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An Investigation of the Manifest Dream Content Associated with Migraine Headaches: A Study of the Dreams That Precede Nocturnal Migraines

Gail Q. Heather-Greener, Dana Comstock, Roby Joyce

Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics February 18, 2010 DOI: 10.1159/000289078 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational cohort Peer reviewed
Sample size 37
Population Migraineurs who recorded dreams preceding and not preceding migraines
Topics Dreaming
Key findings Four of five dream content variables—anger, misfortune, apprehension, and aggressive interactions—significantly distinguished dreams that preceded migraines from those that did not, supporting a relationship between unpleasant dreams and migraine attacks.

Abstract

Background: Clinical observations of a relationship between unpleasant dreams and migraine headaches have been reported previously.

Methods: Due to the anecdotal quality of these case reports, this study empirically investigated the significance of this relationship. Dream content categories were selected corresponding to emotional factors associated with stress that trigger migraine headaches. A total of 37 migraineurs recorded 10 dreams each, 5 that preceded migraines and 5 that did not.

Results: Univariate F tests revealed that 4 of the 5 variables contributed significantly to the overall effect, specifically anger, misfortune, apprehension, and aggressive interactions.

Conclusions: Recommendations include discussing the predictive value of dreams with regard to nocturnal migraine attacks, and therapeutic implications are suggested.

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

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