Skip to content

Spontaneous eyelid movements (ELMS) during sleep are related to dream recall on awakening.

Russell Conduit, Sheila Gillard Crewther, Grahame Coleman

Journal of Sleep Research June 1, 2004 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2004.00397.x (opens in new tab)

Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational study Peer reviewed
Population Human participants awakened from stage 2 and REM sleep
Topics Dreaming
Keywords Eyelids Humans Electroencephalography Eye movements Electrooculography Electromyography Dreams Mental recall Wakefulness Sleep, rem
Key findings Imagery reports were significantly more frequent after eyelid-movement awakenings than after quiescent awakenings from stage 2 sleep, but not from REM sleep, while vividness ratings of reported imagery did not differ significantly between conditions in either stage. The authors suggest that higher electroencephalogram arousal after stage 2 eyelid-movement awakenings, which was greater when visual imagery was reported, may have mediated the increase in imagery reporting.

Abstract

The present study aimed to test whether spontaneous eyelid movements (ELMs) during stage 2 and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep are related to more frequent and vivid reports of visual mentation on awakening. Participants were awakened 15 s after an ELM was observed during ongoing REM and stage 2 sleep and immediately asked for a mentation report and to rate the visual vividness of any imagery they could remember. These reports were compared with control reports collected after a period of ELM quiescence before awakening (noELM). Significantly greater frequencies of imagery reports were collected after ELM awakenings compared with noELM awakenings from stage 2, but not REM sleep. When imagery was reported, imagery ratings were not significantly different between ELM and noELM conditions, regardless of sleep stage. The average amount of electroencephalogram (EEG) arousal 15 s after stage 2 awakenings was significantly higher in the ELM compared with noELM conditions. In addition, within the stage 2 ELM condition, EEG arousal was significantly higher when visual imagery was reported compared with reports without imagery; suggesting that the observed increase in imagery reporting from the stage 2 ELM condition could have been mediated by the level of brain arousal. Such arousal possibly provides better conditions to attend and recall previous mental activity from NREM sleep. However, there was no ELM/arousal effect within REM sleep, possibly because this state is already at maximum sleeping levels of arousal, attention and resulting dream recall.

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 4

Cites 3

Related reading

Explore topics

Dreaming