Dream Length Research Articles

Personality Functioning Improvement during Psychotherapy Is Associated with an Enhanced Capacity for Affect Regulation in Dreams: A Preliminary Study.

Clinical case illustrations of patients with an impairment of personality functioning (IPF) have repeatedly reported that progress during psychotherapy is reflected by alterations in dream content. However, quantitative studies based on samples of psychotherapy patients are scarce. As a core component of both personality functioning and contemporary psychodynamic dream theory, the construct of affect regulation is of specific significance in this context. To test if improvement in personality functioning in the course of psychotherapy is associated with an increasing ability to regulate affects in dreams. In a longitudinal design, affect regulation was compared in N = 94 unsolicited dream reports from the first vs. last third of long term psychotherapy of ten patients with initial IPF. Dream reports were transcribed from recordings of the sessions. Expert ratings of the level of personality functioning were obtained using the Scales of Psychological Capacities. The capacity for affect regulation was assessed using the Zurich Dream Process Coding System. Group differences were assessed using linear mixed models, controlling for dream length as well as the nested structure of this data set. Patients demonstrated an increased capacity for affect regulation in dreams that was primarily evident in three core features: the complexity of dream elements (cf., e.g., parameter attributes, p = 0.024); the extent of affective involvement in the dream ego (cf., e.g., parameter subject feeling, p = 0.014); and the flexibility to regulate the dynamics of safety/involvement processes (p ≤ 0.001). This pattern was especially prominent in a subgroup (n = 7) of patients with more pronounced improvements in personality functioning. These findings support the hypotheses that decreasing IPF during psychotherapy is associated with increases in the capacity for affect regulation in dreams. Thus, researchers and therapists can utilize dream reports to illuminate the important aspects of treatment progress in clinical practice.

Examining the association between cultural self-construal and dream structures in the United States and Japan.

Cultural differences in self-construal, human relationships, and values between Western and East Asian people have been suggested. The aim of this article is to investigate cultural difference in dreamers' self-construal based on their dreams. We examined the dreams sampled via online questionnaires from 300 non-clinical participants from America and Japan, respectively. The free response for the contents of "impressive dreams in childhood" "recent impressive dreams" was categorized into the five general dream structural patterns. Besides, the participants were asked to answer the scales to investigate participants' cultural self-construal. The current results revealed the prevalence of the independent view of self in American participants and the interdependent view of self in Japanese participants. In addition, we found significant cultural differences in the dream length and structural patterns. For American dreams, the dream-ego had a clear will and strong mobility, and there were obvious ends of dream events. Conversely, for Japanese dreams, the weak agency and vague conscious of the dream-ego were shown, and others could play a main role in one's dreams. These results suggested that each characteristic of the American and Japanese samples may be influenced by the differences in self-construal or in the process of self-formation between American and Japanese cultures.

Dream Recall upon Awakening from Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep in Older Adults: Electrophysiological Pattern and Qualitative Features

Several findings support the activation hypothesis, positing that cortical arousal promotes dream recall (DR). However, most studies have been carried out on young participants, while the electrophysiological (EEG) correlates of DR in older people are still mostly unknown. We aimed to test the activation hypothesis on 20 elders, focusing on the Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep stage. All the subjects underwent polysomnography, and a dream report was collected upon their awakening from NREM sleep. Nine subjects were recallers (RECs) and 11 were non-RECs (NRECs). The delta and beta EEG activity of the last 5 min and the total NREM sleep was calculated by Fast Fourier Transform. Statistical comparisons (RECs vs. NRECs) revealed no differences in the last 5 min of sleep. Significant differences were found in the total NREM sleep: the RECs showed lower delta power over the parietal areas than the NRECs. Consistently, statistical comparisons on the activation index (delta/beta power) revealed that RECs showed a higher level of arousal in the fronto-temporal and parieto-occipital regions than NRECs. Both visual vividness and dream length are positively related to the level of activation. Overall, our results are consistent with the view that dreaming and the storage of oneiric contents depend on the level of arousal during sleep, highlighting a crucial role of the temporo-parietal-occipital zone.

Effects of lucid dream induction on external-rated lucidity, dream emotions, and dream bizarreness

Lucidity is a rare phenomenon, thus different induction techniques are used to increase the frequency of lucid dreaming. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of lucid dream induction (three different cognitive methods: Dream diary, Wake-up-back-to-Bed, and reality testing/reflection) on external rated lucidity, dream length, overall emotional tone, and bizarreness. Overall, 110 participants completed the three-week study protocol. Results showed only few external-rated lucid dreams compared to the high percentage dreams including some form of self-rated lucidity. The small effect of increasing positive dream emotions during the course of the study fit in with the framework of the Imagery Rehearsal Therapy. No effects on dream length and dream bizarreness were found.

Dream Recall Frequencies and Dream Content in Wilson's Disease with and without REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder: A Neurooneirologic Study.

Objective. Violent dream content and its acting out during rapid eye movement sleep are considered distinctive for rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD). This study reports first quantitative data on dreaming in a cohort of patients with treated Wilson's disease (WD) and in patients with WD with RBD. Methods. Retrospective questionnaires on different dimensions of dreaming and a prospective two-week home dream diary with self-rating of emotions and blinded, categorical rating of content by an external judge. Results. WD patients showed a significantly lower dream word count and very few other differences in dream characteristics compared to age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Compared to WD patients without RBD, patients with WD and RBD reported significantly higher nightmare frequencies and more dreams with violent or aggressive content retrospectively; their prospectively collected dream reports contained significantly more negative emotions and aggression. Conclusions. The reduction in dream length might reflect specific cognitive deficits in WD. The lack of differences regarding dream content might be explained by the established successful WD treatment. RBD in WD had a strong impact on dreaming. In accordance with the current definition of RBD, violent, aggressive dream content seems to be a characteristic of RBD also in WD.

REM sleep, dreams, and attachment themes across a single night of sleep: A pilot study.

REM has been linked with consolidation of emotional memories and therefore may influence attachment processes. We tested the hypothesis that content of EEG verified REM sleep dreams would change over the course of a single night as a function of attachment orientation, whereas content of NREM dreams would not. After a habituation night in the sleep lab, a convenience sample of 11 healthy volunteers, whose attachment orientations were measured, were awoken once every hour and then reported any dream experienced. Dreams were then analyzed for content. Content analyses revealed progressively greater interactions between dreamer and other characters and greater spatial proximity between dreamer and other characters but not greater emotional intensity across the night in REM but not NREM dreams. Measures of dream length did not differ between REM and NREM dreams. While REM-dependent intimacy content tended to increase for all 3-attachment orientations, the rate of increase was slower for the avoidant group relative to both the secure or the preoccupied groups. Attachment content in dreams becomes more prominent in REM but not NREM dreams over the course of night. Future research should determine whether REM dreams merely reflect current attachment status or play a role in formation and regulation of attachment orientation-specifically comfort with closeness to others.

W-O-115 DEVELOPMENT OF A PATIENT TRACKING AND REPORTING SYSTEM

Introduction and Objectives: Imaging motor, sensorial, emotional and cognitive activities in humans is a longstanding and unfinished quest (Maquet 2000; Schwartz, Maquet 2002). In dreams analyses several EEG correlations were found: a reduced coupling between frontal and perception regions (Corsi-Cabrera et al., 2003); visual activities and alpha attenuation (Bertolo et al., 2003), reduced delta activity and dream length (Palagini et al., 2004); reduced alpha power and mentation recall (Esposito et al., 2004); emotions and alpha asymmetry (Daoust et al., 2008); sharing properties of dreams and lucid dreaming in the low frequency bands (Voss et al., 2009); frontal alpha asymmetries recognized as a measure of physical and emotional distress during sleep (Flo et al., 2011). Objectives The objectives were 1) Dreams EEG mapping according to content; 2) EEG asymmetries in frequency bands and dream contents correlations; 3) Classification by cluster analysis the EEG asymmetries and the dream contents. Materials and Methods: Eight adult normal subjects (4 males) without medical or psychiatric disorders and medication were recorded for 2 consecutive nights; PSG included 21 EEG channels. REM awakenings dreams were collected. Dream contents were evaluated by the Hall van Castle method and the 5 minutes EEG prior to the awakening were selected and submitted to conventional frequency analysis. Asymmetries were evaluated in Fp2/Fp1, F4/F3, F8/F7, C4/C3, P4/P3, T4/T3, O2/O1. Analysis included: each subject, each dream and groups. Analysis of variance, correlation and cluster analysis were used. Results: Forty four dreams were evaluated (5.5 per subject, min 1; max 10). Asymmetries in frequency bands varied among subjects and with dream contents: characters, emotions, success, visual, rationalfast and low bands; activities, verbal, objects fast bands; failure – low bands. Cluster analysis of the EEG asymmetries provided 2 clusters, while cluster analysis of dream contents could only identify a single cluster. Conclusion: EEG frequency bands vary among subjects and according to dream contents; the effect is enhanced by the corresponding left/right asymmetries in the different electrode regions.

Dream recall and Dream Content in Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Although sleep is widely investigated in children with ADHD, dream studies in this group are completely lacking. The continuity hypothesis of dreaming stating that waking life is reflected in dreams would predict that waking-life symptoms are reflected in the dreams of such children. 103 children with ADHD and 100 controls completed a dream questionnaire eliciting dream recall frequency and the most recent dream. The dreams of the children with ADHD did not show a heightened occurrence of activities but were more negatively toned and included more misfortunes/threats, negative endings, and physical aggression towards the dreamer. Dream recall frequency and general dream characteristics like dream length and dream bizarreness did not differ from children without ADHD. The dreams seem to reflect the inner world of the child with ADHD. From a clinical point of view, it would be very interesting to study whether the negatively toned dreams change during treatment (pharmacological and/or psychotherapeutic) in a way similar to how sleep quality improves.

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.

A Systematic Change in Dreams after 9/11/01

Previous studies of dreams after trauma and stress have found increases in the power of the central image of the dream. However, it has been difficult to perform properly controlled studies of dreams before and after trauma. The present study is designed to compare dreams before and after 9/11/01 in the same persons. The assumption is that the events of 9/11 produced mild trauma or at the very least emotional arousal in everyone living in the United States. Forty-four persons in the United States who had been recording all their dreams for years each provided 20 consecutive dreams from their records--the last 10 recorded before 9/11 and the first 10 after 9/11. These dreams were assigned random numbers and scored on a blind basis using a number of rating scales with established reliability. Dreams after 9/11 showed a highly significant increase in central image intensity, as well as central image proportion (number of dreams with scorable central images) but no change in dream length, dream-likeness, overall vividness, or content involving airplanes or tall buildings. There were no "exact replay" dreams picturing the actual events of 9/11 seen repeatedly on TV. These results are consistent with the Contemporary Theory of Dreaming, which emphasizes the role of underlying emotion in producing central dream imagery and suggests that the intensity of the central dream imagery is related to the power of the underlying emotion.

Reliability in Dream Research: A Methodological Note

The coefficients of internal consistency and retest reliability had been rarely investigated within the methodology of dream content analysis. Analyzing a dream series of elderly, healthy persons obtained from weekly telephone interviews, the internal consistency of a series of 20 dreams and retests after 4 or 22 weeks, respectively, had been computed. The findings indicate that dream recall and dream length are quite stable, but dream characteristics such as bizarreness and emotional tone underlie large intraindividual fluctuations. In order to obtain reliable measures for these variables which will be important for correlational studies, including waking-life trait measures, one has to obtain as many dreams as possible (about 20) in a very short time period. Further research is needed to extend the present findings to diary dreams and laboratory dreams.

Time series analysis in dream research.

The present study investigated the linear as well as nonlinear relationships between selected dream content scales and dream length. The results indicated that biases due to control solely for the linear components are almost negligible.

The problem of dream length in analysis of content.

The present study investigated the linear as well as nonlinear relationships between scores on selected dream content scales and dream length. Analysis indicated that biases due to control solely for the linear components are almost negligible.

Gender differences in dreams: do they reflect gender differences in waking life?

The present article briefly reviews the literature on gender differences in dream content. The results confirm earlier findings that men dream more often about men, physical aggression and sexuality than women. Women's dreams, on the other hand, contain an equal proportion of male and female characters, more aggression turned inwardly and themes of depression. In regard to formal features, e.g., dream realism, dream length, occurrence of verbal and physical interaction, dreams of men and women are quite similar. These findings are related to meta-analyses compiling studies of gender differences in waking-life. Since men, for example, were found to be more aggressive in waking-life and women tend to be more vulnerable to depression, the assumption of continuity between waking-life and dreaming is supported.

Stability and variability of dream content.

The present study investigated the stability and variability, respectively, of selected dream content measures derived from diary dreams. The within-subject correlations were small when dream length was controlled. To obtain sufficient reliability for all scales dream series of 20 dreams or more would be necessary.

Personality and dreaming: Boundary structure and dream content.

Prior studies indicate that a personality dimension reflecting thin versus thick boundaries is related to global ratings of dream vividness, amount of emotion, and amount of interaction. In the present study, these relationships were examined by relating scores from the Boundary Questionnaire ( Hartmann, 1991) to dream content among 80 patients seen at a sleep disorders center. Thinness of boundaries was significantly correlated with dream length, vividness, amount of detail, and amount of emotion, and showed a trend towards correlation with aggressive interaction and nightmare-likeness. When dream length was statistically controlled, the relationships between boundary structure and dream content were no longer statistically significant, although amount of emotion and amount of detail showed a trend in the original direction. A principal components analysis was used to identify three factors in the dream content data (eigenvalues > 1.0). The first factor involved dream length, vividness, detail, and emotion; the second involved love/tender interaction and sexual interaction; and the third involved aggressive interaction. Thinness of boundaries showed a significant correlation with only the first factor. We suggest that the trait continuum ranging from thick to thin boundaries is similar to the state continuum running from focused waking thought to dreaming, and that both continua refer to the same aspects of cortical activity.

Dream Length and Creativity: An opposite Finding

The present study investigated the relation between dream length and verbal creativity for 32 subjects who were given a verbal creativity test and also kept a dream diary over a 2-wk. period. Subjects with high verbal creativity scores reported significantly shorter dreams. This may indicate that other factors influence the dream report's length, including visual memory.

Comparison of dream content of depressed vs nondepressed dreamers.

Dreams of 20 college women classified as depressed by scores on the Beck Depression Inventory were compared with those of 21 nondepressed college women. The depressed group recalled fewer dreams, had significantly shorter dream length, and displayed less anger in their dreams. They also had fewer characters in their dreams and especially fewer strangers.

COMPARISON OF DREAM CONTENT OF DEPRESSED VS NONDEPRESSED DREAMERS

Dreams of 20 college women classified as depressed by scores on the Beck Depression Inventory were compared with those of 21 nondepressed college women. The depressed group recalled fewer dreams, had significantly shorter dream length, and displayed less anger in their dreams. They also had fewer characters in their dreams and especially fewer strangers.

The effects of dream length on the relationship between primary process in dreams and creativity.

The effects of dream length on the relationship between primary process in dreams and creativity.