Story-like organization of REM-dreams in patients with narcolepsy-cataplexy.
Carlo Cipolli, Claudia Bellucci, Katia Mattarozzi, Michela Mazzetti, Giovanni Tuozzi, Giuseppe Plazzi
Brain Research Bulletin October 22, 2008 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2008.07.012 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractPeople with narcolepsy with cataplexy (NC) experience longer and more complex dream stories during the first REM sleep period of the night compared to healthy individuals. Dream recall rates were similar between groups, at about 85%. The findings suggest that the cognitive processes that generate dreams reach their optimal functioning earlier in the night in NC patients than in normal subjects.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 12 |
| Population | Patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy and matched healthy controls |
| Duration | Experimental night with two awakenings after 8 minutes of REM sleep in the first and third sleep cycle |
| Key finding | Dream experiences during the first REM period are longer and have a more complex story-like organization in NC patients than in controls. |
Abstract
Narcolepsy with cataplexy (NC) is a neurological disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and an altered architecture of sleep. Previous laboratory studies have shown that frightening, bizarre and visually vivid contents are more frequent in dream experiences developed during the first period of REM sleep by NC patients than healthy subjects. As the structural organization of dream experiences of NC patients has not been yet examined, we compared its indicators in dream reports collected from a sample of NC patients and their matched controls. During an experimental night two awakenings were provoked after 8min of REM sleep in the first and third sleep cycle. Dream reports were analyzed using the rules of story grammars, capable of identifying units larger than single contents and describing their story-like organization. While dream recall (about 85%) was comparable in NC patients and controls, 1st-REM dream reports were longer in NC patients. Statistical analyses on the 12 NC patients and their matched controls who reported dreams after both REM periods showed that dream experiences occurring in 1st-REM reports of NC patients were longer and had a more complex organization than those of controls. These findings suggest that the cognitive processes underlying dream generation reach their optimal functioning earlier in the night in NC patients than in normal subjects.