The effects of intensive learning of a second language on REM sleep and dream content
Guy-Bernard Proulx
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational longitudinal sleep study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 4 |
| Population | English-speaking students enrolled in a six-week total-immersion French course at the University of Ottawa |
| Duration | Six-week immersion course; three series of six consecutive nights (before, during, and after the course) |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Key findings | The study tested whether intensive second-language learning increases REM sleep activity and alters dream content, but the abstract reports no results for REM sleep or dream content. Total sleeping time did not change significantly across the three series, with participants sleeping seven to eight hours on uninterrupted nights according to individual habits. |
Abstract
The Effects of Intensive Learning of a Second Language on REM Sleep and Dream Content Guy-Bernard Proulx University of Ottawa At the University of Ottawa a six week total immersion course in French is given during which students live on campus and are required to speak French all day. Their activities including meals, social events and so forth are supervised to ensure they do not speak English. It was thought that this situation of intense learning would permit one to test the hypothesis that REM sleep is involved in the processing of new information. An increase in REM sleep activity as well as alterations in dream content were therefore expected in this new learning situation. Four English speaking students slept in the laboratory for three series of six consecutive nights (two adaptation nights, two nights of uninterrupted sleep, and two nights of dream collection). One series was before the course, a second during the course and a third after the course. On the first four uninterrupted nights of each series, subjects slept between seven and eight hours (according to their individual sleep habits) and there was no significant change in total sleeping time across the series. The last two nights of each series were for dream collection purposes.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Student volunteers trained to become lucid and signal lucidity with horizontal eye... | 2009 | Observational study | n = 6 |
| Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Young adults with a mean age of 20 years | 2002 | Prospective observational study | n = 116 |
| Long-term effects of extreme situational stress on sleep and dreaming Survivors of traumatic events who complained of sleep disturbances, compared with... | 1987 | Case-control study | n = 11 |
| The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Adults who reported dreams | 2004 | Observational cohort | n = 147 |
| The prevalence of nightmares and their independence from anxiety. Undergraduates | 1990 | Observational study using daily dream logs | n = 220 |