Dream structure in Parkinson's patients.
C Cipolli, R Bolzani, R Massetani, L Murri, A Muratorio
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease August 1, 1992 DOI: 10.1097/00005053-199208000-00007 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractDream recall frequency in people with Parkinson's disease is comparable to that of other older adults, but the length and narrative coherence of their dreams vary with their cognitive and language abilities. Fifteen outpatients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease, all treated with L-dopa and without psychiatric symptoms, were awakened from REM sleep to report dreams. Thirteen provided at least one dream, yielding a 71.4% recall rate. Longer and more story-like dream reports were associated with higher cognitive functioning and, partly, better language comprehension, but not with age, illness duration, or L-dopa dose.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 15 |
| Population | Outpatients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease, stage II or III on Hoehn and Yahr scale, without psychiatric symptoms or major medical illnesses, currently treated with L-dopa |
| Duration | One night in sleep laboratory with at least two REM awakenings |
| Key finding | Dream report length and narrative coherence in people with Parkinson's disease are significantly associated with cognitive functioning and language comprehension, but not with age, illness duration, or L-dopa dose. |
Abstract
Dream reports of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) were analyzed to ascertain whether cognitive deficits associated with this nonfocal brain pathology influence dream structure or dream recall. Fifteen outpatients with idiopathic PD were sampled (diagnosed from 1 to 10 years and currently in stage II or III of Hoehn and Yarh's scale); all were without psychiatric symptoms or major medical illnesses and were currently being treated with L-dopa. After an adaptation night in the sleep laboratory, each patient spent a night in which he/she was awakened at least twice in rapid eye movement sleep and asked to report dream experience. Thirteen patients were able to report at least one dream. Overall frequency of dream recall (71.4%) was fully compatible with normative data for the elderly. Multiple regression analyses showed that both the length of the dream report as story and the organization of contents into coherent episodes (analyzed using Mandler and Johnson's story grammar) varied significantly in relation to level of cognitive functioning and, in part, of language comprehension, but not in relation to age, illness duration, and dose of L-dopa.