Night-time hypnopompic visual hallucinations related to REM sleep disorder.
K Takata, Y Inoue, H Hazama, E Fukuma
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences April 1, 1998 DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1819.1998.tb01034.x (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThree patients reported hypnopompic visual hallucinations at night, resembling Charles Bonnet syndrome. The content of the hallucinations appeared to be attempts at wish fulfillment. In two cases, polysomnograms showed abnormal REM sleep findings during the hallucinations. The authors suggest that dysfunction of the REM sleep mechanism may contribute to these nighttime visual hallucinations, and that the visual experiences might reflect dream content.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 3 |
| Population | Patients who experienced hypnopompic visual night-time hallucinations |
| Key finding | Abnormal REM findings were recognized on polysomnogram during visual hallucinations in two of three cases, suggesting REM sleep dysfunction may contribute to these hallucinations. |
Abstract
We encountered three patients who had experienced hypnopompic visual night-time hallucinations. Their clinical manifestations resembled Charles Bonnet's syndrome and the content of their experiences were understood as attempts at wish fulfillment. However, abnormal REM findings were recognized on polysomnogram at the occurrence of visual hallucination in two cases. We speculated that dysfunction of REM sleep mechanism might contribute to the night-time occurrence of such kind of visual hallucination and that their visual experiences might be reflected by dream content.