Differences in dream content during a daytime nap and the relationship of the dream content to procedural learning in Vipassana meditators and controls.

Meditators have longer dreams with friendlier, more compassionate interactions and slightly more references to the body, but their dreams are no more lucid than those of non-meditators. Meditators did not incorporate a procedural learning task or the laboratory into their dreams more often than controls. Among control participants, incorporating the task or laboratory into REM/N2 dreams was linked to improved task performance, while incorporations at sleep onset were tied to slightly worse performance. No relationship between dream content and procedural task performance was found for meditators.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Vipassana meditation is characterized by observing bodily sensations, developing emotional and attentional stability and promoting pro-social qualities. Whether these qualities are also reflected in dream content is not currently known. Evidence relating dream content with sleep-depending learning is mixed: some studies suggest that dreaming of a task is beneficial for improvement, while others find no such effect. This study aimed at investigating whether meditators have qualitatively different dreams than controls; whether meditators incorporate a procedural learning task more often than controls; and whether dreaming about the task is related to better post-sleep performance on the task.20 meditators and 20 controls slept for a daytime nap at the laboratory. Prior to sleep and upon awakening they completed a procedural learning task. Dream reports were collected at sleep onset and upon awakening (REM/N2 sleep). Dreams were then scored for qualities associated with meditation practice and for incorporations of the procedural task and of the laboratory. Meditators had longer dreams, slightly more references to the body and friendlier and more compassionate interactions with dream characters. Dreams of meditation practitioners were not more lucid than those of controls. Meditators did not incorporate the learning task or laboratory into dream content more often than controls, and no relationship was found between dream content and performance on a procedural task. In control participants, in contrast, incorporating task or laboratory in REM/N2 dreams was associated with improvement on the task, but incorporations at sleep onset were associated with slightly worse performance on the task.