Abstract
Several studies have demonstrated that dream content is related to the waking life of the dreamer. However, the characteristics of the memory sources incorporated into dreams are still unclear. We designed a new protocol to investigate remote memories and memories of trivial experiences, both relatively unexplored in dream content until now. Upon awakening, for 7 days, participants identified the waking life elements (WLEs) related to their dream content and characterized them and their dream content on several scales to assess notably emotional valence. Thanks to this procedure, they could report WLEs from the whole lifespan, and mundane ones before they had been forgotten. Participants (N = 40, 14 males, age = 25.2 ± 7.6) reported 6.2 ± 2.0 dreams on average. For each participant, 83.4% ± 17.8 of the dream reports were related to one or more WLEs. Among all the WLEs incorporated into dreams dated by the participants (79.3 ± 19%), 40.2 ± 30% happened the day before the dream, 26.1 ± 26% the month before (the day before excluded), 15.8 ± 21% the year before the dream (the month before excluded), and 17.9 ± 24% happened more than one year before the dream. As could be expected from previous studies, the majority of the WLEs incorporated into dreams were scored as important by the dreamers. However, this was not true for incorporated WLEs dating from the day before the dream. In agreement with Freud’s observations, the majority of the day residues were scored as mundane. Finally, for both positive and negative WLEs incorporated into dreams, the dreamt version of the WLE was rated as emotionally less intense than the original WLE. This result, showing that dreams tend to attenuate the emotional tone of waking-life memories towards a more neutral one, argues in favor of the emotional regulation hypothesis of dreaming.
Highlights
A way to progress in our understanding of the possible functions of dreaming is to investigate the parameters constraining or influencing dream content
The available results show that waking life elements (WLEs) incorporated into dreams are more emotionally intense than are WLEs that are not incorporated into dreams [9,10], while day residues (WLEs from the day before the dream), which are known to be a great part of the WLEs incorporated into dreams [18,19,20,21,22,23], are often mundane, as noticed by Freud [24]
Dream reports for which dreamers reported a link with one or several WLEs were in average longer than dream reports that were not related to WLEs (576.0 ± 280.1 vs 411.9 ± 118.4 words; paired t-test = 0.04)
Summary
A way to progress in our understanding of the possible functions of dreaming is to investigate the parameters constraining or influencing dream content. The available results show that WLEs incorporated into dreams are more emotionally intense than are WLEs that are not incorporated into dreams [9,10], while day residues (WLEs from the day before the dream), which are known to be a great part of the WLEs incorporated into dreams [18,19,20,21,22,23], are often mundane, as noticed by Freud [24]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
