Auditory Awakening Thresholds and Dream Recall in NREM Sleep
Robert Watson, Allan Rechtschaffen
Perceptual and Motor Skills October 1, 1969 DOI: 10.2466/pms.1969.29.2.635 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 4 |
| Population | Human participants |
| Duration | Several nights |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Key findings | No relationship was found between Stage 2 NREM dreaming and within-subject, within-night variations in auditory awakening threshold. |
Abstract
Whereas earlier research had shown that Ss with lower auditory awakening thresholds (AATs) reported more dreams on awakenings from non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, this study of 4 Ss over several nights each indicated no relationship between Stage 2 NREM dreaming and within-subject, within-night variations in AAT. Subjectively “deep” Stage 2 sleep was associated with high AATs and with reports of Stage 2 dreaming. AATs declined over successive nights of laboratory sleep. Earlier reports of similar AATs for Stage REM and Stage 2, a decrease in AAT with time of night, and no relationship between AAT and time since last awakening were all confirmed. Stage 2 awakenings made close together in time yielded more reports with similar manifest content.
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 |
| The prevalence of nightmares and their independence from anxiety. Undergraduates | 1990 | Observational study using daily dream logs | n = 220 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Dream Recall: State or Trait Variable? Part II: State Factors, Investigations and Final Conclusions Imagination, Cognition and Personality March 1, 1997
- Event-Related Potential Study of Recovery of Consciousness during Forced Awakening from Slow-Wave Sleep and Rapid Eye Movement Sleep. International Journal of Molecular Sciences October 4, 2022
- Dream report length is more dependent on arousal level than prior REM duration. Brain Research Bulletin 1994