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Experimental Modification of Dream Content by Meaningful Verbal Stimuli

Ralph J. Berger

British Journal of Psychiatry November 1, 1963 DOI: 10.1192/bjp.109.463.722 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Review Peer reviewed
Topics Dreaming
Key findings The text reports that sleep alternates cyclically between two distinct types: "fore-brain" sleep, marked by slow waves and spindles on the EEG, and "hind-brain" sleep, marked by a low-voltage fast EEG, rapid eye movements, muscle relaxation, and dream recall on awakening.

Abstract

Numerous recent electroencephalographic studies have revealed the cyclical alternation of two distinct types of sleep (Dement and Kleitman, 1957a), which have been termed “fore-brain” and “hind-brain” sleep by Jouvet (1962). The former is accompanied by slow waves and spindles in the electroencephalogram (EEG) and the latter by a low-voltage, fairly fast EEG pattern; spasmodic, conjugate rapid eye movements (REMs); relaxation of neck and throat muscles in cat (Jouvet, 1962) and human (Berger, 1961); and recall of dreams following awakening (Dement and Kleitman, 1957b).