...
SleepSeptember 4, 2020R. Bottary, G. Simonelli, T. Cunningham et al.
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has dra-matically impacted the lifestyle of individuals across the globe. In many countries, nationally instituted shelter-in-place orders and closures of non-essential businesses have left many without employment and have forced others to work from home. These policy shifts have changed or removed the socially- and occupa-tionally imposed...
To assess the frequency of dream experience (DE) developed during naps at Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) by patients with narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) and establish, using story-grammar analysis, the structural organization of DEs developed during naps with sleep onset rapid eye movement (REM) period (SOREMP) sleep compared with their DEs during early- and late-night REM sleep. Thirty drug-free...
STUDY OBJECTIVES: Nightmares are a significant risk factor of suicidal behavior. This study examined the longitudinal associations of nightmare frequency and distress with suicidal thought (ST), suicide plan (SP), and suicide attempt (SA) and mediating role of depressive symptoms in adolescents. METHODS: A total of 6,923 adolescents who participated in the 1-year follow-up of Shandong...
SleepMay 27, 2020M Gross, R Patel, S W Schwartz et al.
Abstract Introduction In the James A. Haley Veterans Administration (JAHVA) Vista database, the ICD-9 code 307.47 for Nightmare disorder (ND) is infrequently used and appears independently of codes for PTSD. We wanted to determine if certain drugs that may affect sleep are associated with ND. Methods All patients with ND visiting JAHVA between 2007 and 2011 were selected along with control...
Abstract Introduction Nightmares can cause poorer sleep quality. Various mechanisms have been explored as potential treatments for nightmares, including mindfulness practices and lucid dreaming. Presently, little literature has looked at the interaction effects between mindfulness and lucid dreaming to reduce nightmare distress. Methods A sample of 275 individuals was recruited from both the...
Abstract: Introduction: Nurses report a higher prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than the general population, and approximately 18% of nurses report having depression. Nightmares are a common symptom of PTSD, and both nightmares and PTSD are correlated with depression. Nightmares may represent a possible clinical target for improving outcomes in both disorders. This study...
Frequent nightmares have a high prevalence and constitute a risk factor for psychiatric conditions, but their pathophysiology is poorly understood. Our aim was to examine sleep architecture and electroencephalographic markers-with a specific focus on state transitions-related to sleep regulation and hyperarousal in participants with frequent nightmares (NM participants) versus healthy controls....
Wakefulness and sleep arise from global changes in brain physiology that may also govern the flow of neural activity between cortical regions responsible for perceptual processing versus planning and action. To test whether and how the sleep/wake cycle affects the overall propagation of neural activity in large-scale brain networks, we applied single-pulse electrical stimulation (SPES) in...
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....
SleepApril 1, 2018Sooyeon Aly Suh, J Kim, S Han et al.1 citation
Imagery Rehearsal Therapy(IRT) is relatively a new evidence-based treatment for nightmare disorder patients. This is the first time investigating the treatment effects of IRT using fMRI. Based on past studies by Shen et al.(2016), nightmare disorder patients show increased regional homogeneity in both the anterior cingulate and inferior parietal lobule. This study used a one group pre-post...
SleepApril 1, 2018Westley Atrayeau Youngren, Christina S. Khou, Lauren E. Boddy et al.
Although nightmares are common among trauma survivors, the posttrauma nightmare remains enigmatic and under-researched. For example, research has yet to examine if certain types of traumas may be more likely to create nightmares, which is this project’s primary question. Additionally, this project examined prevalence rates, gender differences, and the lifespans of posttrauma nightmares....
Study Objectives: Insomnia disorder (ID) is a frequent sleep disorder coupled with increased risks for somatic and mental illness. Although subjective complaints are severe, polysomnography (PSG) parameters show only modest differences between groups. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep as the most aroused sleep state may be especially vulnerable to be perceived as wake. To directly assess possible...
Study Objectives: This study used ambulatory polysomnography (PSG) to investigate post-traumatic nightmares of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The key research question was whether post-traumatic nightmares occur in both rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep, and if so, whether nightmares in each sleep stage differed in content, phenomenology, and heart rate response. Underlying...
Study objectives: To replicate and expand upon past research by evaluating sleep and wake electroencephalographic spectral activity in samples of frequent nightmare (NM) recallers and healthy controls. Methods: Computation of spectral activity for sleep (non-REM and REM) and wake electroencephalogram recordings from 18 frequent NM recallers and 15 control participants. Results: There was higher...
To investigate the changes in cortical neural responses induced by external inputs during phasic rapid eye movement (p-REM) sleep. Single-pulse electrical stimulation (SPES) was directly applied to the human cortex during REM sleep through subdural electrodes, in seven patients who underwent invasive presurgical evaluation for intractable partial epilepsy. SPES was applied to parts of the...