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Dream Recall in Patients With Focal Cerebral Lesions

Luigi Murri, Rosario Arena, Gabriele Siciliano, R. Mazzotta, Alessia Muratorio

Archives of Neurology February 1, 1984 DOI: 10.1001/archneur.1984.04050140081031 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational case series Case report Peer reviewed
Sample size 53
Population Patients with acute unilateral focal brain lesions without clinical agnosia
Topics Dreaming
Citations 46
Key findings Patients with acute posterior hemispheric lesions frequently lost dream recall, whereas those with anterior lesions rarely did. The cessation of dream recall was associated with defective visuoperceptive test performance, leading the authors to conclude that posterior brain regions are important for recalling dreams.

Abstract

Rare case reports have indicated that brain lesions may cause a loss of dream recall. We investigated reports of dream recallers with acute unilateral brain lesions who did not have clinical agnosia and examined 53 patients with such focal lesions clinically and radiologically. Patients with posterior lesions showed a frequent loss of dream recall while those with anterior lesions rarely did so. The cessation of dream recall was associated with defective performance in tests for visuoperceptive functions. We concluded that patients with acute posterior hemispheric lesions frequently lose their ability to recall dreams.

Comparable studies

Other case reports and case series on dreaming, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Lucid Dreaming as a Learnable Skill: A Case Study The author 1980 Case study n = 1
Lucid Dreaming as a Treatment for Recurrent Nightmares People with recurrent nightmares 2010 Case study n = 5
Treating Chronic Nightmares of Sexual Assault Survivors with an Intellectual Disability – Two Descriptive Case Studies Adults with learning disabilities suffering from post-traumatic nightmares 2006 Case study n = 2
Lucid dreaming: Correspondence between dreamed and actual events in one subject during rem sleep A lucid dreamer 1984 Case study n = 1
Lucid dreaming treatment for nightmares: A series of cases. Participants with nightmares 2003 Case series n = 8

Citations in the library

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