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Active processing of declarative knowledge during REM-sleep dreaming.

Carlo Cipolli, R Bolzani, Giovanni Tuozzi, Igino Fagioli

Journal of Sleep Research December 1, 2001 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2869.2001.00268.x (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Experimental within-subject study with control night Peer reviewed
Sample size 12
Population Human adults (12 subjects) studied across sleep onsets in one night and a control night
Duration One night with three sleep onsets, plus a control night
Topics Dreaming
Keywords Humans Electroencephalography Electromyography Cognition Dreams Wakefulness Galvanic skin response Sleep, rem Heart rate Adult Male Retention, psychology
Key findings The sentence heard immediately before the most recent sleep onset was incorporated into REM dream reports more frequently than sentences heard before earlier sleep onsets and more frequently than similar content in a control night, while the modalities of dream content elaboration did not vary. The authors argue that cognitive concerns guide access to recently acquired declarative knowledge during sleep, but not how that knowledge is inserted into dreams, and suggest this may aid consolidation.

Abstract

The ability to process recently acquired knowledge is clearly maintained during sleep. Here we assess whether and how far the sleeper controls this processing (in a non-volitional and non-conscious manner). We posit that during sleep, the cognitive concerns of previous waking may guide access to, and processing of, items of declarative knowledge with which those concerns are associated. In a delayed recall task, before each of three sleep onsets in the same night, 12 subjects heard a different nonsense sentence. When awakened in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, they were asked to report their dream experience and to recall the last sentence heard. Occurrences of incorporation into dream content were more frequent for this sentence than for the sentences heard before previous sleep onsets, and also more frequent than occurrences of similar contents in reports from a control night. However, the modalities of elaboration of dream contents did not vary. These findings indicate that cognitive concern can affect the accessing of recently acquired declarative knowledge during sleep, but not the modalities by which this is inserted into dream content. They also suggest that cognitive concern may help consolidate knowledge by increasing the likelihood of it being processed during sleep.

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

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