Training and consultation in cognitive behavioral therapy for nightmares (CBT-N) were introduced for Veterans Health Administration (VHA) providers to reduce the frequency and severity of nightmares and improve functioning of veterans experiencing chronic nightmares. This study aimed to evaluate providers' sustained delivery of CBT-N and their perceptions of benefits and barriers to...
Despite extensive discussions, a consensus is lacking on whether out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and lucid dreams (LDs) should be considered as distinct categories of experience, and if so, what differentiates them. To address this issue, we first discussed the implications of OBEs and LDs as the same type of phenomenon. We then compiled a comprehensive list of experiential features associated...
Background: REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is characterized by loss of normal muscle atonia during REM sleep, often associated with dream enactment behaviors, and is typically a prodromal neurodegenerative condition in middle-aged and older adults. However, emerging case reports and case series suggest that not all RBD presentations follow this trajectory, particularly in younger...
Perceived sleep depth is a key determinant of subjective sleep quality, traditionally thought to reflect unconsciousness and reduced cortical activation. Here, we combined high-density EEG with a serial awakening paradigm during NREM sleep to examine its neural and experiential correlates. As expected, deeper sleep was associated with reduced cortical activation, reflected in a lower...
Study objectives: Patients with acute trauma are vulnerable to suicidality following hospitalization. Research suggests nightmares and insomnia may interact to potentiate suicidality, possibly due to nightmares worsening co-occurring insomnia. Nightmares and insomnia are common stress reactions to acute trauma and might compound suicide risk within acutely traumatized patients. We tested the...
The basic definition of lucid dreaming is that the dreamer knows that s/he is dreaming while still dreaming. However, the skills within the lucid dream, e.g., regarding dream control, vary considerably from dreamer to dreamer. The present study tested the psychometric properties of the Lucid Dreaming Skills Questionnaire (LUSK) in a sample of 1267 persons. The findings indicate that the LUSK...
Having nightmares can contribute to poor sleep quality, and having sleep problems can be accompanied by increased nightmare frequency. The etiological models of insomnia and nightmare disorder also show some parallels. The present cross-sectional study included 654 participants (509 women, 144 men, 1 non-binary) with mild to moderate sleep problems (mean age: 41.19 ± 12.95 years). As expected,...
Patients with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) enact their dreams, leading to enhanced dream recall. They report more negative emotions in their dreams, recall retrospective nightmares more frequently, and often experience more aggressive dreams. This study aims to understand dream characteristics in REM sleep behavior disorder using both retrospective and prospective measures in a controlled...
Lucid dreaming, defined as the experience of becoming aware of dreaming while still immersed in a dream, offers a unique window into a state of consciousness characterized by a blending of the sensory vividness of REM sleep with the self-awareness of wakefulness. While past functional imaging has shed light on the neural activity supporting lucid dreaming, the structural brain correlates of...