Prodromal dreams.
Frontiers in Psychiatry August 28, 2025 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1625811 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Longitudinal Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Rem sleep Interoception Prodromal dreams Threat detection circuit |
| Key points | Proposes a model in which interoceptive prediction errors generated by emerging bodily problems are depicted in dreams, typically through picture language or metaphor, and argues these "prodromal dreams" could be interpreted to help diagnose illness before overt symptoms. Suggests that active inference may also depict potential solutions in dreams, which might contain information to ameliorate or treat the causes of bodily distortions. |
Abstract
I present a provisional model and promising evidence, pending robust longitudinal validation, for the possibility of prodromal dreams: dreams that predict onset of illness before overt symptoms appear. Interoceptive signals are compressed and summated/integrated within brain networks that are most highly active during REM sleep. If there is a bodily problem an error signal is generated and the brain then attempts to infer a cause or explanation for the distortions in the bodily image. It is this picture or updated model of the body (which attempts to depict or explain the distortions or errors in bodily senses) which I suggest then gets depicted in dreams. Prediction error can be remedied either via active inference leading to corrective action, or by model updating-generating models that explain away the error. I suggest that the depiction of the cause of the predictive error (bodily distortions) emerges in dreams (typically with picture language or metaphor) and thus can be interpreted to help diagnose emerging illnesses. The active inference portion of the model updating process on the other hand will depict potential solutions to the predictive error and if this information emerges in dreams these dreams might plausibly contain information to ameliorate/treat the causes of the bodily distortions.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dreaming: a conceptual framework for philosophy of mind and empirical research | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming | 2015 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Varieties of Lucid Dreaming Experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Experimental Research on Dreaming: State of the Art and Neuropsychoanalytic Perspectives | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up | 2009 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 17
- Interoceptive inference, emotion, and the embodied self Trends in Cognitive Sciences October 12, 2013
- Dreaming as mind wandering: evidence from functional neuroimaging and first-person content reports. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013
- The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews March 14, 2019
- Sleep and dreaming are for important matters Frontiers in Psychology 2013
- Out-of-body experiences in relation to lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis: A theoretical review and conceptual model. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews August 1, 2024
and 12 more in the library