Neuroimaging of sleep in the elderly
Eric A. Nofzinger
Cambridge University Press eBooks November 26, 2009 DOI: 10.1017/cbo9780511770661.044 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key findings | Dream recall and aggressive dream interactions decline with age, and older dreamers report fewer characters and less central roles in dreams. The author proposes that dreaming style shifts with age, with men becoming more passive and women more active, and suggests that certain dream contents and dream disorders may have diagnostic significance. |
Abstract
Dream recall decreases with the age of the dreamer in both home and laboratory dreams in both men and women. As the dreamer ages, characters in the dream decrease, the dreamer is less likely to be the center of the dream action, and there are more family characters in the dream report. Social interactions in dreams are more commonly aggressive then friendly and least common are sexual interactions. Aggressive social interactions decreases as the dreamer grows older, while other aspects of the aggressive interactions such as witnessing, victim-hood, and the effect of the sex of the dreamer all change with the age of the dreamer. The style of dreaming changes with the age of the dreamer with men getting more passive in their dreams while women appear to get more active. Disorders of dreaming and specific dream contents, like dreams of lost resources, may well have diagnostic significance.