EEG oscillations during sleep and dream recall: state- or trait-like individual differences?
Serena Scarpelli, Aurora D'Atri, Maurizio Gorgoni, Michele Ferrara, Luigi De Gennaro
Frontiers in Psychology 2015 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00605 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | EEG Topography Continuity hypothesis Dream Episodic memory Frontal cortex Theta activity |
| Key findings | Theta EEG oscillations on frontal regions in pre-awakening sleep predict dream recall, paralleling theta activity's role in successful episodic memory retrieval during wakefulness. |
Abstract
Dreaming represents a peculiar form of cognitive activity during sleep. On the basis of the well-known relationship between sleep and memory, there has been a growing interest in the predictive role of human brain activity during sleep on dream recall. Neuroimaging studies indicate that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is characterized by limbic activation and prefrontal cortex deactivation. This pattern could explain the presence of emotional contents in dream reports. Furthermore, the morphoanatomical measures of amygdala and hippocampus predict some features of dream contents (bizarreness, vividness, and emotional load). More relevant for a general view of dreaming mechanisms, empirical data from neuropsychological and electroencephalographic (EEG) studies support the hypothesis that there is a sort of continuity between the neurophysiological mechanisms of encoding and retrieval of episodic memories across sleep and wakefulness. A notable overlap between the electrophysiological mechanisms underlying emotional memory formation and some peculiar EEG features of REM sleep has been suggested. In particular, theta (5-8 Hz) EEG oscillations on frontal regions in the pre-awakening sleep are predictive of dream recall, which parallels the predictive relation during wakefulness between theta activity and successful retrieval of episodic memory. Although some observations support an interpretation more in terms of an intraindividual than interindividual mechanism, the existing empirical evidence still precludes from definitely disentangling if this relation is explained by state- or trait-like differences.
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 25
- Microdream neurophenomenology. Neuroscience of Consciousness 2017
- 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
- Neural mechanisms of psychedelic visual imagery. Molecular Psychiatry April 1, 2025
- Enactive or inactive? Cranially envatted dream experience and the extended conscious mind Philosophical Explorations May 4, 2018
and 20 more in the library
Cites 20
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- A psycholinguistic method for analyzing two modalities of thought in dream reports. Dreaming March 1, 1996
- Resting brain activity varies with dream recall frequency between subjects. Neuropsychopharmacology June 1, 2014
and 15 more in the library