Skip to content

Dreaming research published in 2013

42 studies whose primary subject is dreaming were published in 2013, up from 21 in 2012. Newest first. Back to the dreaming overview

Studies

Alexithymia associated with nightmare distress in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder.

Sleep December 1, 2013 Isabelle Godin, Jaques Montplaisir, Jean-François Gagnon et al.

Study objectives: Idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) is characterized by atypical REM sleep motor activity, vivid dreams and nightmares, and dream-enacting behaviors that can result in injuries to the patient and bed partner. It is also a known predictor of Parkinson disease (PD). Alexithymia has been associated with disturbances in sleep and dreaming (e.g., nightmares) and is a...

DOI: 10.5665/sleep.3238 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Humans Polysomnography Case-control studies Affective symptoms +7

Is recall of dreaming during anesthesia a sign of occurrence of postoperative nausea and vomiting?

Journal of Anesthesia December 2013 Tomonori Matsuyama, Hiroshi Iranami, Keisuke Fujii et al.

We examined the relationships between recall of dreaming during anesthesia and postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). We found a relationship between PONV within 24 h and age <50 years, use of postoperative epidural analgesia with morphine, and female gender. We also found a relationship between PONV lasting more than 24 h and dream recall. As serotonin plays an important role for both...

Seeking professional help for nightmares: a representative study

The European Journal of Psychiatry December 1, 2013 Michael Schredl 19 citations

Background and Objectives: Nightmares are defined as disturbing mental experiences that generally occur during REM sleep and often result in awakening. Even though about 5% of the general population suffers from nightmares, little is known about seeking professional help in this patient group.

DOI: 10.4321/s0213-61632013000400004 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Nightmare Coping psychology German population Clinical psychology +1

Fluctuations between sleep and wakefulness: wake-like features indicated by increased EEG alpha power during different sleep stages in nightmare disorder.

Biological Psychology December 1, 2013 Péter Simor, Klára Horváth, Péter P Ujma et al.

Although a growing body of research indicates that frequent nightmares are related to impaired sleep regulation, the pathophysiology of nightmare disorder is far from being fully understood. We examined the relative spectral power values for NREM and REM sleep separately in 19 individuals with nightmare disorder and 21 healthy controls, based on polysomnographic recordings of the second nights'...

DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2013.05.022 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Nightmare Alpha oscillations Power spectral analysis Rem parasomnia +1

Dream Recall Frequency and Unusual Dream Experiences in Early Adolescence: Longitudinal Links to Behavior Problems

Journal of Research on Adolescence December 1, 2013 Nirit Soffer-Dudek, Avi Sadeh

Unique dream patterns are related to psychopathological distress in adults. In adolescence, this was investigated almost exclusively regarding nightmares. This longitudinal study examines developmental trajectories of various adolescent‐reported dream patterns, and their associations with parent‐reported psychopathology (internalization and externalization problems) in early adolescence....

Studying the relationship between dreaming and sleep-dependent memory processes: methodological challenges.

Behavioral and Brain Sciences December 1, 2013 Michael Schredl

The hypothesis that dreaming is involved in off-line memory processing is difficult to test because major methodological issues have to be addressed, such as dream recall and the effect of remembered dreams on memory. It would be fruitful--in addition to studying the ancient art of memory (AAOM) in a scanner--to study the dreams of persons who use AAOM regularly.

Reporting dream experience: Why (not) to be skeptical about dream reports.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience November 7, 2013 Jennifer Windt

Are dreams subjective experiences during sleep? Is it like something to dream, or is it only like something to remember dreams after awakening? Specifically, can dream reports be trusted to reveal what it is like to dream, and should they count as evidence for saying that dreams are conscious experiences at all? The goal of this article is to investigate the relationship between dreaming, dream...

Stress-related biomarkers of dream recall and implicit memory under anaesthesia.

Anaesthesia November 2013 P Aceto, C Lai, V Perilli et al.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether auditory presentation of a story during general anaesthesia might influence stress hormone changes and thus affecting dream recall and/or implicit memory. One hundred and ten patients were randomly assigned either to hear a recording of a story through headphones or to have routine care with no auditory recording while undergoing laparoscopic...

Reliability and stability of lucid dream and nightmare frequency scales

October 16, 2013 Tadas Stumbrys, Daniel Erlacher, Michael Schredl

Lucid dream and nightmare frequencies vary greatly between individuals and to assess these differences reliable instruments are needed. The present study aimed to examine the reliability of eight-point scales for measuring lucid dream and nightmare frequencies. The scales were administered twice (with a four-week interval) to 93 sport students. A re-test reliability for the lucid dream...

A critical review of the evidence base of imagery rehearsal for posttraumatic nightmares: pointing the way for future research.

Journal of Traumatic Stress September 30, 2013 Gerlinde C. Harb, Andrea J Phelps, David Forbes et al.

In this article, the authors provide information on key characteristics of imagery rehearsal treatment protocols and examine the quality of reporting of randomized controlled and uncontrolled trials of imagery rehearsal for treating posttraumatic nightmares. Using a reliable and valid scale, two independent psychologists rated 16 trials. Most reports provided insufficient information on a range...

DOI: 10.1002/jts.21854 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Humans Dreams Stress disorders, post-traumatic Research design +1

Dreaming, waking conscious experience, and the resting brain: report of subjective experience as a tool in the cognitive neurosciences.

Frontiers in Psychology September 23, 2013 Erin J. Wamsley

Even when we are ostensibly doing "nothing"-as during states of rest, sleep, and reverie-the brain continues to process information. In resting wakefulness, the mind generates thoughts, plans for the future, and imagines fictitious scenarios. In sleep, when the demands of sensory input are reduced, our experience turns to the thoughts and images we call "dreaming." Far from being a meaningless...

Testing the involvement of the prefrontal cortex in lucid dreaming: A tDCS study

Consciousness and Cognition September 8, 2013 Tadas Stumbrys, Daniel Erlacher, Michael Schredl 88 citations

Recent studies suggest that lucid dreaming (awareness of dreaming while dreaming) might be associated with increased brain activity over frontal regions during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. By applying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), we aimed to manipulate the activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during REM sleep to increase dream lucidity. Nineteen...

Are delusional contents replayed during dreams?

Consciousness and Cognition September 1, 2013 Armando D'Agostino, Giacomo Aletti, Martina Carboni et al.

The relationship between dream content and waking life experiences remains difficult to decipher. However, some neurobiological findings suggest that dreaming can, at least in part, be considered epiphenomenal to ongoing memory consolidation processes in sleep. Both abnormalities in sleep architecture and impairment in memory consolidation mechanisms are thought to be involved in the...

Nightmare frequency, nightmare distress, and psychopathology in female victims of childhood maltreatment.

The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease September 1, 2013 Mylène Duval, Pierre McDuff, Antonio Zadra

This study investigated the relationships between a history of childhood maltreatment, the frequency of disturbing dreams, their associated distress, and the presence of psychopathology in 352 female undergraduate volunteers. Participants completed questionnaires assessing dream recall, bad dream and nightmare frequency, nightmare distress, psychological well-being, and history of childhood...

A differentiating empirical linguistic analysis of dreamer activity in reports of EEG-controlled REM-dreams and hypnagogic hallucinations.

Consciousness and Cognition September 1, 2013 Jana Speth, Clemens Frenzel, Ursula Voss

We present Activity Analysis as a new method for the quantification of subjective reports of altered states of consciousness with regard to the indicated level of simulated motor activity. Empirical linguistic activity analysis was conducted with dream reports conceived immediately after EEG-controlled periods of hypnagogic hallucinations and REM-sleep in the sleep laboratory. Reports of...

Maternal representations in the dreams of pregnant women: a prospective comparative study.

Frontiers in Psychology August 27, 2013 Jessica Lara-Carrasco, Valérie Simard, Kadia Saint-Onge et al.

Dreams are thought to respond to self- and socially-relevant situations that evoke strong emotions and require rapid adaptation. First pregnancy is such a situation during which maternal mental representations (MMR) of the unborn baby, the self and significant others undergo remodeling. Some studies suggest that dreams during pregnancy contain more MMR and are more dysphoric, but such studies...

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00551 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Dreaming Maternal mental representations Pregnancy-related themes Dream emotions

Ultradian and circadian modulation of dream recall: EEG correlates and age effects.

International Journal of Psychophysiology August 1, 2013 Sarah Laxhmi Chellappa, Christian Cajochen

Dreaming occurs during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which both are regulated by homeostatic, ultradian, and circadian processes. However, the magnitude of how ultradian REM and NREM sleep and its EEG correlates impact onto dream recall remains fairly unknown. In this review, we address three questions: 1. Is there an ultradian NREM-REM sleep modulation in...

Brain basis of self: self-organization and lessons from dreaming.

Frontiers in Psychology July 16, 2013 David Kahn

Through dreaming, a different facet of the self is created as a result of a self-organizing process in the brain. Self-organization in biological systems often happens as an answer to an environmental change for which the existing system cannot cope; self-organization creates a system that can cope in the newly changed environment. In dreaming, self-organization serves the function of...

Neurobiology and clinical implications of lucid dreaming

Medical Hypotheses July 6, 2013 Sérgio Mota-Rolim, John Fontenele Araújo 50 citations

Several lines of evidence converge to the idea that rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) is a good model to foster our understanding of psychosis. Both REMS and psychosis course with internally generated perceptions and lack of rational judgment, which is attributed to a hyperlimbic activity along with hypofrontality. Interestingly, some individuals can become aware of dreaming during REMS, a...

DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2013.04.049 (opens in new tab) Lucid dream Psychosis Frontal lobe Consciousness +1

Nightmares: Prevalence among the Finnish General Adult Population and War Veterans during 1972-2007.

Sleep July 1, 2013 Nils Sandman, Katja Valli, Erkki Kronholm et al.

Study objectives: To investigate the prevalence of nightmares among the Finnish general adult population during 1972-2007 and the association between nightmare prevalence and symptoms of insomnia, depression, and anxiety in World War II veterans. Design: Eight independent cross-sectional population surveys of the National FINRISK Study conducted in Finland in 1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997,...