Dream Recall Frequency Is Associated With Medial Prefrontal Cortex White-Matter Density.
Raphael Vallat, Jean-Baptiste Eichenlaub, Alain Nicolas, Perrine Ruby
Frontiers in Psychology 2018 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01856 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 92 |
| Population | 46 high dream recallers and 46 low dream recallers |
| Topics | Default mode network Dreaming |
| Keywords | MRI Amygdala Hippocampus Sleep Voxel-based morphometry |
| Key findings | High dream recallers have increased white-matter density in the medial prefrontal cortex compared to low dream recallers, with no other significant brain-region differences. |
Abstract
Recent findings indicate that dream recall frequency (DRF) is associated with neurophysiological traits, and notably the regional cerebral blood flow at rest within the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). To test whether, such physiological traits are rooted in anatomical specificities, we used voxel-based morphometry to compare the white matter and gray matter density in regions related to dream recall (either at the experimental or theoretical level, MPFC, TPJ, hippocampus and amygdala) between 46 high dream recallers (HR, DRF = 5.98 ± 1.25 days per week with a dream report) and 46 low dream recallers (LR, DRF = 0.34 ± 0.29). We found an increased medial prefrontal cortex white-matter density in HR compared to LR but no other significant difference between the two groups. These results are consistent with previous studies showing that lesions within the white matter of medial prefrontal cortex are associated with a partial or total cessation of dream reporting and suggest an implication of this region in dream recall or, more likely, in dream production.
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 20
- What about dreams? State of the art and open questions Journal of Sleep Research April 13, 2022
- Incorporation of fragmented visuo-olfactory episodic memory into dreams and its association with memory performance Scientific Reports October 30, 2019
- Investigation on Neurobiological Mechanisms of Dreaming in the New Decade Brain Sciences February 11, 2021
- 'I love you': the first phrase detected from dreams. Sleep Science 2022
- The role of attention and intention in dreams May 19, 2021
and 15 more in the library
Cites 25
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- Questionnaires and diaries as research instruments in dream research: Methodological issues. Dreaming March 1, 2002
- Factors of home dream recall: a structural equation model Journal of Sleep Research May 12, 2003
- Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming Frontiers in Psychology August 18, 2015
and 20 more in the library