Dream Emotions Research Articles

Favorite odor induces negative dream emotion during rapid eye movement sleep

ObjectiveAs connections between nightmares and various psychiatric disorders have been reported, the clinical significance of studying dream emotionality is now growing in importance. Because the olfactory bulb connects directly to the amygdala odor presentation may be a crucial tool to study dream emotions. Previous studies have demonstrated that presentation of positive/negative odors during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep affects various aspects of dreaming. Although olfactory perception can be influenced by personal experiences, the role of individual preferences in the effects of olfactory stimuli on dreaming has not yet been clarified. The purpose of the current study was to clarify the effects of odor on dreaming during REM sleep, taking individual preferences into account. MethodsPhenyl ethyl alcohol (rose-like smell) airflow was presented as an experimental stimulus, and odorless airflow was presented as the control. Participants who like (n = 7) and dislike (n = 8) the odor of phenyl ethyl alcohol were presented air with and without the odor of phenyl ethyl alcohol, respectively, during REM sleep and then awakened to report and rate their dream contents. Thereafter, the transcribed dream reports were rated by independent raters. Results and ConclusionsParticipants who liked the odor of phenyl ethyl alcohol reported more emotionally negative dreams when they were presented with phenyl ethyl alcohol airflow than that with odorless airflow. In other words, the participant's favorite odor was associated with emotionally negative dreams. These findings could be attributed to the nature of odor perception and the characteristics of brain activities during REM sleep.

Улучшение качества ночного сна, оцениваемое по субъективным показателям, при дистантном воздействии слабыми электромагнитными полями сверхнизкой частоты

Periodic variations of natural weak extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) along with illumination can serve for entrainment of circadian rhythms. It seems promising to use the non-pharmacological remote physiotherapy exposure to ELF-EMF for the correction of sleep disorders and the normalization of circadian rhythms of sleep. The aim of our study was to assess the impact of weak ELFMF on different characteristics of night sleep, estimated by subjective assessment of sleep quality. In our experiments, an ELF-EMF generator “Smart Sleep” formed rectangular current pulses supplied to the magnetic field emitter. The device has 7 modes of pulse frequency: 2, 4, 8, 16, 20, 32, 40 Hz. At a distance of 70–200 cm from the device field intensity was less than 0.2 µT, which is significantly less than the permissible hygienic standards. 20 healthy volunteers (both sexes, aged 20–30) took part in the study and self-assessed the night’s sleep: sleep quality, sleep latency, wellbeing on awakening, sleep fragmentation, quality of dreams, emotions in dreams, dreams’ memorability, awareness in dreams. The Kruskall-Wallis single-factor rank analysis was used. Significant improvements under ELF-EMF influence were found: p < 0,05 for the: wellbeing on awakening (4 Hz, 20 Hz), sleep fragmentation (8 Hz) and latency (20 Hz), the dream memorability (4 Hz), quality (2 Hz, 16 Hz), emotions (8 Hz) and awareness (20 Hz); p < 0,01 for the: sleep latency (32 Hz), the dream memorability (2 Hz), quality (4Hz) and emotions (2 Hz).

Dreams content and emotional load in cardiac rehabilitation patients and their relation to anxiety and depression.

Background:The assessment of a dream and its mechanisms and functions may help us to percept cognitions, emotions, and complex behaviors of patients. Hence, the present study aimed to assess (i) the rate of perceived dream and its emotional load and content and (ii) the relationship between functions of dream with anxiety and depression.Methods:In this cross-sectional study, 167 cardiac patients who had undergone rehabilitation in the western part of Iran were assessed during May–October 2016. Research instrument included Beck depression inventory, Beck anxiety inventory, Schredl's dream emotions manual, and content analysis of dreams manual. The findings were analyzed through Pearson's correlative coefficient and multiple regression analysis.Results:The mean age of participants (66.5% men) was 59.1 ± 9 years. The results indicated that the emotional content of patients’ dreams included happiness (49.1%), distress (43.1%), sad (13.8%), fear (13.2%), and anger (3%). Although women report more sad dreams than men (P = 0.026), there was no difference between them in terms of other components of dreams, anxiety, and depression. Regression models showed that anxiety and depression were significantly able to predict perceived dream rates (P = 0.030) and emotionally negative dreams (P = 0.019).Conclusion:The increased rates of depression, especially anxiety, are related to increasing perceived dreams with negative and harmful emotional load. Regarding severity and negative content of dreams are reflexes of stressful emotional daily experiences, the management of experienced psychological symptoms such as depression and anxiety is concerned as an undeniable necessity.

Pain Dreams and Dream Emotions in Patients with Chronic Back Pain and Healthy Controls

Background: Although some theorists have suggested that pain sensations cannot be part of the dreaming world, research has shown that pain sensations occur in about 1% of the dreams in healthy persons and in about 30% of patients with acute, severe pain. Objective: The present study is the first to study pain dreams in patients with chronic pain. Method: A questionnaire was administered to 100 patients with chronic lower back pain and 270 controls. Results: The patients reported more pain dreams and more negatively toned dreams compared to healthy controls. In addition, patients reported more often that the dreamed pain persisted into waking state. Conclusion: In patients, pain dreams might be instigated by actual pain whereas for healthy persons pain dreams might be pain memories (self-experienced pain and/or seeing persons in pain). Future research should clarify how pain is processed during sleep. As patients with chronic pain experience negatively toned dreams, it will be beneficial to ask chronic pain patients about their dreams and, if necessary, offer specific treatment options like imagery rehearsal treatment.

No effect of α‑GPC on lucid dream induction or dream content

A lucid dream is a dream in which one is aware of the fact that one is dreaming. Various cognitive and technical methods exist to induce lucid dreaming, most of which show only little success when tested scientifically. Until now, only few studies have dealt with inducing lucid dreaming by supplements, with, however, promising results. We have continued this line of research by conducting a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled field study in order to investigate pharmacological lucid dream induction using L‑alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine (α-GPC), a prescription-free drug acting as an acetylcholine precursor. Additionally, we tested whether cholinergic activation changes dream emotions or bizarreness. Following the baseline night with placebo, 23 participants with little lucid dreaming experience and 10 participants with advanced experience were administered a placebo on one night and 1200 mg of α‑GPC on one night. The Lucidity and Consciousness in Dreams (LuCiD) scale was used to measure the level of dream lucidity. In addition, dream reports were collected to analyse dream content alterations. Out of 75 dreams in total, six were rated as lucid: two in the baseline condition, two in the placebo condition and two in the α‑GPC condition. There was no significant alteration of dream content such as dream emotions or bizarreness. Thus, previous anecdotal findings about lucidity-promoting or dream-altering effects of α‑GPC were not confirmed in our study.

Effects of dexmedetomidine on dreaming during general anesthesia in pediatric patients

Objective To evaluate the effects of dexmedetomidine on dreaming during general anesthesia in pediatric patients. Methods A total of 400 pediatric patients of both sexes, aged 5-12 yr, with body mass index of 15.2-18.1 kg/m2, of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status Ⅰ, undergoing elective orthopedic surgery under general anesthesia, were randomly divided into control group (group C, n=200) and dexmedetomidine group (group D, n=200) according to the computer-generated random numeral order and numeral parity.Dexmedetomidine was infused intravenously in a loading dose of 0.5 μg/kg over 10 min before induction of anesthesia followed by infusion of 0.5 μg·kg-1·h-1 until 30 min before the end of surgery in group D, while the equal volume of normal saline was given instead of dexmedetomidine in group C. The pediatric patients who regained consciousness and recovered orientation in post-anesthesia care unit were interviewed for dreaming using a modified Brice questionnaire, and the dream(emotion, hearing and behaviours in dreams, memories for dreams) was evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale. Results Compared with group C, the incidence of dreaming was significantly decreased, the memory score was decreased (P 0.05). Conclusion Dexmedetomidine can decrease the development of dreaming during general anesthesia and produces no effect on the content of dreams (most are pleasant) in pediatric patients. Key words: Dexmedetomidine; Child; Dream; Anesthesia, general

Emotion regulation as reflected in children’s dreams – a developmental test of the neurocognitive dream theory

Introduction Although REM sleep plays an important role in neural maturation, developmental aspects of dream research are relatively neglected compared to studies focusing on adults. Adult research found that REM sleep and dreams take certain roles in emotional adaptation, including the processing of emotional events, consolidation of emotional memories and the downregulation of reactions to dysphoric stimuli. These findings, however, are rarely discussed in a developmental perspective. Aims We aim to test the neurocognitive dream theory developed by Nielsen and Levine (2007) by investigating the associations among abilities of waking emotional processing, behavioral manifestations of emotional problems and the emotional aspects of dreaming in children. Methods We analyzed 349 dream reports of 40 children between the ages of 4 to 8 years. Dream emotions, emotional dream quality and the dreams’ effect on daytime’s mood were self-reported by the children. Wakeful emotional processing is measured by the Emotional Stroop Test for children, and emotional–behavioral problems were assessed by the parent version of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results Results show that negative dream quality and the dreams’ effect on daytime mood are associated with negative emotional adaptation measured by the SDQ (τ = .25, p = .031, τ = .24, p = .041 respectively). Children with more emotional problems reported more dreams (τ = .32, p = .004). Interestingly, we could not find relationship between dream emotions and waking emotional development measures. Conclusion Results support psychological models of dreaming assuming a role of dreams in emotional regulation and provide partial support for the plausibility of Levin and Nielsen’s neurocognitive theory in a developmental context. Further studies on emotional development and dreaming are needed to gain more insight in the generalizability of the connection between emotional processing during wakeful functioning and REM sleep.

Dream emotionality. Selected formal properties of dreams

Abstract The aim of the study was to verify hypotheses about time changeability of dream characteristics depending on the participants’ age and affective value of the dream. The study was conducted online. Participants of the study were 68 individuals between the age of 17 and 85. The participants were asked to prepare detailed descriptions of their dreams, next they had to identify elements of the dreams, refer them to their real life, and assess their affective value. In the dreams of late adolescents, and young and middle-aged adults the most frequently recalled period in a positive context turned out to be late adolescence and early adulthood, whereas in a negative context the participants would recall their present developmental phase and the period of late childhood. Unpleasant dreams of older individuals were mainly connected with the period of middle adulthood, whereas those pleasant ones referred to various periods of their entire life.

Content analysis of 4 to 8 year-old children's dream reports.

The role of dreaming in childhood and in adulthood are still equally enigmatic fields yet to be fully explored. However, while there is a consensus at least about the typical content and formal characteristics of adult dream reports, these features are still a matter of debate in the case of young children. Longitudinal developmental laboratory studies concluded that preschoolers' dreams usually depict static images about mostly animals and body states of the dreamer but they basically lack the active representation of the self, human characters, social interactions, dream emotions and motion imagery. Due to methodological arguments these results became the reference points in the literature of developmental dream research, in spite of the significantly different results of numerous recent and relevant studies using extra-laboratory settings. This study aims to establish a methodologically well-controlled and valid way to collect children's dreams for a representative period of time in a familiar home setting to serve as a comparison to the laboratory method. Pre trained parents acted as interviewers in the course of a 6 week-period of dream collection upon morning awakenings. Our results suggest that even preschoolers are likely to represent their own self in an active role (70%) in their mostly kinematic (82%) dream narratives. Their dream reports contain more human, than animal characters (70 and 7% of all dream characters respectively), and social interactions, self-initiated actions, and emotions are usual part of these dreams. These results are rather similar to those of recent extra-laboratory studies, suggesting that methodological issues may strongly interfere with research outcomes especially in the case of preschoolers' dream narratives. We suggest that nighttime awakenings in the laboratory setting could be crucial in understanding the contradictory results of dream studies in case of young children.

Smoking dreams in the dream series of a non-smoker

The analysis of this long dream series (N = 9133 dreams) indicates that smoking plays a role in the dreams (1.43%) of a non-smoker. Most often, other dream characters were smoking which annoyed the dreamer. The medium success rate of doing something about the smoking probably reflects a basic pattern of the dreamer dealing with annoying situations. The present study is a good starting point to look into the relationship to smoking, attitudes towards smoking in waking life and in dreaming since in-depth studies in this area are almost completely missing. Furthermore, smoking might also be interesting to use as stimulus during sleep as research has shown that olfactory stimuli can effect dream content and dream emotions.

I know how you felt last night, or do I? Self- and external ratings of emotions in REM sleep dreams

We investigated whether inconsistencies in previous studies regarding emotional experiences in dreams derive from whether dream emotions are self-rated or externally evaluated. Seventeen subjects were monitored with polysomnography in the sleep laboratory and awakened from every rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stage 5 min after the onset of the stage. Upon awakening, participants gave an oral dream report and rated their dream emotions using the modified Differential Emotions Scale, whereas external judges rated the participants' emotions expressed in the dream reports, using the same scale. The two approaches produced diverging results. Self-ratings, as compared to external ratings, resulted in greater estimates of (a) emotional dreams; (b) positively valenced dreams; (c) positive and negative emotions per dream; and (d) various discrete emotions represented in dreams. The results suggest that this is mostly due to the underrepresentation of positive emotions in dream reports. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.

Nighttime in Dreams

Based on the continuity hypothesis of dreaming, a study was designed to examine whether time of day within the dream was related to dream emotions. A sample of 1,612 dreams reported by 444 participants was analyzed. As predicted, dream scenarios set at nighttime were associated with less positive and more negative emotions compared to dream scenarios set at other times of the day. In order to pursue this line of research, it would be fruitful to study the dreams of persons with specific nighttime fears.

Dreaming in patients with sleep disorders

Dreaming is defined as a subjective experience, while sleeping is obviously closely related to sleep physiology. The present multicenter study (n = 4,001 patients) was designed to test whether differences in sleep physiology and daytime functioning, present in patients with sleep disorders, affect the dreaming process. Overall, patients with sleep disorders reported higher dream recall, more nightmares, and more negatively toned dreams. Whereas the differences in dream recall are most likely associated with altered sleep physiology (more frequent nocturnal awakenings and/or micro-arousals), the findings regarding nightmare frequency and dream emotions might reflect the distress associated with the sleep disorder. Desirable would be longitudinal studies; it would be expected that successful treatment should alter nightmare frequency and dream emotions in patients with insomnia, restless legs syndrome/periodic limb movement disorders, and other sleep disorders. Whether dream content reflects disorder-specific content in addition to general distress remains unanswered.

Emotional Content of Dreams in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Hypopnea Syndrome Patients and Sleepy Snorers attending a Sleep-Disordered Breathing Clinic

To assess prospectively the emotional content of dreams in individuals with the obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and sleepy snorers. Prospective observational study. Forty-seven patients with sleepiness and snoring attending a sleep-disordered breathing clinic, completed a morning diary concerning pleasantness/unpleasantness of their dreams for 10 days, and then had AHI assessed by a limited-channel home sleep study. Participants and groups: Sleepy snorers, AHI < 5: n = 12 (mean age = 51.00 years [SD 7.01], 7 males); AHI 5 -14.9, n = 14 (mean age = 49.71 y [9.73], 12 males); AHI ≥ 15, n = 21 (mean age = 56.33 [11.24], 16 males). All groups reported similar numbers of dreams and nightmares during the diary period. The AHI ≥ 15 group were significantly higher on dream unpleasantness than were the sleepy snorers (p < 0.05); and when only males were analyzed, this difference was also significant (p = 0.01). As AHI increased across the 3 groups, there was a significant decrease in variability of dream emotions (Levene test for homogeneity of variance between the 3 groups, p = 0.018). Mean daytime anxiety and daytime depression were significantly correlated with mean dream unpleasantness and with mean number of nightmares over the diary period. Patients with AHI ≥ 15 had more emotionally negative dreams than patients with AHI < 5. The variation in mean dream emotion decreased with increasing AHI, possibly because sleep fragmentation with increasing AHI results in fewer and shorter dreams, in which emotions are rarer.

The Continuity between Waking Mood and Dream Emotions: Direct and Second-Order Effects

Emotions are an integral part of dreaming. From the viewpoint of the continuity hypothesis, two areas are of interest: how are dream emotions affected by day-time mood and how do dream emotions affect subsequent waking life. Seventy-four participants kept a diary over a 2-week period recording daytime mood, emotional valence of daytime events, and their dreams. Confirming earlier findings, the present study demonstrated direct effects of waking life on dreams and of dream emotions on waking-life. Positive and negative effects of daytime events on dreams were reported equally often (i.e., emotional intensity and not emotional valence is important in determining whether daytime events affect dreams). An interesting finding was a second-order effect; that is, the intensity of the negative effects of daytime events on dream content predicts—in addition to emotional intensity of the dream—the effect of that dream on daytime mood. The findings fit in within the framework of the continuity hypothesis, and pursuing this approach might shed further light on the function of dreaming.

Information processing during sleep: the effect of olfactory stimuli on dream content and dream emotions

Research has shown that external stimuli presented during sleep can affect dream content, thus reflecting information processing of the sleeping brain. Olfactory stimuli should have a stronger effect on dream emotions because their processing is linked directly to the limbic system. Because selective olfactory stimulation does not increase arousal activity, intense olfactory stimulation is therefore a prime paradigm for studying information processing during sleep. Fifteen healthy, normosmic volunteers were studied by intranasal chemosensory stimulation during rapid eye movement sleep based on air-dilution olfactometry. For olfactory stimulation, hydrogen sulphide (smell of rotten eggs) and phenyl ethyl alcohol (smell of roses) was used and compared with a control condition without stimulation. The olfactory stimuli affected significantly the emotional content of dreams: the positively toned stimulus yielded more positively toned dreams, whereas the negative stimulus was followed by more negatively toned dreams. Direct incorporations, i.e. the dreamer is smelling something, were not found. The findings indicate that information processing of olfactory stimuli is present in sleep and that the emotional tone of dreams can be influenced significantly depending upon the hedonic characteristic of the stimulus used. It would be interesting to conduct learning experiments (associating specific odours with declarative material) to study whether this declarative material is incorporated into subsequent dreams if the corresponding odour cue is presented during sleep. It would also be interesting to study the effect of positively toned olfactory stimuli on nightmares.

Overnight emotional adaptation to negative stimuli is altered by REM sleep deprivation and is correlated with intervening dream emotions

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and dreaming may be implicated in cross-night adaptation to emotionally negative events. To evaluate the impact of REM sleep deprivation (REMD) and the presence of dream emotions on a possible emotional adaptation (EA) function, 35 healthy subjects randomly assigned to REMD (n = 17; mean age 26.4 +/- 4.3 years) and control (n = 18; mean age 23.7 +/- 4.4 years) groups underwent a partial REMD and control nights in the laboratory, respectively. In the evening preceding and morning following REMD, subjects rated neutral and negative pictures on scales of valence and arousal and EA scores were calculated. Subjects also rated dream emotions using the same scales and a 10-item emotions list. REMD was relatively successful in decreasing REM% on the experimental night, although a mean split procedure was applied to better differentiate subjects high and low in REM%. High and low groups differed - but in a direction contrary to expectations. Subjects high in REMD% showed greater adaptation to negative pictures on arousal ratings than did those low in REMD% (P < 0.05), even after statistically controlling sleep efficiency and awakening times. Subjects above the median on EA(valence) had less intense overall dream negativity (P < 0.005) and dream sadness (P < 0.004) than subjects below the median. A correlation between the emotional intensities of the morning dream and the morning picture ratings supports a possible emotional carry-over effect. REM sleep may enhance morning reactivity to negative emotional stimuli. Further, REM sleep and dreaming may be implicated in different dimensions of cross-night adaptation to negative emotions.

The effect of trimipramine on dream recall and dream emotions in depressive outpatients

Trimipramine is a sedating tricyclic antidepressant which is not only effective in the treatment of depression but also in primary insomnia. In contrast to most other antidepressants, trimipramine does not affect rapid eye movement sleep. In a large sample of depressive outpatients ( N = 3926), the effect of trimipramine on dream recall and dream emotions was studied. The effect of trimipramine on dream recall was small and might be explained by the reduction of negatively toned dreams. The 4-week treatment with trimipramine yielded a considerable shift in dream emotions towards the positive end of the scale, which is paralleled by the decrease of symptom severity. The present findings support the continuity hypothesis of dreaming by demonstrating a close link between waking-life symptomatolgy and negative dream emotions. Future studies should analyze dream content in order to support the hypothesis that improvement in day-time symptoms is reflected in patients' dreams.

Work-related dreams as related to job and life satisfaction in hairdressers

Empirical studies largely support the continuity hypothesis of dreaming. The present study investigated the frequency and the emotional tone of dreams of hairdressers. A relationship was found between daytime mood (job satisfaction) and dream emotions. Life satisfaction that was low, on the other hand, was related to a heightened frequency of work-related dreams. It would be promising to study persons with different professions (stressful and demanding jobs) in order to study the effect of work-related variables and dreaming.

Dream Content in a Representative German Sample: Gender Differences and the Effects of other Socio-Demographic Variables

The present study investigated the effects of socio-demographic variables on dream content in a representative sample. The analyses of 380 most recent dreams showed that almost none of the socio-demographic variables like age, gender, marital status, education, income, nor town (or city) of residence size was significantly related to general dream characteristics like dream length, bizarreness, and intensity of dream emotions, thus indicating that dreaming is a universal phenomenon shared by all humans and is experienced in similar ways. On the other hand, dream content—in contrast to the general dream characteristics—is determined by waking-life experiences. This is clearly shown by the gender differences found in the present study: more work-related themes and physical aggression in men's dreams. In order to generalize these findings, it will be necessary to apply other dream collection methods like dream diary or laboratory awakenings in large, representative samples in order to obtain and analyze the dream reports of persons who do not often recall their dreams and who are not able to report their most recent dream to an interviewer.