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Recent Advances in Dreaming and Sleep-Related Metacognitions

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A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Behavioral Neuroscience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2024) | Viewed by 13695

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sergio A. Mota-Rolim

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Guest Editor

Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59078-970, RN, Brazil
Interests: sleep; dreams; lucid dreaming; consciousness; philosophy of mind

Dr. Brigitte Holzinger

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Guest Editor

1. Institute for Consciousness and Dream Research, Vienna, Austria
2. Sleep Coaching, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Interests: sleep; sleep research; sleep disorders; insomnia treatment; dream research; lucid dreaming research; nightmare research; nightmare treatment

Dr. Michael Nadorff

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Department of Psychology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, USA
Interests: nightmares; nightmare treatment; suicidal behavior; aging; behavioral sleep medicine

Prof. Dr. Luigi De Gennaro

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Guest Editor

Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Roma, Roma, Italy
Interests: sleep; local sleep; aging; homeostasis; cortico-hippocampal networks; Alzheimer's disease; sleep onset; dreaming
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Dreams have always fascinated humans. The first civilizations interpreted dreams in a supernatural way, such as the Oracle of Delphi, and most religions recognize dreams as a way to communicate with God to understand the present and predict the future. This changed with Freud´s book “The Interpretation of Dreams”, which was the first attempt to understand dreams as a natural brain process. Nowadays, dreams can be defined as any mental activity that occurs during all human sleep stages, with specific characteristics.

Despite the scientific advances, we still do not know why we dream, and why some people remember dreams every day, while others only rarely. Modern theories such as the continuity hypothesis and the threat simulation theory cannot explain all oneiric features. Recently, an increase in nightmares was observed after the COVID-19 outbreak. Alongside that, in modern societies, smartphones force people to sleep later, but they still need to wake up early. Since REM sleep happens mainly in the final hours of sleep, we are deprived of it. Recent studies have shown that REM sleep is associated with emotion regulation, thus the recent increase in anxiety and depression may be associated with dream deprivation.

In this Special Issue, we aim to provoke and articulate ideas to foster a broad discussion on dream research. We encourage authors to submit original research, reviews and essays, from basic research to clinical studies analyzing all kinds of dreams, such as nightmares, false awakenings, lucid dreams, recurrent dreams, etc. We believe that this interaction can be positive and foster our understanding of dreams and human consciousness.

Dr. Sergio A. Mota-Rolim
Dr. Brigitte Holzinger
Dr. Michael Nadorff
Prof. Dr. Luigi De Gennaro
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

sleep
dream
lucid dreaming
nightmare
recurrent dream
REM sleep
false awakening
REM sleep behavior disorder

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 1391 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Dream Experience and Its Relationship with Morning Mood in Adolescents Hospitalized after a Suicide Attempt

by Emma Desjardins, Lina Gaber, Emily Larkin, Antoine Benoit, Addo Boafo and Joseph De Koninck

Brain Sci. 2024, 14(8), 804; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14080804 - 10 Aug 2024

Viewed by 667

Abstract

Suicidality in adolescents has been associated with emotional distress, stressful life events, relationship issues, and nightmares to name a few. This study explored the actual dream content and the mood at pre-sleep, during a reported dream, and in the morning in 33 adolescents admitted to the hospital on account of a suicide attempt. In all aspects, hospitalized adolescents were compared to 33 matched adolescents who had followed the same protocol. In accordance with the Continuity and the Threat Simulation theories of dream formation, it was hypothesized that the waking-life experiences of suicidal adolescents would transpire in both dream mood and content as well as in the frequency of nightmares. Dreams were analyzed by independent judges using traditional dream content scales, including for the presence of negative and destructive themes and types of interpersonal relationships. As predicted, more suicidal adolescents experienced frequent nightmares, which was significant. A higher negative mood at pre-sleep, within dreams, and at post-sleep was also observed. Furthermore, their dreams contained a higher prevalence of destructive themes and failures, as well as self-directed and death-resulting aggressions. Regression analyses indicated that morning mood was most accurately predicted by positive and negative dream mood in the normative adolescents, whereas only negative dream mood appeared to predict subsequent waking affect in suicidal participants. Our results underline the valuable potential of implementing nightmare-reducing therapies in the presence of suicidal adolescents who suffer from frequent nightmares. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dreaming and Sleep-Related Metacognitions)

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15 pages, 1079 KiB

Open AccessArticle

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

by Gianluca Ficca, Oreste De Rosa, Davide Giangrande, Tommaso Mazzei, Salvatore Marzolo, Benedetta Albinni, Alessia Coppola, Alessio Lustro and Francesca Conte

Brain Sci. 2024, 14(6), 568; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14060568 - 3 Jun 2024

Viewed by 790

Abstract

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. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dreaming and Sleep-Related Metacognitions)

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12 pages, 1251 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sensational Dreams: The Prevalence of Sensory Experiences in Dreaming

by Anna C. van der Heijden, Jade Thevis, Jill Verhaegen and Lucia M. Talamini

Brain Sci. 2024, 14(6), 533; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14060533 - 24 May 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1166

Abstract

Dreaming, a widely researched aspect of sleep, often mirrors waking-life experiences. Despite the prevalence of sensory perception during wakefulness, sensory experiences in dreams remain relatively unexplored. Free recall dream reports, where individuals describe their dreams freely, may not fully capture sensory dream experiences. In this study, we developed a dream diary with direct questions about sensory dream experiences. Participants reported sensory experiences in their dreams upon awakening, over multiple days, in a home-based setting (n = 3476 diaries). Our findings show that vision was the most common sensory dream experience, followed by audition and touch. Olfaction and gustation were reported at equally low rates. Multisensory dreams were far more prevalent than unisensory dreams. Additionally, the prevalence of sensory dream experiences varied across emotionally positive and negative dreams. A positive relationship was found between on the one hand sensory richness and, on the other emotional intensity of dreams and clarity of dream recall, for both positive and negative dreams. These results underscore the variety of dream experiences and suggest a link between sensory richness, emotional content and dream recall clarity. Systematic registration of sensory dream experiences offers valuable insights into dream manifestation, aiding the understanding of sleep-related memory consolidation and other aspects of sleep-related information processing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dreaming and Sleep-Related Metacognitions)

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21 pages, 590 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Frequent Lucid Dreaming Is Associated with Meditation Practice Styles, Meta-Awareness, and Trait Mindfulness

by Elena Gerhardt and Benjamin Baird

Brain Sci. 2024, 14(5), 496; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14050496 - 14 May 2024

Viewed by 1648

Abstract

Lucid dreaming involves becoming aware that one’s current experience is a dream, which has similarities with the notion of mindfulness—becoming aware of moment-to-moment changes in experience. Additionally, meta-awareness, the ability to explicitly notice the current content of one’s own mental state, has also been proposed to play an important role both in lucid dreaming and mindfulness meditation practices. However, research has shown conflicting strengths of associations between mindfulness, meditation, and lucid dreaming frequency, and the link between lucid dreaming and meta-awareness has not yet been empirically studied. This study evaluated the associations between lucid dreaming frequency and different meditation practice styles, mindfulness traits, and individual differences in meta-awareness through an online survey (n = 635). The results suggest that daily frequent meditators experience more lucid dreams than non-frequent meditators. However, weekly frequent meditators did not have a higher lucid dreaming frequency. A positive association was observed between open monitoring styles of meditation and lucid dreaming. The findings also indicate that meta-awareness is higher for meditators and weekly lucid dreamers. Furthermore, frequent lucid dreaming was commonly associated with a non-reactive stance and experiencing transcendence. Overall, the findings suggest a positive relationship between specific meditation practices and lucid dreaming as well as the importance of meta-awareness as a cognitive process linking meditation, mindfulness, and lucid dreaming. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dreaming and Sleep-Related Metacognitions)

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14 pages, 410 KiB

Open AccessArticle

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

by Simon Kempe, Werner Köpp and Lutz Wittmann

Brain Sci. 2024, 14(5), 489; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14050489 - 11 May 2024

Viewed by 1160

Abstract

Background: 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. Aims: To test if improvement in personality functioning in the course of psychotherapy is associated with an increasing ability to regulate affects in dreams. Method: 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. Results: 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. Conclusion: 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. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dreaming and Sleep-Related Metacognitions)

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13 pages, 926 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How COVID-19 Affected Sleep Talking Episodes, Sleep and Dreams?

by Milena Camaioni, Serena Scarpelli, Valentina Alfonsi, Maurizio Gorgoni, Rossana Calzolari, Mina De Bartolo, Anastasia Mangiaruga, Alessandro Couyoumdjian and Luigi De Gennaro

Brain Sci. 2024, 14(5), 486; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14050486 - 11 May 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1636

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic increased symptoms of stress and anxiety and induced changes in sleep quality, dream activity, and parasomnia episodes. It has been shown that stressful factors and/or bad sleep habits can affect parasomnia behaviors. However, investigations on how COVID-19 has affected sleep, dreams, and episode frequency in parasomnias are rare. The current study focuses on the impact of the pandemic on a specific parasomnia characterized by speech production (sleep talking, ST). Methods: We selected 27 participants with frequent ST episodes (STs) during the pandemic and compared them with 27 participants with frequent STs from a previous study conducted during a pre-pandemic period. All participants performed home monitoring through sleep logs and recorded their nocturnal STs for one week. Results: We observed a higher frequency of STs in the pandemic group. Moreover, STs were related to the emotional intensity of dreams, independent of the pandemic condition. The pandemic was associated with lower bizarreness of dreams in the pandemic group. There were no differences in sleep variables between the two groups. Conclusion: Overall, these results suggest a stressful effect of COVID-19 on the frequency of STs. Both the pandemic and the frequency of STs affect qualitative characteristics of dreams in this population. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dreaming and Sleep-Related Metacognitions)

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Review

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26 pages, 874 KiB

Open AccessReview

Impact of Pre-Sleep Visual Media Exposure on Dreams: A Scoping Review

by Ajar Diushekeeva, Santiago Hidalgo and Antonio Zadra

Brain Sci. 2024, 14(7), 662; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14070662 - 29 Jun 2024

Viewed by 984

Abstract

A body of experimental research has aimed to investigate processes underlying dream formation by examining the effects of a range of pre-sleep stimuli and events on subsequent dream content. Given its ever-growing presence and salience in people’s everyday lives, pre-sleep media consumption stands out as a key variable that could influence people’s dreams. We conducted a scoping review to evaluate the experimental evidence of the effects of pre-sleep exposure to visual media on dream content. A systematic search on PubMed, PsycInfo, and Web of Science using terms related to moving visual media and dreams yielded 29 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Overall, we found modest yet varied effects of pre-sleep exposure to visual media on dream content, with rates of stimulus-related incorporation ranging from 3% to 43% for REM dream reports, 4% to 30% for NREM sleep mentation reports, and between 11% and 35% for home dream reports. Our review highlights the large methodological heterogeneity and gaps across studies, the general difficulty in influencing dream content using pre-sleep exposure to visual media, and suggests promising venues for future research to advance our understanding of how and why digital media may impact people’s dreams. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dreaming and Sleep-Related Metacognitions)

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17 pages, 824 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Persistent Paradox of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep (REMS): Brain Waves and Dreaming

by J. F. Pagel

Brain Sci. 2024, 14(7), 622; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14070622 - 21 Jun 2024

Viewed by 1079

Abstract

The original conceptualization of REM sleep as paradoxical sleep was based on its EEG resembling wakefulness and its association with dreaming. Over time, the concept of paradox was expanded to include various associations with REM sleep, such as dream exclusivity, high recall, and pathophysiology. However, none of these associations are unique to REM sleep; they can also occur in other sleep states. Today, after more than fifty years of focused research, two aspects of REMS clearly retain paradoxical exclusivity. Despite the persistent contention that the EEG of human REMS consists of wake-like, low-voltage, non-synchronous electrical discharges, REMS is based on and defined by the intracranial electrical presence of 5–8 Hz. theta, which has always been the marker of REMS in other animals. The wake-like EEG used to define REMS on human polysomnography is secondary to a generalized absence of electrophysiological waveforms because the strong waves of intracranial theta do not propagate to scalp electrodes placed outside the skull. It is a persistent paradox that the theta frequency is restricted to a cyclical intracranial dynamic that does not extend beyond the lining of the brain. REMS has a persistent association with narratively long and salient dream reports. However, the extension of this finding to equate REMS with dreaming led to a foundational error in neuroscientific logic. Major theories and clinical approaches were built upon this belief despite clear evidence that dreaming is reported throughout sleep in definingly different physiologic and phenomenological forms. Few studies have addressed the differences between the dreams reported from the different stages of sleep so that today, the most paradoxical aspect of REMS dreaming may be how little the state has actually been studied. An assessment of the differences in dreaming between sleep stages could provide valuable insights into how dreaming relates to the underlying brain activity and physiological processes occurring during each stage. The brain waves and dreams of REMS persist as being paradoxically unique and different from waking and the other states of sleep consciousness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dreaming and Sleep-Related Metacognitions)

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20 pages, 341 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Epistemic Limits of Impactful Dreams: Metacognition, Metaphoricity, and Sublime Feeling

by Don Kuiken

Brain Sci. 2024, 14(6), 528; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14060528 - 22 May 2024

Viewed by 627

Abstract

Taxonomic studies of dreams that continue to influence the dreamer’s thoughts and feelings after awakening have distinguished three types of impactful dreams: nightmares, existential dreams, and transcendent dreams. Of these, existential dreams and transcendent dreams are characterized by recurrent metacognitive appraisal of the epistemic tension between complementary (a) metaphoric (A “is” B) assertions and (b) literal (A “is not” B) assertions. Metacognitive appraisal of such complementary metaphoric and literal assertions is detectable as the felt sense of inexpressible realizations. The poesy of such inexpressible realizations depends upon the juxtaposition of a metaphoric topic and vehicle that are both “semantically dense” but at an abstract level “distant” from each other. The result is “emergence” of attributes of the metaphoric vehicle that are sufficiently abstract to be attributes also of the metaphoric topic. The cumulative effect of successive metaphoric/literal categorical transformations produces a higher-level form of metacognition that is consistent with a neo-Kantian account of sublime feeling. Sublime feeling occurs as either sublime disquietude (existential dreams) or as sublime enthrallment (transcendent dreams). The aftereffects of these two dream types are thematically iterative “living metaphors” that have abstract (but not “totalizing”) ontological import. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dreaming and Sleep-Related Metacognitions)

23 pages, 1454 KiB

Open AccessReview

Neuropsychopharmacological Induction of (Lucid) Dreams: A Narrative Review

by Abel A. Oldoni, André D. Bacchi, Fúlvio R. Mendes, Paula A. Tiba and Sérgio Mota-Rolim

Brain Sci. 2024, 14(5), 426; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14050426 - 25 Apr 2024

Viewed by 2611

Abstract

Lucid dreaming (LD) is a physiological state of consciousness that occurs when dreamers become aware that they are dreaming, and may also control the oneiric content. In the general population, LD is spontaneously rare; thus, there is great interest in its induction. Here, we aim to review the literature on neuropsychopharmacological induction of LD. First, we describe the circadian and homeostatic processes of sleep regulation and the mechanisms that control REM sleep with a focus on neurotransmission systems. We then discuss the neurophysiology and phenomenology of LD to understand the main cortical oscillations and brain areas involved in the emergence of lucidity during REM sleep. Finally, we review possible exogenous substances—including natural plants and artificial drugs—that increase metacognition, REM sleep, and/or dream recall, thus with the potential to induce LD. We found that the main candidates are substances that increase cholinergic and/or dopaminergic transmission, such as galantamine. However, the main limitation of this technique is the complexity of these neurotransmitter systems, which challenges interpreting results in a simple way. We conclude that, despite these promising substances, more research is necessary to find a reliable way to pharmacologically induce LD. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dreaming and Sleep-Related Metacognitions)

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