Dream Features Research Articles

Content determination in dreams supports the imagination theory

AbstractThere are two leading theories about the ontology of dreams. One holds that dreams involve hallucinations and beliefs. The other holds that dreaming involves sensory and propositional imagining. I highlight two features of dreams which are more easily explained by the imagination theory. One is that certain things seem to be true in our dreams, even though they are not represented sensorily; this is easily explained if dreams involve propositional imagining. The other is that dream narratives can be temporally segmented, involving events which take place across long spans of time; this makes sense if dreams involve sensory imagining, for we often sensorily imagine narratives during wakefulness in the same way. The two considerations are unified by the fact that both highlight forms of content determination characteristic of imagining.

Consciousness in non-REM-parasomnia episodes.

Sleepwalking and related parasomnias are thought to result from incomplete awakenings out of non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep. Non-REM parasomnia behaviours have been described as unconscious and automatic, or related to vivid, dream-like conscious experiences. Similarly, some observations have suggested that patients are unresponsive during episodes, while others that they can interact with their surroundings. To better grasp and characterise the full spectrum of consciousness and environmental (dis)connection associated with behavioural episodes, 35 adult patients with non-REM sleep parasomnias were interviewed in-depth about their experiences. The level of consciousness during parasomnia episodes was reported to be variable both within and between individuals, ranging from minimal or absent consciousness and largely automatic behaviours (frequently/always present in 36% of patients) to preserved conscious experiences characterised by delusional thinking to varying degrees of specificity (65%), often about impending danger, variably formed, uni- or multisensory hallucinations (53%), impaired insight (77%), negative emotions (75%), and variable, but often pronounced, amnesia (30%). Patients described their experiences as a dream scene during which they felt awake ("awake dreaming"). The surroundings were either realistically perceived, misinterpreted (in the form of perceptual illusions or misidentifications of people), or entirely hallucinated as a function of the prevailing delusion. These observations suggest that the level of consciousness, amnesiaand sensory disconnection during non-REM parasomnia episodes is variable and graded. In their full-fledged expression, non-REM parasomnia experiences feature several core features of dreams. They therefore represent a valuable model for the study of consciousness, sleep-related sensory disconnection and dreaming.

Quantitative-Qualitative Assessment of Dream Reports in Schizophrenia and Their Correlations with Illness Severity.

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia have been proposed to be an intrusion of dreaming in wakefulness; conversely, psychotic patients' abnormal cognitive and behavioral features could overflow into sleep, so that their dreams would differ from those of healthy people. Here we assess this hypothesis by comparing dream features of 46 patients affected by schizophrenic spectrum disorders to those of 28 healthy controls. In patients, we also investigated correlations of dream variables with symptom severity and verbal fluency. Overall, patients reported fewer and shorter dreams, with a general impoverishment of content (including characters, settings, interactions) and higher spatiotemporal bizarreness. The number of emotions, mainly negative ones, was lower in patients' reports and correlated inversely with symptom severity. Verbal fluency correlated positively with dream report length and negatively with perceptive bizarreness. In conclusion, our data show a significant impoverishment of dream reports in psychotic patients versus controls. Future research should investigate to what extent this profile of results depends on impaired verbal fluency or on impaired mechanisms of dream generation in this population. Moreover, in line with theories on the role of dreaming in emotion regulation, our data suggest that this function could be impaired in psychoses and related to symptom severity.

Longitudinal Findings on the Oneiric Activity Changes Across the Pandemic.

COVID-19 pandemic waves have strongly influenced individuals' behaviors and mental health. Here, we analyzed longitudinal data collected in the Spring 2020 and 2021 from a large Italian sample with the aim of assessing changes in dream features between the first and third wave. Specifically, we evaluated the modifications of pandemic dream activity as a function of the general distress variations over time. Also, we detected the best explanatory variables of nightmare frequency and distress. Participants previously involved in the web survey during the first wave of the pandemic were asked to complete a new online survey on sleep and dream features available in Spring 2021 (N=728). Subjects decreasing their level of psychological general distress in the third (T3) vs the first (T1) pandemic wave were defined as "Improved" (N=330). In contrast, participants with an unchanged or increased level of general distress were defined as "Not Improved" (N=398). Statistical comparisons revealed that dream recall frequency, nightmare frequency, lucid dream frequency, and emotional intensity show a reduction in T3 than T1. Moreover, the Improved group is characterized by lower nightmare rate and nightmare distress than Not Improved people. Our findings confirmed that beyond the trait-like variables (ie, age, sex), specific sleep-related measures are related to nightmare features. In particular, poor sleep hygiene was one of the best determinants of nightmare distress among Not Improved subjects. Our findings revealed that people experienced an adaptation to the pandemic during the third wave. We also strengthen the notion that nightmares and their variations over time are strongly related to human well-being, suggesting that specific trait-like and sleep-related factors could modulate the relationship between mental health and nightmare features.

The Influence of Sleep Talking on Nocturnal Sleep and Sleep-Dependent Cognitive Processes.

Sleep talking (ST) is characterized by the production of unaware verbal vocal activations (VBs) during sleep. ST seems potentially linked to linguistic and memory consolidation processes. However, sleep and dream characteristics and the relationship between verbal vocalizations (VBs) and cognitive functions are still unknown. Our study aimed to investigate qualitative sleep and dream features in sleep talkers (STs) compared to healthy subjects (CNTs) through retrospective and longitudinal measures and explore the relationship between ST and memory consolidation. We recruited N = 29 STs and N = 30 CNTs (age range of 18-35). Participants recorded their dreams and filled out sleep logs for seven consecutive days. Vocal activations of STs were audio-recorded. On the eighth day, we administered a word-pair task. We showed that STs had significantly worse self-reported sleep quality. VBs were positively correlated with sleep fragmentation and negatively associated with the oneiric emotional load. No difference between groups was found in the memory consolidation rate. Although ST is a benign phenomenon, we revealed that ST is associated with more sleep alterations and lower emotional intensity of dreams. In this vein, we support that ST depends on sleep fragmentation and could represent a potential window into sleep-dependent cognitive processes.

The Nature of Dreams in Persons with Neurological Disorders

A theoretical analysis of the features of dreams in people who have suffered a stroke is presented in the ar­ticle. The content of dreams may indicate the presence of somatic abnormalities, but in a distorted, symbolic form. In stroke, sleep disorders are a negative predictor of the effectiveness of the rehabili­tation stage. The results of empirical study of the characteristics of dreams in stroke patients (10 men, 10 women aged 21 to 65, average age-47.2) and in conditionally healthy people (7 men, 13 women aged 28 to 56, average age - 46.6) showed that the quality of sleep is worse in the group with somatic disorders in comparison with conditionally healthy people, and it also revealed differences in the content of dreams. In the dreams of people with somatic disorders, the desire to change their physical or mental state is manifested.

The Oneiric Activity during and after the COVID-19 Total Lockdown in Italy: A Longitudinal Study.

A growing body of evidence highlights that the COVID-19 pandemic affected oneiric activity. However, only a few studies have assessed the longitudinal changes in dream phenomenology during different phases of the pandemic, often focused on a limited number of dream variables. The aim of the present study was to provide an exhaustive assessment of dream features during total lockdown (TL) and a post-lockdown (PL) period characterized by eased restrictive measures in Italy. We performed a longitudinal study using a web-based survey to collect demographic, COVID-19 related, clinical, sleep, and dream data at TL and PL. Our final sample included 108 participants. The high frequency of poor sleep quality, anxiety, and depressive symptoms observed during TL remained stable at PL, while sleep latency (t = −4.09; p < 0.001) and PTSD-related disruptive nocturnal behaviors (t = −5.68; p < 0.001) exhibited a reduction at PL. A PL decrease in time spent with digital media was observed (t = −2.77; p = 0.007). We found a strong PL reduction in dream frequency (t = −5.49; p < 0.001), emotional load (t = −2.71; p = 0.008), vividness (t = −4.90; p < 0.001), bizarreness (t = −4.05; p < 0.001), length (t = −4.67; p < 0.001), and lucid dream frequency (t = −2.40; p = 0.018). Fear was the most frequently reported emotion in dreams at TL (26.9%) and PL (22.2%). Only the frequency of specific lockdown-related dream contents exhibited a reduction at PL. These findings highlight that the end of the home confinement had a strong impact on the oneiric activity, in the direction of reduced dream frequency, intensity, and lockdown-related contents. The co-occurrence of such changes with a decline in nocturnal PTSD-related symptoms, sleep latency, and time with digital media suggests an influence of post-traumatic stress levels, lifestyle modifications, and sleep pattern on dream changes during different phases of the pandemic. The stable prevalence of fear in dreams and the large frequency of poor sleep quality, depressive symptoms, and anxiety are probably related to the persistence of many negative consequences of the pandemic. Overall, these results are consistent with the continuity hypothesis of dreams.

Dreams and Nightmares during the First and Second Wave of the COVID-19 Infection: A Longitudinal Study

Recent literature shows that the Coronovirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has provoked significant changes in dreaming. The current study intends to provide an update about dream variable changes during the second wave of COVID-19. A total of 611 participants completed a web survey from December 2020 to January 2021. Statistical comparisons showed that subjects had lower dream-recall frequency, nightmare frequency, lucid-dream frequency, emotional intensity, and nightmare distress during the second than the first wave of the pandemic. Dreams had a higher negative tone during the second than first wave. We revealed significant differences concerning post-traumatic growth, sleep-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and sleep measures between groups obtained as a function of the changes in the oneiric frequency between the first and second waves. We also found significant correlations between qualitative/emotional dream features and COVID-19-related factors (job change, forced quarantine, having COVID-19 infected relatives/friends, or asking for mental health help). Overall, we found that the second wave affected fewer quantitative features of dream activity and there was less emotional intensity. Moreover, we confirmed the relationship between nightmares and the high risk of PTSD when subjects were grouped as a function of the increasing/decreasing frequency. Finally, our findings are partly coherent with the continuity hypothesis between oneiric and waking experiences.

Changes in dream features across the first and second waves of the Covid‐19 pandemic

SummaryResearch during the Covid‐19 pandemic has highlighted its significant impact on dreaming. Here we address changes in dream features both during the first wave, when the Italian government imposed a total lockdown, and the second wave (autumn 2020), when a partial lockdown was effected. In April 2020 (total lockdown), 1,622 participants (Mage = 34.1 ± 13.6 years; 1171F) completed an online survey including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and a set of questions on dream features and their possible changes relative to the month preceding the lockdown (pre‐total lockdown). In November 2020 (partial lockdown), 214 participants (Mage = 36.78 ± 14.2 years; 159F) from the previous sample completed the same survey. Approximately half of the subjects reported increased or decreased dream frequency (30.5% and 21.8%), length (27.1% and 15.8%) and vividness (31.5% and 17.1%) during total lockdown as well as during partial lockdown (frequency: 30.3% and 13.5%; length: 23.3% and 12.6%; vividness: 31.6% and 24.1%). Dream affect became significantly more negative in total lockdown relative to pre‐total lockdown and in partial lockdown relative to pre‐partial lockdown (both p < .001). Both in total lockdown and partial lockdown, increased negative dream emotionality significantly predicted changes in dream frequency, length and vividness, and was significantly predicted, in turn, by worsened sleep quality. Our data confirm that dream features are significantly affected by major life changes such as those imposed by a pandemic. The fact that between lockdowns negative dream affect returned almost to baseline level suggests that dream emotionality is closely related to lifestyle and wake‐time emotional changes. Also, our findings point to a modulating role of sleep quality on dream emotionality.

191 Dream features of the Italian population across the first and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

IntroductionThe Italian government has responded to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (autumn 2020) with a partial lockdown (PL). Here we aim to investigate the effects of the PL on dream features in the Italian population and to follow up on previous data collected during the total lockdown (TL) effected during the first wave of the pandemic (spring 2020).MethodsUsing a longitudinal approach, 214 participants (Mage=36.78±14.2y; 159F) who had participated in a previous survey (April 2020 – TL) completed the same online survey from November 10th to December 1st (PL). The questionnaires administered included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and a set of specific ad hoc questions on dream features (frequency, length, vividness, emotional tone, relation of content to the current health emergency) and their possible changes relative to the month preceding the lockdown, resulting in four time points (pre-TL, TL, pre-PL, PL).ResultsFrequency and length of dreams significantly increased from pre-PL to PL (both p’s<.01), while no difference emerged for vividness. As in TL, almost 30% of the subjects reported having COVID-19-related dreams during PL and, among these, 51% reported to face, in these dreams, problematic situations similar to those of their daily life. Both PSQI and dream negative emotionality scores significantly increased from pre-TL to TL, decreased in pre-PL and increased again in PL, indicating a parallel worsening of sleep quality and dream emotionality with both lockdowns. Dream negative emotionality in PL also showed positive correlations with PSQI scores and with negative mood, stress levels, general fear and fear about the COVID-19.ConclusionIn line with the continuity hypothesis on the relationships between dreaming and the wake state, our data confirm that dream features are significantly and immediately affected by major life changes such as those brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions. Interestingly, dream emotionality and subjective sleep quality show a parallel profile across the different time points, suggesting the possible role of sleep quality as a modulating factor on dream affect.Support (if any)N/A

Pandemic dreams: quantitative and qualitative features of the oneiric activity during the lockdown due to COVID-19 in Italy

ObjectiveThe lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic had a strong impact on daily habits, emotional experience, mental health and sleep. A large body of evidence suggests that dreams are affected by both waking experiences and sleep pattern. In this view, the lockdown should have induced intense modifications in dreaming activity. The aim of the study was to assess dream features during the lockdown in Italy. MethodsWe used an online survey to collect self-reported demographic, clinical, sleep and dream data. Our sample included 1091 participants. ResultsResults point to an increased dream frequency, emotional load, vividness, bizarreness and length during the lockdown, compared to a pre-lockdown period. Higher dream frequency and specific qualitative features were found in females and subjects with poor sleep quality, nocturnal disruptive behaviours and depressive symptoms. Most of the dream features assessed during the lockdown were predicted by age, gender, depressive symptoms, presence/absence of other people at home, and territorial area. A specific focus on sleep features revealed that sleep duration and several sleep quality indexes were the best predictors of dream variables. During the lockdown, dreams were also characterized by increased negative emotions, which were particularly frequent in females, younger adults, and participants with poor sleep quality, nocturnal disruptive behaviours, anxiety and depressive symptoms. ConclusionsOur results confirm the hypothesis of a strong influence of the pandemic on dreaming, supporting both the hypothesis of continuity between wake and sleep mental processes and the view of a crucial influence of sleep quality and duration on dreaming activity.

Electrophysiological Correlates of Dream Recall During REM Sleep: Evidence from Multiple Awakenings and Within-Subjects Design.

PurposeIn the current study, we aimed to investigate the EEG correlates of dream recall (DR) monitoring both the homeostatic and state-trait like factors. We assessed the influence of the time of night on the EEG correlates of DR from REM sleep. Specifically, we tested the continuity-hypothesis (on the theta EEG band) and the activation-hypothesis (on the delta and beta bands).MethodsTwenty-seven subjects underwent polysomnography with multiple provoked awakenings during REM sleep. Only the subjects showing combinations of dream recall (REC) and non-REC (NREC) conditions in both first (1st–2nd sleep cycle) and second (3rd–4th sleep cycle) part of the night were included in the analyses. The final sample was composed of 10 subjects (mean age 24±0.70). EEG power spectra of the 5-min of REM sleep preceding each awakening were computed by a fast Fourier transform. The following frequency bands were considered: delta (0.50–4.75 Hz), theta (5.00–7.75 Hz), and beta (16.00–24.75 Hz). We also calculated the delta/beta power ratio as an integrated EEG index of activation.ResultsThe 2×2 within-subjects ANOVA recall × time revealed: a) no significant effect for time and no interaction; b) significant differences over the occipital area in the beta band; c) significant differences over the parietal area for the activation index values. Overall, the results indicated that DR is associated with higher activation regardless of homeostatic pressure across the night of sleep.ConclusionIn line with recent findings, we have shown that DR is predicted by desynchronized EEG activity during REM sleep, providing clear evidence in favor of the activation-hypothesis. We have also confirmed that the EEG pattern of DR can be ascribed to state-like factors. Further studies should assess whether homeostatic modulation may interact with some dream features and the related EEG predictors.

Spotlight on dream recall: the ages of dreams

Brain and sleep maturation covary across different stages of life. At the same time, dream generation and dream recall are intrinsically dependent on the development of neural systems. The aim of this paper is to review the existing studies about dreaming in infancy, adulthood, and the elderly stage of life, assessing whether dream mentation may reflect changes of the underlying cerebral activity and cognitive processes. It should be mentioned that some evidence from childhood investigations, albeit still weak and contrasting, revealed a certain correlation between cognitive skills and specific features of dream reports. In this respect, infantile amnesia, confabulatory reports, dream-reality discerning, and limitation in language production and emotional comprehension should be considered as important confounding factors. Differently, growing evidence in adults suggests that the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the encoding and retrieval of episodic memories may remain the same across different states of consciousness. More directly, some studies on adults point to shared neural mechanisms between waking cognition and corresponding dream features. A general decline in the dream recall frequency is commonly reported in the elderly, and it is explained in terms of a diminished interest in dreaming and in its emotional salience. Although empirical evidence is not yet available, an alternative hypothesis associates this reduction to an age-related cognitive decline. The state of the art of the existing knowledge is partially due to the variety of methods used to investigate dream experience. Very few studies in elderly and no investigations in childhood have been performed to understand whether dream recall is related to specific electrophysiological pattern at different ages. Most of all, the lack of longitudinal psychophysiological studies seems to be the main issue. As a main message, we suggest that future longitudinal studies should collect dream reports upon awakening from different sleep states and include neurobiological measures with cognitive performances.

The bizarreness and reality of dreams

Dreams are one of the most common experience in our lives. The vivid and bizarre features of dreams have fascinated humankind throughout history. Dreaming is an ancient physiological and psychological phenomenon, and whether it fulfils an adaptive function has inspired varied theories. Some theories take a perspective that dreaming serves no adaptive function but rather a biologically epiphenomena. Some theories claim that dreaming fulfill various neurophysiological functions. However, the dream contents are viewed as random noise generated by the sleeping brain. Other theories believe that what appears in dreams is important since it serves functions which relate to psychological adjustment. More recent theories tend to relate dreaming to intellectual or cognitive functions, such as learning, memory consolidation, problem solving or simulating of threats in real life. The enigma of dreams is extensively studied with the development of science technology. Although the dream science was initiated from the REM (rapid eye movement sleep) sleep dreams, the equation ″REM=dreaming″ is an oversimplification. Dream-like mentation may occur during all stages of sleep. The controversy now is whether dreams reported from REM and NREM (non-rapid eye movement sleep) sleep are equivalent or different from each other. Three different theoretical models about the REM/NREM mentation have been proposed: (1) An one-generator model, which claims that regardless of the sleep stage in which the mention occurs, it only stems from a single set of process; (2) a two-generator model, which holds a perspective that REM and NREM mentions have differentiated generation systems; (3) a covert REM sleep model, which assumes that the NREM sleep dream is generated from the covert activity that occurs in REM sleep. Since there are experimental evidences supported both the similarities and differentiation in phenomenological aspects and the underlying brain activities of REM and NREM sleep dream, it is still controversial which model is the most optimal interpretation for the two mentation. The dream is a special state of consciousness. The continuity and discontinuity between waking and dreaming has been a controversy in dream science. The similarities and differences in both phenomenon and brain activity between dreaming and waking provide important knowledge of human consciousness, especially lucid dreaming, a hybrid state of consciousness with features of both waking and dreaming, which provides an unique chance to reveal the neural basis of consciousness. Moreover, dream studies are significant in the clinical practice in psychiatry and psychology. Although advances in neurophysiological and neuroimaging methods have offered new insight into the brain correlates of dreaming, the private nature of dreaming has made it a formidable study object. The studies of dreaming are still confronted with methodological challenges. To reveal the mystery of dreaming, integration of the designs and methods from multiple fields (such as phenomenology, neuroscience, clinical practice, etc) is necessary.

Anesthetic dreaming, anesthesia awareness and patient satisfaction after deep sedation with propofol target controlled infusion: A prospective cohort study of patients undergoing day case breast surgery.

BackgroundAnesthetic dreaming and anesthesia awareness are well distinct phenomena. Although the incidence of intraoperative awareness is more common among patients who reported a dream after surgery, the exact correlation between the two phenomena remains an unsolved rebus. The main purpose of this study was to investigate anesthetic dreaming, anesthesia awareness and psychological consequences eventually occurred under deep sedation. Intraoperative dreaming experiences were correlated with dream features in natural sleep.MethodsFifty-one patients, undergoing surgical excision of fibroadenomas under a Bispectral index-guided deep sedation anesthesia with propofol target controlled infusion, were enrolled into this prospective study. Psychological assessment was performed through the State Trait Anxiety Inventory. A questionnaire was adopted to register dreaming and anesthesia awareness. Data were collected after emergence (t0), 24 hours (t1), 1 month (t2), 6 months (t3).ResultsSix patients (12%) reported anesthetic dreaming at t0 confirming the response at each subsequent evaluation. One patient (2%) confirmed dreaming during anesthesia in all, but denied it at t0. There was a high correlation between the intraoperative dream contents and the features of dreams in natural sleep. No cases of anesthesia awareness were detected. A similar level of satisfaction was observed in dreaming and no-dreaming patients.ConclusionsAnesthetic dreaming does not seem to influence satisfaction of patients undergoing deep sedation with propofol target controlled infusion. A psychological assessment would seem to improve the evaluation of possible psychological consequences in dreamer patient.

Phenomenological features of dreams: Results from dream log studies using the Subjective Experiences Rating Scale (SERS).

Self-ratings of dream experiences were obtained from 144 college women for 788 dreams, using the Subjective Experiences Rating Scale (SERS). Consistent with past studies, dreams were characterized by a greater prevalence of vision, audition, and movement than smell, touch, or taste, by both positive and negative emotion, and by a range of cognitive processes. A Principal Components Analysis of SERS ratings revealed ten subscales: four sensory, three affective, one cognitive, and two structural (events/actions, locations). Correlations (Pearson r) among subscale means showed a stronger relationship among the process-oriented features (sensory, cognitive, affective) than between the process-oriented and content-centered (structural) features--a pattern predicted from past research (e.g., Bulkeley & Kahan, 2008). Notably, cognition and positive emotion were associated with a greater number of other phenomenal features than was negative emotion; these findings are consistent with studies of the qualitative features of waking autobiographical memory (e.g., Fredrickson, 2001).

Oniryczne inkarnacje: konstrukcje snów w wybranych grach wideo

Ludzkość zawsze przywiązywała dużą wagę do snów oraz onirycznych wizji. W miarę rozwoju cywilizacji wizerunek snów przenosił się na coraz to nowsze media: obrazy plastyczne, literaturę, filmy. Sny pojawiają się jako znaczące także w branży gier wideo. Nierzadko są kluczowe dla fabuły. Deweloperzy, osoby odpowiedzialne za projekt gry, twórcy tekstów/dialogów przenoszą swoje rozumienie, popularne wizje snów do swoich produkcji; adaptują ich codzienne oraz mityczne cechy, eksponując sny w skonkretyzowany sposób, naprowadzający na konkretne interpretacje tegoż zjawiska. Celem artykułu jest dekonstrukcja tychże ekspozycji, wirtualnych konstrukcji snów i nocnych wizji w wybranych grach wideo oraz ukazanie znaczeń nadawanych snom przez twórców gier.

Dream features of Russian population suffering from sleep paralysis

Dream features of Russian population suffering from sleep paralysis

Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder: a window on the emotional world of Parkinson disease.

REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia characterized by motor activity during sleep with dream mentation. Aggressiveness has been considered a peculiar feature of dreams associated with RBD, despite normal score in aggressiveness scales during wakefulness. We aimed to measure daytime aggressiveness and analyze dream contents in a population of patients with Parkinson disease (PD) with and without RBD. This is a single-center prospective observational study; it concerns the description of the clinical features of a medical disorder in a case series. The study was performed in the Department of Neurosciences of the Catholic University in Rome, Italy. Three groups of subjects were enrolled: patients with PD plus RBD, patients with PD without RBD, and healthy controls. The diagnosis of RBD was determined clinically and confirmed by means of overnight, laboratory-based video-polysomnography. For the evaluation of diurnal aggressiveness, the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) was used. The content of dreams was evaluated by means of the methods of Hall and Van De Castle. Patients with PD without RBD displayed higher levels of anger, and verbal and physical aggressiveness than patients with PD and RBD and controls. Patients with PD and RBD and controls did not differ in hostility. It can be hypothesized that a noradrenergic impairment at the level of the locus coeruleus could, at the same time, explain the presence of RBD, as well as the reduction of diurnal aggressiveness. This finding also suggests a role for REM sleep in regulating homeostasis of emotional brain function.

Features of Posttraumatic Dreams Related to PTSD Severity

Features of Posttraumatic Dreams Related to PTSD Severity As a first step towards understanding the difference between PTSD dreams (a distressing symptom of psychological disorder) and non-PTSD dreams (possibly serving an adaptive emotional processing function) following trauma, this research investigated which features of PTSD dreams are associated with PTSD severity.