Relationship Between Epilepsy and Dreaming: Current Knowledge, Hypotheses, and Perspectives.
Aurélien De la Chapelle, Birgit Frauscher, Amandine Valomon, Perrine Marie Ruby, Laure Peter-Derex
Frontiers in Neuroscience 2021 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.717078 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with epilepsy |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Dream Emotion Epilepsy Memory Seizures Sleep |
| Key findings | Dream recall is decreased and dream content is more negative and familiar in epilepsy patients, with seizure symptoms sometimes incorporated into dreams. |
Abstract
The interactions between epilepsy and sleep are numerous and the impact of epilepsy on cognition is well documented. Epilepsy is therefore likely to influence dreaming as one sleep-related cognitive activity. The frequency of dream recall is indeed decreased in patients with epilepsy, especially in those with primary generalized seizures. The content of dreams is also disturbed in epilepsy patients, being more negative and with more familiar settings. While several confounding factors (anti-seizure medications, depression and anxiety disorders, cognitive impairment) may partly account for these changes, some observations suggest an effect of seizures themselves on dreams. Indeed, the incorporation of seizure symptoms in dream content has been described, concomitant or not with a focal epileptic discharge during sleep, suggesting that epilepsy might directly or indirectly interfere with dreaming. These observations, together with current knowledge on dream neurophysiology and the links between epilepsy and sleep, suggest that epilepsy may impact not only wake- but also sleep-related cognition.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming | 2019 | Review | |
| Sleep and dreaming are for important matters | 2013 | Review | |
| Nightmare Disorder and Isolated Sleep Paralysis | 2020 | Review | |
| My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares? | 2019 | Review | |
| Dream Recall: State or Trait Variable? Part I: Model, Theories, Methodology and Trait Factors | 1996 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
Cites 35
- Neural Correlates of Dream Lucidity Obtained from Contrasting Lucid versus Non-Lucid REM Sleep: A Combined EEG/fMRI Case Study Sleep June 29, 2012
- Dreaming in NREM Sleep: A High-Density EEG Study of Slow Waves and Spindles Journal of Neuroscience September 10, 2018
- Factors of home dream recall: a structural equation model Journal of Sleep Research May 12, 2003
- Typical Dreams: Stability and Gender Differences The Journal of Psychology 2004
- Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming Frontiers in Psychology August 18, 2015
and 30 more in the library