Dreaming is a universal phenomenon, yet the ability to recall dream content varies among individuals and most dreams are forgotten quickly after waking up. Such dream amnesia seems paradoxical given the proposed adaptive functions of dreaming. It has been theorized that dream amnesia might serve an evolutionary adaptive function, protecting against cognitive disruptions such as dream-reality...
CureusJuly 9, 2026Omofolarin Debellotte, Amuksha Ravindra Shetty, Yuzhu Wang et al.
Suicide remains a leading global cause of preventable mortality, with sleep disturbances, particularly insomnia, nightmares, and circadian disruption, emerging as critical yet underrecognized contributors to suicidal ideation and behavior. This narrative review synthesizes current evidence on the multifaceted links between sleep disorders and suicidality, integrating findings from...
The aim of this study was to determine if induced dissociative states impacts memory function and sleep. We induced dissociative states by using the Mirror Gazing Task (MGT), an effective method of eliciting altered states and anomalous experiences, similar to those experienced in individuals with depersonalization-derealization disorder, in controlled settings in non-clinical samples of...
Abstract Study Objectives Sensory stimulation during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep has been proposed as a method to induce lucidity, yet most approaches rely on distal sensory modalities such as light and sound. We explored whether bodily stimulation targeting the muscle and vestibular systems differentially influences dream incorporation and lucid awareness during REM sleep. Methods 28...
There is no direct evidence for therapies specifically targeting vivid dreams from antidepressant use. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Imagery Rehearsal Therapy, and certain medications are viable options derived from broader contexts of nightmare treatment.
Introduction: Insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are the most prevalent sleep disorders in military personnel. People with both sleep problems (co-morbid insomnia and sleep apnea [COMISA]) experience higher rates of medical and psychiatric comorbidities. Few studies have examined the comorbidity of nightmares among those with insomnia, OSA, or COMISA. This secondary data analysis of...
Suicide is a major public health concern, and identifying early indicators of suicidal crisis remains a key clinical challenge. Nightmares have been suggested as potential early markers of suicide risk. This study aimed to investigate dream alterations preceding a suicidal crisis in patients presenting to a psychiatric emergency department. This prospective study was conducted in a psychiatric...
The fear of death (death anxiety) is a risk factor for various mental health conditions. Death anxiety has been theorized to elicit physiological arousal and worry and is empirically associated with attachment insecurity, each of which has been linked to disrupted sleep. However, limited research has explored the relationship between death anxiety, nightmares and insomnia. We examined the...
Background: Nightmares, nonrestorative sleep, and headaches co-occur, are common, underdiagnosed, and contribute to substantial disability. Pregabalin modulates excitatory neurotransmission, increases slow-wave sleep, and suppresses REM sleep, suggesting a potential therapeutic role in nightmares and sleep disturbance. Pregabalin’s effect on nightmares has not been systematically studied....
Background: Dreams contain emotional, interpersonal and experiential material that may relate to waking-life concerns. In homoeopathic practice, dreams are traditionally considered during case-taking; however, their interpretation is often subjective. Systematic thematic analysis may provide a more transparent method for exploring the relationship between dream content and the mental state of...
Background: Nightmare disorder (NDO) is a clinically under-recognized sleep disorder within the military population. We have previously reported that 31.2% of patients referred to our sleep disorders center incidentally had probable NDO, yet only 3.9% were specifically referred for NDO. Under-recognition and therefore under-treatment of NDO negatively impacts patients' health and military...
Sleep-related out-of-body experiences (OBEs) occupy an ambiguous position between sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming. OBEs are often considered part of the vestibular-motor component of sleep paralysis, but they also share features with lucid dreaming, including vivid internally generated experience, heightened awareness, and perceived agency. Here, we examined whether the emotional composition...
Introduction: The return to normal life following the COVID-19 pandemic was evaluated in terms of anxiety upon awakening, sleep quality indicators, and dream characteristics. Methods: The sample comprised 394 women and 107 men who completed an online self-report questionnaire between August 15, 2022, and December 8, 2022 about their sleep and dream experience from the previous night....
Targeted dream incubation (TDI) is a highly effective method for eliciting hypnagogic dreams related to specific topics through the presentation of verbal prompts and serial awakenings at sleep onset. In this pilot study, we tested whether TDI at sleep onset can effectively direct dream content in subsequent rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. We allowed participants a daytime nap opportunity...
Abstract Nightmare disorder is historically conceptualised as a rapid eye movement (REM) sleep parasomnia, but evidence also points to altered non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep physiology. Here, in a retrospective case-control study, we analysed overnight polysomnography from 26 adults with nightmare disorder and 32 controls using a harmonised event-based EEG pipeline. Nightmare disorder...
An essay on sleep as the separation of mind and body, written by someone who does not get much of it. It moves from a joke in a cartoon to the genetics of familial natural short sleep and the contemplative traditions that train the mind to stay awake while the body rests, and it is careful to say which of those the author is standing in — neither. The sleep genetics describes a rare inherited...
Background: Motor learning in competitive sport relies not only on physical practice but also on the offline reorganisation of memory traces during sleep. Waking motor imagery is a recognised ergogenic adjunct, while recent work suggests that mental rehearsal may be extended into the sleeping brain through lucid dreaming, a state in which the dreamer becomes aware of dreaming while remaining...
Background: Traumatic nightmares are a core feature in adolescents with complex PTSD (CPTSD) exposed to early and repeated trauma, maintaining hyperactivity and dysregulation. Despite their prevalence and functional impact, targeted treatments for youth remain scarce. Imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) is a brief cognitive-behavioral intervention effective in adults, but evidence in adolescents...
Sleep disorders and nightmare disturbances challenge clinical assessment due to subjective self-reporting and lack of quantitative precision. This work presents DreamSense, a multi-task deep learning framework using electroencephalography (EEG) biomarkers that classify dream states on three independent tasks: occurrence detection, emotional sentiment, and nightmare intensity. Via systematic...