Dopaminergic system and dream recall: An MRI study in Parkinson's disease patients.
Luigi De Gennaro, Olimpia Lanteri, Fabrizio Piras, Serena Scarpelli, Francesca Assogna, Michele Ferrara, Carlo Caltagirone, Gianfranco Spalletta
Human Brain Mapping March 1, 2016 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23095 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 54 |
| Population | 27 patients with Parkinson's Disease and 27 age-matched healthy controls |
| Duration | One week |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | MRI Vbm Amygdala Hippocampus Medial prefrontal cortex Mesolimbic dopaminergic system Sleep |
| Key findings | Dopamine agonist dosage in Parkinson's Disease patients is associated with impoverished dream quality, while visual vividness correlates with amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex measures. |
Abstract
We investigated the role of the dopamine system [i.e., subcortical-medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) network] in dreaming, by studying patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) as a model of altered dopaminergic transmission. Subcortical volumes and cortical thickness were extracted by 3T-MR images of 27 PD patients and 27 age-matched controls, who were asked to fill out a dream diary upon morning awakening for one week. PD patients do not substantially differ from healthy controls with respect to the sleep, dream, and neuroanatomical measures. Multivariate correlational analyses in PD patients show that dopamine agonist dosage is associated to qualitatively impoverished dreams, as expressed by lower bizarreness and lower emotional load values. Visual vividness (VV) of their dream reports positively correlates with volumes of both the amygdalae and with thickness of the left mPFC. Emotional load also positively correlates with hippocampal volume. Beside the replication of our previous finding on the role of subcortical nuclei in dreaming experience of healthy subjects, this represents the first evidence of a specific role of the amygdala-mPFC dopaminergic network system in dream recall. The association in PD patients between higher dopamine agonist dosages and impoverished dream reports, however, and the significant correlations between VV and mesolimbic regions, however, provide an empirical support to the hypothesis that a dopamine network plays a key role in dream generation. The causal relation is however precluded by the intrinsic limitation of assuming the dopamine agonist dosage as a measure of the hypodopaminergic state in PD. Periodicals, Inc.
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 26
- What about dreams? State of the art and open questions Journal of Sleep Research April 13, 2022
- Spotlight on dream recall: the ages of dreams Nature and Science of Sleep 2018
- Investigation on Neurobiological Mechanisms of Dreaming in the New Decade Brain Sciences February 11, 2021
- Acetylcholine and metacognition during sleep. Consciousness and Cognition 2024
- Lucid Dreaming Brain Network Based on Tholey's 7 Klartraum Criteria. Frontiers in Psychology 2020
and 21 more in the library
Cites 13
- Dreaming as mind wandering: evidence from functional neuroimaging and first-person content reports. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013
- Amygdala and hippocampus volumetry and diffusivity in relation to dreaming Human Brain Mapping August 25, 2010
- Cognitive Bizarreness in the Dream and Waking Mentation of Nonpsychotic Patients With Parkinson’s Disease The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences October 1, 2010
- Putative dopamine agonist (KB220Z) attenuates lucid nightmares in PTSD patients: role of enhanced brain reward functional connectivity and homeostasis redeeming joy. Journal of Behavioral Addictions June 1, 2015
- Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder: a window on the emotional world of Parkinson disease. Sleep February 1, 2015
and 8 more in the library