Are delusional contents replayed during dreams?
Armando D'Agostino, Giacomo Aletti, Martina Carboni, Simone Cavallotti, Ivan Limosani, Marialaura Manzone, Silvio Scarone
Consciousness and Cognition September 1, 2013 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2013.04.006 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 10 |
| Population | Acutely psychotic patients with a single fixed and recurring delusional content |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Continuity Delusions Memory consolidation Psychosis Sleep |
| Key findings | Some delusional contents, specifically Grandiosity and Religion, recur within patients' dreams, suggesting continuity between waking delusions and dream mentation. |
Abstract
The relationship between dream content and waking life experiences remains difficult to decipher. However, some neurobiological findings suggest that dreaming can, at least in part, be considered epiphenomenal to ongoing memory consolidation processes in sleep. Both abnormalities in sleep architecture and impairment in memory consolidation mechanisms are thought to be involved in the development of psychosis. The objective of this study was to assess the continuity between delusional contents and dreams in acutely psychotic patients. Ten patients with a single fixed and recurring delusional content were asked to report their dreams during an acute psychotic break. Sixteen judges with four different levels of acquaintance to the specific content of the patients' delusions were asked to group the dreams, expecting that fragments of the delusional thought would guide the task. A mathematical index (f,t) was developed in order to compare correct groupings between the four groups of judges. Most judges grouped the dreams slightly above chance level and no relevant differences could be found between the four groups [F(3,12)=1.297; p=n.s.]. Scoring of dreams for specific delusional themes suggested a continuity in terms of dream and waking mentation for two contents (Grandiosity and Religion). These findings seem to suggest that at least some delusional contents recur within patients' dreams. Future studies will need to determine whether such continuity reflects ongoing consolidation processes that are relevant to current theories of delusion formation and stabilization.
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 |
| Dreaming in NREM Sleep: A High-Density EEG Study of Slow Waves and Spindles Healthy human subjects | 2018 | Observational cohort | n = 14 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 8
- Childhood sleep disturbance and risk of psychotic experiences at 18: UK birth cohort The British Journal of Psychiatry May 8, 2015
- Nightmares in the general population: identifying potential causal factors Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology July 15, 2017
- Sleep, Nightmares and Schizophrenia Journal of Sleep Disorders and Management November 3, 2017
- "Dream Insertion": A Case Report of a Novel Psychotic Symptom in a Male Inpatient With Treatment Resistant Schizophrenia. Case Reports in Psychiatry January 16, 2026
- Successful treatment of nightmares may reduce psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia. World Journal of Psychiatry September 20, 2018
and 3 more in the library
Cites 16
- Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Sleep September 1, 2009
- Predicting the dreamer’s gender from a single dream report: a matching study in a non-student sample heiDOK (Heidelberg University) 2010
- Dreaming under antidepressants: a systematic review on evidence in depressive patients and healthy volunteers. Sleep Medicine Reviews April 1, 2013
- Dream research in schizophrenia: methodological issues and a dimensional approach. Consciousness and Cognition December 1, 2011
- Dreamed movement elicits activation in the sensorimotor cortex. Current Biology November 8, 2011
and 11 more in the library