Brain functional connectivity upon awakening from sleep predicts interindividual differences in dream recall frequency.
Raphael Vallat, Alain Nicolas, Perrine Ruby
Sleep December 14, 2020 DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsaa116 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 38 |
| Population | High dream recallers and low dream recallers |
| Duration | 5 min and 25 min post-awakening scans |
| Topics | Default mode network Dreaming |
| Keywords | EEG–FMRI Awakening Functional connectivity Sleep inertia |
| Key findings | Brain functional connectivity right after awakening differs between high and low dream recallers, with enhanced default mode network connectivity in high recallers that may facilitate dream memory maintenance. |
Abstract
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 electroencephalography-functional magnetic resonance imaging) and cognition (memory and mental calculation) of high dream recallers (HR, n = 20) and low dream recallers (LR, n = 18) in the minutes following awakening from an early-afternoon nap. Resting-state scans were acquired just after or before a 2 min mental calculation task, before the nap, 5 min after awakening from the nap, and 25 min after awakening. A comic was presented to the participants before the nap with no explicit instructions to memorize it. Dream(s) and comic recall were collected after the first post-awakening scan. As expected, between-group contrasts of the functional connectivity at 5 min post-awakening revealed a pattern of enhanced connectivity in HR within the default mode network (DMN) and between regions of the DMN and regions involved in memory processes. At the behavioral level, a between-group difference was observed in dream recall, but not comic recall. Our results provide the first evidence that brain functional connectivity right after awakening is associated with interindividual trait differences in dream recall and suggest that the brain connectivity of HR at awakening facilitates the maintenance of the short-term memory of the dream during the sleep-wake transition.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Student volunteers trained to become lucid and signal lucidity with horizontal eye... | 2009 | Observational study | n = 6 |
| Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Young adults with a mean age of 20 years | 2002 | Prospective observational study | n = 116 |
| Long-term effects of extreme situational stress on sleep and dreaming Survivors of traumatic events who complained of sleep disturbances, compared with... | 1987 | Case-control study | n = 11 |
| The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Adults who reported dreams | 2004 | Observational cohort | n = 147 |
| Dreaming in NREM Sleep: A High-Density EEG Study of Slow Waves and Spindles Healthy human subjects | 2018 | Observational cohort | n = 14 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 16
- What about dreams? State of the art and open questions Journal of Sleep Research April 13, 2022
- Dreaming conundrum Journal of Sleep Research October 3, 2024
- The Dynamics of Affect Across the Wake-Sleep Cycle: From Waking Mind-Wandering to Night-Time Dreaming April 9, 2021
- Poor dream recall associates with Alzheimer's disease biomarkers and dementia risk Alzheimer S and Dementia Diagnosis Assessment and Disease Monitoring March 30, 2026
- They Only Come Out at Night Cambridge University Press eBooks March 1, 2026
and 11 more in the library
Cites 32
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- Episodic Memory Retrieval, Parietal Cortex, and the Default Mode Network: Functional and Topographic Analyses Journal of Neuroscience March 23, 2011
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