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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Dreaming and insomnia: dream recall and dream content of patients with insomnia.

The present study investigated dream recall frequency and dream content of patients with insomnia in comparison to healthy controls. Patients' dream recall frequency was elevated, due mainly to their heightened frequency of nocturnal awakenings. Dream content seems to reflect waking life stressors found in these patients, i.e. dream emotions were more negative and dreams were characterized by themes of depression, 'negatives' in self-description and health themes. Patients taking antidepressants showed lower dream recall frequency than patients without any medication; benzodiazepine intake, however, did not affect dream recall frequency. Both drug groups reported more positively toned dreams than drug-free patients. It is suggested that future studies should use more dreams per subject in order to reduce error variance of the dream content measures and more detailed measures of waking life stress.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Sex differences in dreams. Content analysis of oknophile and philobatic dream images in the dreams of children and adolescents].

Until now it had been observed that in their dreams girls concern themselves more with inter-human relationships, whereas boys concern themselves stronger with the outside world and aggressive striving. In this survey manifest dreams, as reported in psychotherapies, spontaneously remembered and taken down by the children and young people themselves, were examined with an index in which Balint's theories about oknophilia and philobatism were used. The question whether there are any differences of sex was checked there. One important result of this survey was that girls in fact dream more oknophile subjects, whereas boys dream more philobatic ones. As the philobatic attitude might be put down to an earlier trauma than the oknophile one, this result here above all corresponds with the hypothesis of the feminist psychoanalytics (Chodorow, Olivier), that boys axe dismissed from the symbiosis with their mothers too early. With that they get into a premature independence they are not up to. Girls on the other hand are rather overcharged narcissistically and their mothers hold on to them for too long.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Typical examination dreams, "superego dreams," and traumatic dreams.

Typical examination dreams fulfill, in disguised form, a wish to be reassured about the future. Similar disguised wish fulfillments can be identified in certain "superego dreams" and in those post-traumatic dreams in which a traumatic event is accurately re-enacted. Recognition of the wish and the need for disguise permits a fuller picture of the dreamer's immediate conflicts to emerge. Vignettes are presented to illustrate the implications for clinical work. The concepts of the repetition compulsion and a motivation toward mastery in dreaming are considered in light of these observations.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Dreams and dementia: a laboratory exploration of dream recall and dream content in chronic brain syndrome patients.

Seventeen (seven mild and ten severe) chronic brain syndrome patients were testes in the sleep laboratory for dream recall and content. The mildly organic patients had 57 per cent recall while the severely organic patients had 35 per cent recall. We also studied four aged severely organic patients. These patients showed a recall rate of 8 per cent. The difference between the recall rates in mildly and severely organic middle-aged patients was not statistically significant. The difference between the recall rates of the aged severely organic patients and either or both of the middle-aged groups was statistically significant (p smaller than .001). In addition, we found dream content differences between the mildly and severely organic middle-aged groups and between the combined group and normal young men.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2000

The reinterpretation of dreams: an evolutionary hypothesis of the function of dreaming.

Several theories claim that dreaming is a random by-product of REM sleep physiology and that it does not serve any natural function. Phenomenal dream content, however, is not as disorganized as such views imply. The form and content of dreams is not random but organized and selective: during dreaming, the brain constructs a complex model of the world in which certain types of elements, when compared to waking life, are underrepresented whereas others are over represented. Furthermore, dream content is consistently and powerfully modulated by certain types of waking experiences. On the basis of this evidence, I put forward the hypothesis that the biological function of dreaming is to simulate threatening events, and to rehearse threat perception and threat avoidance. To evaluate this hypothesis, we need to consider the original evolutionary context of dreaming and the possible traces it has left in the dream content of the present human population. In the ancestral environment human life was short and full of threats. Any behavioral advantage in dealing with highly dangerous events would have increased the probability of reproductive success. A dream-production mechanism that tends to select threatening waking events and simulate them over and over again in various combinations would have been valuable for the development and maintenance of threat-avoidance skills. Empirical evidence from normative dream content, children's dreams, recurrent dreams, nightmares, post traumatic dreams, and the dreams of hunter-gatherers indicates that our dream-production mechanisms are in fact specialized in the simulation of threatening events, and thus provides support to the threat simulation hypothesis of the function of dreaming.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Nightmare after trauma as paradigm for all dreams: a new approach to the nature and functions of dreaming.

Nightmares, far from being unsuccessful dreams or exceptions to rules about dreams, can be considered paradigms for all dreaming. They allow us to follow exactly how a disturbance or perturbation is handled by the processing systems in our minds. The data considered here consists of dream series in the weeks and months immediately following trauma in adults--in other words, nightmares and dreams occurring as the trauma resolves. It appears the traumatized person may dream first about the actual trauma (though not always), then, very quickly, the dreams appear to deal with the dominant emotion. Dreams of being overwhelmed by a tidal wave or being swept up by a whirlwind are common after almost any trauma. Clearly, such dreams are not about the sensory input from the actual trauma. Rather, the dreams are about the dominant emotion. The dreams contextualize (find a picture context for) the emotional concern. After trauma, the dominant emotion is usually first terror and fear, then often followed by guilt (such as survivor guilt). This too is pictured in the dream series. The same pattern of contextualizing an emotional concern can be seen in stressful situations, in pregnancy, or in patients whose lives are dominated by one emotion. This pattern is paradigmatic for all dreams, but it may be difficult to detect in "ordinary" dreams, because there may be a number of other relatively smaller emotional concerns present, as opposed to the one clear-cut dominant one (as after trauma). A theory of dreaming is sketched out based on these data which suggests that overall dreaming makes connections more broadly than waking in the nets of the mind, and that the connections are not made randomly but guided by the dreamer's emotional concerns. It is also suggested that the making of connections may be functional for the organism in the sense of "weaving in," or integrating, new material.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Dreams within dreams.

The concept of a dream within a dream is studied intensively. The illusion created by the dream work portrays one portion of a dream enacted within the envelope of another. Freud (1900) emphasized that the function of placing a piece of reality in a dream within a dream is an attempt to rob it of its significance and obliterate it. However, he seemed curiously disinterested in the fact that segmentation of a dream text into two seemingly discrete fragments does offer a dream investigator the opportunity to explore the dynamic relationship between the two fragments and the multiple meanings of the illusion created during sleep. In this study the linkage between the two parts of the dream sequence is highlighted. While Freud's intuition is corroborated, his lack of interest in the duality of the dream events is puzzling, as if he believed that only the dream within a dream is meaningful and the complementary and contextual dream sequence can be ignored. This paper suggests that both portions of the dream within a dream are significant, the one helping to explicate the other as the free-associative process of dream interpretation gives equal democratic time to both.

Dreams↗
PubMed2001

Impact of attachment styles on dream recall and dream content: a test of the attachment hypothesis of REM sleep.

We tested the hypothesis (McNamara 1996; Zborowski and McNamara 1998) that dream recall and dream content would pattern with interpersonal attachment styles. In study I, college student volunteers were assessed on measures of attachment, dream recall, dream content and other psychologic measures. Results showed that participants who were classified as 'high' on an 'insecure attachment' scale were significantly more likely to (a) report a dream, (b) dream 'frequently', and (c) evidence more intense images that contextualize strong emotions in their dreams as compared with participants who scored low on the insecure attachment scale. In study II, 76 community dwelling elderly volunteers completed measures of attachment, and dream recall. Participants whose attachment style was classified as 'preoccupied' were significantly more likely to report a dream and to report dreams with higher mean number of words per dream as compared with participants classified as 'securely' attached or as 'avoidant' or as 'dismissing.' Dream recall was lowest for the avoidant subjects and highest for the preoccupied subjects. These data support the view that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and/or dreaming function, in part, to promote attachment.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The meaning of dreams: the need for a standardized dream report.

One way to study dream function is to use dream content as an independent variable. Erroneous or inconstant definition of the dream content, however, would undermine its use as a predictor. This study describes a dream interview technique that allows assessment and control of the distorting effect from using, in addition to a single report of manifest content, associative dream content and repetition of the dream report. Dream reports obtained by this technique were rated for the number of references to the following seven variables: death, mutilation, separation, illness, guilt, shame, and falling. The data showed considerable variability in designating the presence or absence of all seven dream content variables, depending on how the dream report itself was defined. It is concluded that to use dream content as an independent variable in the study of dream function, associative content and repetition of the dream report must be systematically controlled.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Coping effectiveness and dreams as a function of personality and dream recall.

Investigated the proposition that effectiveness of coping with daytime and dream stress would be influenced by personality style, as defined by the Repression-Sensitization scale (R-S), and by dreaming style, as defined by frequent (F) or infrequent (I) questionnaire dream recall. The relationship between R-S and F-I dream recall also was explored. Ss kept dream diaries for 30 consecutive days. Sensitizers, who were I recallers, had very low daytime self-confidence scores. Repressors had more positive Dream Coping Scores than Sensitizers, and F recallers had more positive Dream Coping Scores than I recallers. Repressors had a positive morning mood, regardless of whether the ending of their dream was positive or negative. The morning mood of Sensitizers, particularly the I recallers, was dependent on the pleasantness-unpleasantness of the dream ending. R-S and F-I questionnaire dream recall had a low positive correlation; no relationship was found between R-S and F-I dream diary recall.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1983

A significant "dream within a dream".

This brief clinical note is an attempt to clarify Freud's remarks regarding the significance of real occurrences of the "dream within a dream". There is affirmation of the reality of an actual event in the manifest dream (the "tickling" in adolescence). Certain representations regarding real events are alluded to in the manifest dream and are confirmed by the latent dream thoughts (the underlying homosexual theme involving the patient's mother and herself). Within the ongoing transference neurosis, a new understanding led this patient to experience intense sexual affects which were recalled for the first time during the course of an analytic session. The analyst's attention to this "dream within a dream" led to a facilitating active interpretation of the repressed sexual feelings. At the same time it was possible to observe a developmental arrest which had interfered with the consolidation of the patient's adolescent maturation begin to be undone by interpretation. The process of disengaging the patient from her unconscious bond with her mother (the undoing of the negative oedipal involvement) had been set in motion. The "dream within a dream" seems to represent a special defensive effort of the dream work to encapsulate the memory of one or more related actual events and the intense affects associated with them--affects whose pressure for discharge threaten to arouse the sleeper. The form the dream assumes is related to its hidden sexual origins and engages the active participation of both patient and analyst.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2001

SSRI treatment suppresses dream recall frequency but increases subjective dream intensity in normal subjects.

Clinical lore and a small number of published studies report that the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) intensify dreaming. This study examines the dream effects of paroxetine and fluvoxamine in order to both increase clinical knowledge of these agents and to test an important potential method for probing the relationship between REM sleep neurobiology and dreaming in humans. Fourteen normal, paid volunteers (4 males, 10 females; mean age 27.4 year, range 22--39) free of medical or neuropsychiatric symptoms as well as of psychotropic or sleep affecting drugs completed a 31-day home-based study consisting of: 7 days drug-free baseline; 19 days on either 100 mg fluvoxamine (7 Ss) or 20 mg paroxetine (7 Ss) in divided morning and evening doses; and 5 days acute discontinuation. Upon awakening, subjects wrote dream reports, self-scored specific emotions in their reports and rated seven general dream characteristics using 5-point Likert scales. Dream reports were independently scored for bizarreness, movement and number of visual nouns by three judges. REM sleep-related measures were obtained using the Nightcap ambulatory sleep monitor. Mean dream recall frequency decreased during treatment compared with baseline. Dream report length and judge-rated bizarreness were greater during acute discontinuation compared with both baseline and treatment and this effect was a result of the fluvoxamine-treated subjects. The subjective intensity of dreaming increased during both treatment and acute discontinuation compared with baseline. Propensity to enter REM sleep was decreased during treatment compared with baseline and acute discontinuation and the intensity of REM sleep increased during acute discontinuation compared with baseline and treatment. The decrease in dream frequency during SSRI treatment may reflect serotonergic REM suppression while the augmented report length and bizarreness during acute SSRI discontinuation may reflect cholinergic rebound from serotonergic suppression.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Consciousness and abilities of dream characters observed during lucid dreaming.

A description of several phenomenological experiments is given. These were done to investigate of which cognitive accomplishments dream characters are capable in lucid dreams. Nine male experienced lucid dreamers participated as subjects. They were directed to set different tasks to dream characters they met while lucid dreaming. Dream characters were asked to draw or write, to name unknown words, to find rhyme words, to make verses, and to solve arithmetic problems. Part of the dream characters actually agreed to perform the tasks and were successful, although the arithmetic accomplishments were poor. From the phenomenological findings, nothing contradicts the assumption that dream characters have consciousness in a specific sense. Herefrom the conclusion was drawn, that in lucid dream therapy communication with dream characters should be handled as if they were rational beings. Finally, several possibilities of assessing the question, whether dream characters possess consciousness, can be examined with the aid of psychophysiological experiments.

Brain↗
PubMed2002

The metal-binding properties of DREAM: evidence for calcium-mediated changes in DREAM structure.

DREAM, an EF-hand protein, associates with and modulates the activity of presenilins and Kv4 potassium channels in neural and cardiac tissues and represses prodynorphin and c-fos gene expression by binding to DNA response elements in these genes. Information concerning the metal-binding properties of DREAM and the consequences of metal binding on protein structure are important in understanding how this protein functions in cells. We now show that DREAM binds 1 mol of calcium/mol of protein with relatively high affinity and another 3 mol of calcium with lower affinity. DREAM binds 1 mol of magnesium/mol of protein. DREAM, pre-loaded with 1 mol of calcium, binds 1 mol of magnesium, thus demonstrating that the magnesium-binding site is distinct from the high affinity calcium-binding site. Analysis of metal binding to mutant DREAM protein constructs localizes the high affinity calcium-binding site and the magnesium-binding site to EF-hands 3 or 4. Binding of calcium but not magnesium changes the conformation, stability, and alpha-helical content of DREAM. Calcium, but not magnesium, reduces the affinity of apo-DREAM for specific DNA response elements in the prodynorphin and c-fos genes. We conclude that DREAM binds calcium and magnesium and that calcium, but not magnesium, modulates DREAM structure and function.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

The impact of dream interpretation using psychological kinesiology on the frequency of recurring dreams.

Subjects reporting a recurring dream at least 4 times a month for a year or more were assigned to a dream recording control group and an experimental group which used muscle testing to guide dream interpretation. Dream frequency was recorded prior to and following a dream interpretation intervention (experimental subjects) or dream reporting session (control subjects). Dream frequency declined in the experimental group, suggesting that recurring dream frequency is a useful dependent variable, and that psychological kinesiology dream interpretation is a powerful intervention.

Adolescent↗