Dream Recall Frequencies and Dream Content in Wilson’s Disease with and without REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder: A Neurooneirologic Study
Gotthard G. Tribl, Mateus C. Trindade, Michael Schredl, Joana Pires, Iris Reinhard, Thais Bittencourt, Geraldo Lorenzi‐Filho, Rosana Cardoso Alves, Daniel Ciampi de Andrade, Erich Talamoni Fonoff, Edson Bor‐Seng‐Shu, Alexandre Alves Machado, Manoel Jacobsen Teixeira, Egberto Reis Barbosa
Behavioural Neurology January 1, 2016 DOI: 10.1155/2016/2983205 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractPeople with Wilson's disease who also have rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) report more nightmares and dreams with violent or aggressive content than those without RBD, and their dream reports contain more negative emotions and aggression. Patients with Wilson's disease overall have shorter dream reports than healthy controls, which may reflect cognitive deficits. The lack of major differences in dream content between Wilson's disease patients and controls might be due to successful treatment. Violent, aggressive dream content appears characteristic of RBD in Wilson's disease as in other populations.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with treated Wilson's disease, with and without RBD, and age- and sex-matched healthy controls |
| Duration | Two-week prospective dream diary |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Dream Content measure theory Psychiatry Eye movement |
| Citations | 8 |
| Key finding | Wilson's disease patients with RBD report significantly higher nightmare frequencies and more violent or aggressive dream content than those without RBD. |
Abstract
Objective. Violent dream content and its acting out during rapid eye movement sleep are considered distinctive for rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD). This study reports first quantitative data on dreaming in a cohort of patients with treated Wilson's disease (WD) and in patients with WD with RBD. Methods. Retrospective questionnaires on different dimensions of dreaming and a prospective two-week home dream diary with self-rating of emotions and blinded, categorical rating of content by an external judge. Results. WD patients showed a significantly lower dream word count and very few other differences in dream characteristics compared to age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Compared to WD patients without RBD, patients with WD and RBD reported significantly higher nightmare frequencies and more dreams with violent or aggressive content retrospectively; their prospectively collected dream reports contained significantly more negative emotions and aggression. Conclusions. The reduction in dream length might reflect specific cognitive deficits in WD. The lack of differences regarding dream content might be explained by the established successful WD treatment. RBD in WD had a strong impact on dreaming. In accordance with the current definition of RBD, violent, aggressive dream content seems to be a characteristic of RBD also in WD.