Nightmare Severity Is Inversely Related to Frontal Brain Activity During Waking State Picture Viewing.
Louis-Philippe Marquis, Sarah-Hélène Julien, Andrée-Ann Baril, Cloé Blanchette-Carrière, Tyna Paquette, Michelle Carr, Jean‐Paul Soucy, Jacques Montplaisir, Tore Nielsen
Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine February 15, 2019 DOI: 10.5664/jcsm.7628 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional neuroimaging study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 18 |
| Population | Individuals who frequently recall nightmares |
| Measures | Nightmare Distress Questionnaire (NDQ), retrospective and prospective estimates of frequency of recalling dysphoric dreams (DD) |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Gyrus cinguli Prefrontal cortex Humans Emotions Dreams Pattern recognition, visual Arousal Wakefulness Regional blood flow Adolescent Female Young adult Surveys and questionnaires Correlation of data Brain imaging Psychopathology Distress Nightmares Parasomnias |
| Key findings | Higher nightmare distress (NDQ) scores were associated with lower rCBF during negative picture viewing in insula, anterior cingulate, medial and superior temporal, inferior frontal, precentral, and putamen regions; retrospective dysphoric dream recall showed overlapping correlations, while prospective recall was only weakly related. The authors argue these results point to a possible overlap in brain mechanisms underlying nightmare dysphoria during sleep and distress during wakefulness, providing partial support for a neurocognitive model of nightmares. |
Abstract
Study
Objectives: Growing evidence suggests that nightmares have considerable adverse effects on waking behavior, possibly by increasing post-sleep negative emotions. Dysphoric reactions to nightmares are one component of nightmare severity for which the neural correlates are unknown. Here, we investigate possible neural correlates of nightmare severity in a sample of individuals who frequently recall nightmares.
Methods: Our principal measure of nightmare severity is nightmare distress as indexed by the Nightmare Distress Questionnaire (NDQ), and secondary measures are retrospective and prospective estimates of frequency of recalling dysphoric dreams (DD). We used high-resolution technetium 99m ethyl cysteinate dimer single photon emission computed tomography to assess regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) while 18 individuals who were frequent nightmare recallers viewed negative and neutral pictures from the International Affective Picture System. We correlated rCBF with NDQ scores and DD recall frequency estimates.
Results: Negative correlations were observed between NDQ scores and rCBF during negative picture viewing in bilateral insula and anterior cingulate, right medial frontal gyrus, bilateral superior temporal gyrus, right inferior frontal and precentral gyri, and bilateral putamen. Retrospective DD recall correlated with rCBF activity primarily in regions overlapping those related to NDQ scores. Prospective DD recall was only weakly related to rCBF. Results for the neutral condition overlapped partially with those for the negative condition; in particular, NDQ and retrospective DD recall were related to rCBF in medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate gyri.
Conclusions: Results point to a possible overlap in brain mechanisms involved in nightmare dysphoria (during sleep) and distress (during wakefulness) among individuals who frequently recall nightmares. They provide partial support for a neurocognitive model of nightmares. Commentary: A commentary on this article appears in this issue on page 179.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming Verified by Volitional Communication during Rem Sleep Selected subjects proficient in lucid dreaming | 1981 | Experimental study | n = 5 |
| Incorporation of concern- and nonconcern-related verbal stimuli into dream content. Seven male subjects studied during sleep Stages 2 and REM | 1981 | Experimental study | n = 7 |
| Lucid Dreaming and Alpha Activity: A Preliminary Report Good dream recallers | 1982 | Experimental study | n = 10 |
| Lucid dreaming during NREM sleep: Two case reports | 2012 | Sleep laboratory study | |
| The Dream Catcher experiment: blinded analyses failed to detect markers of dreaming consciousness in EEG spectral power. Human participants during sleep | 2020 | Experimental study with blinded classification | n = 9 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 15
- Nightmare Disorder and Isolated Sleep Paralysis Neurotherapeutics November 23, 2020
- Longitudinal associations of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress with suicidal behavior in adolescents: mediating role of depressive symptoms Sleep July 2, 2020
- Nightmare Distress as a Risk Factor for Suicide Among Adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder Nature and Science of Sleep September 1, 2022
- The mediation effects of nightmares and depression between insomnia and suicidal ideation in young adults Scientific Reports April 26, 2024
- Altered parasympathetic activity during sleep and emotionally arousing wakefulness in frequent nightmare recallers European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience March 2, 2023
and 10 more in the library
Cites 13
- Neural Correlates of Dream Lucidity Obtained from Contrasting Lucid versus Non-Lucid REM Sleep: A Combined EEG/fMRI Case Study Sleep June 29, 2012
- The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Journal of Sleep Research May 26, 2004
- Prevalence of Nightmare Disorder in Psychiatric Outpatients Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2013
- Nightmares in the general population: identifying potential causal factors Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology July 15, 2017
- Elevated perseveration errors on a verbal fluency task in frequent nightmare recallers: a replication. Journal of Sleep Research November 24, 2017
and 8 more in the library