Dreaming: a neuroimaging view
Martin Desseilles, Geneviève Albouy, Annabelle Darsaud, Steffen Gais, Géraldine Rauchs, Manuel Schabus, Virginie Sterpenich, Gilles Vandewalle, Sophie Schwartz, Pierre Maquet, Thanh Dang-Vu
Schweizer Archiv Fur Neurologie Und Psychiatrie December 7, 2005 DOI: 10.4414/sanp.2005.01655 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Citations | 26 |
| Key findings | Argues that REM sleep neuroimaging reveals consistent activation of limbic and temporo-occipital regions with prefrontal and parietal deactivation, which may explain dream characteristics; proposes integrating dream report analysis with neuroimaging to test brain correlates of dreaming. |
Abstract
Our neurobiological knowledge about human dream organisation results primarily from the study of Rapid-Eye-Movement (REM) sleep.In humans, functional neuroimaging techniques, using H 2 15 O or 18 FDG positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), allowed the mapping of the regional cerebral activity during this sleep stage, which is dominated by the activation of the pons, the thalamus, temporo-occipital and limbic/paralimbic areas (including the amygdala, the hippocampal formation and the anterior cingulate cortex), along with a relative quiescence of dorsolateral prefrontal and inferior parietal cortices.These results are in agreement with animal neurophysiological data about REM-sleep generation.They may also explain several hallmarks of dreaming experience that are found in dream reports after awakening from REM sleep.For instance, amygdala activation is consistent with the predominance of threatrelated emotions.Temporo-occipital activation is in keeping with visual dream imagery.Prefrontal deactivation is suggestive of the lack of orientational stability, the alteration in time perception, the delusional belief of being awake, the decrease in volitional control and the fragmented episodic memory recall.Inferior parietal deactivation may contribute to the lack of distinction between firstand third-person perspectives.Conversely, specific cognitive and emotional features in individual dreams could be used to predict some aspects of the regional functional organisation of the human brain during dreams, and also inspire the design of future dedicated neuroimaging studies by offering constraints to the analysis and interpretation of sleep data acquired just before dream reports.Therefore, we suggest that future functional brain imaging in humans should be combined with a careful neuropsychological analysis of dream reports, and especially their categorisation based on the presence of specific bizarre features, to test hypotheses about the brain correlates of dreams.As little is known about the physiology of non-REM sleep dreaming, future neuroimaging studies should also attempt to link dreaming experiences during this sleep stage with patterns of regional cerebral activity.Overall, although many questions arising from the study of oneiric behaviour remain unanswered, recent neurophysiological and neuroimaging research about REM sleep offers an increasingly detailed picture of the cerebral correlates of dreaming that might also provide new insights into dream functions.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming | 2019 | Review | |
| Sleep and dreaming are for important matters | 2013 | Review | |
| Nightmare Disorder and Isolated Sleep Paralysis | 2020 | Review | |
| My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares? | 2019 | Review | |
| Dream Recall: State or Trait Variable? Part I: Model, Theories, Methodology and Trait Factors | 1996 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 9
- Practicing a Motor Task in a Lucid Dream Enhances Subsequent Performance: A Pilot Study The Sport Psychologist June 1, 2010
- Hallucination, imagery, dreaming: reassembling stimulus-independent perceptions based on Edmund Parish's classic misperception framework Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences December 13, 2020
- Enactive or inactive? Cranially envatted dream experience and the extended conscious mind Philosophical Explorations May 4, 2018
- Dreaming is a conscious experience in its own right: proponents of non-cognitive and non-executive theories of dreaming suffer from a retrospective illusion of their waking extended self. Consciousness and Cognition May 30, 2025
- Distinguishing out-of-body experiences from lucid dreaming: a phenomenological analysis. Frontiers in Psychology September 15, 2025
and 4 more in the library
Cites 7
- Dreaming and the brain: Toward a cognitive neuroscience of conscious states Cambridge University Press eBooks 2001
- A historical loop of one hundred years: Similarities between 19th century and contemporary dream research. Dreaming March 1, 2000
- Rapid eye movement sleep, non-rapid eye movement sleep, dreams, and hallucinations. Current Psychiatry Reports June 1, 2005
- Human cognition during REM sleep and the activity profile within frontal and parietal cortices: a reappraisal of functional neuroimaging data. Progress in Brain Research 2005
- Are life episodes replayed during dreaming? Trends in Cognitive Sciences August 1, 2003
and 2 more in the library