Dream sharing and the enhancement of empathy: Theoretical and applied implications.

This study replicated and extended a previous finding that the discussion of dreams increases the level of empathy toward the dreamer from those with whom the dream is discussed. The study addressed mediating variables for the empathy effect. Participants were recruited in dyads who already knew each other and were assigned dream-sharer and discusser roles. Each dyad used the Ullman dream appreciation technique to explore the relationship of the sharer’s dreams to recent experiences in the sharer’s life, with a maximum of four dream discussions per dyad (mean length of dreams = 140.15 words, mean discussion length = 23.72 minutes). The empathy of each member of a dyad toward the other was assessed using a 12-item state empathy questionnaire. Forty-four participants (females = 26, males = 18, mean age = 26.70) provided empathy scores at baseline and after each dream discussion. For below median baseline empathy scorers, empathy of discussers toward their dream-sharer increased significantly as a result of the dream discussions, with medium effect size, η2 = 0.39. Dream-sharers had a non-significant increase in empathy toward their discusser. Change in empathy was not linear across successive discussions, and was not related to length of dream reports, nor length of discussions. These findings of post-sleep, social effects of dreaming, with possibly a group bonding function, go beyond theories of dreaming that have a within-sleep emotional or memory processing function for the individual

120th anniversary event for ‘Dora’ telling her burning house dream to Freud

This paper reports a DreamsID (Dreams Illustrated and Discussed) art science collaborative event held to commemorate the first dream told by Dora to Freud, in November 1900, during her psychoanalysis. As part of the online ‘Main stage’ schedule from the Swansea Science Festival, the event had participation from a worldwide audience, and contributions from expert panel members. That Dora’s dream is a poignant depiction of the distress and persecution in her teenage life can be seen from Dora’s free associations to the dream, but this is often overshadowed in readings of Freud’s case study by his speculative further interpretations of the dream, derived from Freud’s own associations. This paper includes the background to the case study, and the main points, themes and questions raised by the online discussion of the case study. These included the lack of emotion in the dream report; whether the dream was used by Dora to show to Freud the danger that she was in; the relationship between Dora’s dream, with its metaphor of the need to escape from the danger of fire, and dreams more widely of trauma and abuse; and the ethics of Dora’s real-life name having been made known without her permission. The painting produced live during the event is reproduced, with an account of the discussion of how the painting is composed. A link to the film of the event is provided

The narrative of dream reports

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Two questions are addressed: 1) whether a dream is meaningful as a whole, or whether the scenes are separate and unconnected, and 2) whether dream images are an epiphenomenon of a functional physiologicaL process of REM sleep, or whether they are akin to waking thought. Theories of REM sleep as a period of information-processing are reviewed. This is Linked with work on the relationship between dreaming and creativity, and between memory and imagery. Because of the persuasive evidence that REM sleep is implicated in the consolidation of memories there is a review of recent work on neural associative network models of memory. Two theories of dreams based on these models are described, and predictions with regard to the above two questions are made. Psychological evidence of relevance to the neural network theories is extensively reviewed. These predictions are compared with those of the recent application of structuralism to the study of dreams, which is an extension from its usual field of mythology and anthropology. The different theories are tested against four nights of dreams recorded in a sleep Lab. The analysis shows that not only do dreams concretise waking concerns as metaphors but that these concerns are depicted in oppositional terms, such as, for example, inside/outside or revolving/static. These oppositions are then permuted from one dream to the next until a resolution of the initial concern is achieved at the end of the night. An account of the use of the single case-study methodology in psychology is given, in addition to a replication of the analysis of one night's dreams by five independent judges. There is an examination of objections to the structuralist methodology, and of objections to the paradigm of multiple dream awakenings. The conclusion is drawn that dreams involve the unconscious dialectical step-by-step resolution of conflicts which to a great extent are consciously known to the subject. The similarity of dreams to day-dreams is explored, with the conclusion that the content of dreams is better explained by an account of metaphors we use when awake and by our daily concerns, than by reference to the physiology of REM sleep. It is emphasised that dreams can be meaningful even if they do not have a function.Ann Murray Award Fun

Combining presleep cognitive training and REM-sleep stimulation in a laboratory morning nap for lucid dream induction.

Previous experiments combining cognitive techniques and sleep disruption have been relatively successful in inducing at-home lucid dreams (LD) over training periods of 1 week or more. Here, we induce LD in a single laboratory nap session by pairing cognitive training with external stimulation. Participants came to the laboratory at 7:30 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. and during polysomnography setup were provided with information about lucid dreaming. For 20 min prior to sleep the experimenter played alternating audio and visual cues at 1-min intervals. Participants were instructed to practice a mental state of critical self-awareness, observing their thoughts and experiences each time they noticed a cue. This procedure associated the cues with the trained mental state. Subsequently, participants were allowed 90 min to nap, and the audio and visual cues were presented during REM sleep to activate self-awareness in dreams and elicit lucidity. A control group followed the same procedure but was not cued during sleep. All participants were instructed to signal their lucidity by looking left and right 4 times (LR signal). Signal-verified lucid dreams (SVLDs) qualified as dreams in which the LR signal was observed and the participant reported becoming lucid. Across the 2 nap times, this protocol induced SVLDs in 50% of cued participants. In the absence of cueing during sleep, participant SVLD rate was 17%. Of note, 3 successful participants had never before experienced a LD, suggesting this protocol may be effective across the general population. Implications of this Targeted Lucidity Reactivation protocol for nightmare treatment are discussed

Understanding the Associations of Prenatal Androgen Exposure on Sleep Physiology, Circadian Proteins, Anthropometric Parameters, Hormonal Factors, Quality of Life, and Sex Among Healthy Young Adults: Protocol for an International, Multicenter Study

The ratio of the second finger length to the fourth finger length (2D:4D ratio) is considered to be negatively correlated with prenatal androgen exposure (PAE) and positively correlated with prenatal estrogen. Coincidentally, various brain regions are sensitive to PAE, and their functions in adults may be influenced by the prenatal actions of sex hormones. This study aims to assess the relationship between PAE (indicated by the 2D:4D ratio) and various physiological (sex hormone levels and sleep-wake parameters), psychological (mental health), and sexual parameters in healthy young adults. This study consists of two phases. In phase 1, we will conduct a survey-based study and anthropometric assessments (including 2D:4D ratio and BMI) in healthy young adults. Using validated questionnaires, we will collect self-reported data on sleep quality, sexual function, sleep chronotype, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. In phase 2, a subsample of phase 1 will undergo polysomnography and physiological and genetic assessments. Sleep architecture data will be obtained using portable polysomnography. The levels of testosterone, estradiol, progesterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, prolactin, melatonin, and circadian regulatory proteins (circadian locomotor output cycles kaput [CLOCK], timeless [TIM], and period [PER]) and the expression levels of some miRNAs will be measured using blood samples. The rest and activity cycle will be monitored using actigraphy for a 7-day period. In Poland, 720 participants were recruited for phase 1. Among these, 140 completed anthropometric measurements. In addition, 25 participants joined and completed phase 2 data collection. Recruitment from other sites will follow. Findings from our study may help to better understand the plausible role of PAE in sleep physiology, mental health, and sexual quality of life in young adults. DERR1-10.2196/29199. [Abstract copyright: ©Wojciech Kuczyński, Erik Wibowo, Tetsuro Hoshino, Aleksandra Kudrycka, Aleksandra Małolepsza, Urszula Karwowska, Milena Pruszkowska, Jakub Wasiak, Aleksandra Kuczyńska, Jakub Spałka, Paulina Pruszkowska-Przybylska, Łukasz Mokros, Adam Białas, Piotr Białasiewicz, Ryujiro Sasanabe, Mark Blagrove, John Manning. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 06.10.2021.

Sleep does not cause false memories on a story-based test of suggestibility

Sleep contributes to the consolidation of memories. This process may involve extracting the gistof learned material at the expense of details. It has thus been proposed that sleep might lead tofalse memory formation. Previous research examined the effect of sleep on false memory usingthe Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm. Mixed results were found, including increasesand decreases in false memory after sleep relative to wake. It has been questioned whether DRMfalse memories occur by the same processes as real-world false memories. Here, the effect of sleepon false memory was investigated using the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale. Veridical memorydeteriorated after a 12-h period of wake, but not after a 12-h period including a night’s sleep. Nodifference in false memory was found between conditions. Although the literature supports sleepdependentmemory consolidation, the results here call into question extending this to a gist-basedfalse memory effect

Self-rated effects of reading, TV viewing and daily activities on dreaming in adolescents and adults: The UK library study.

The continuity hypothesis of dreaming states that our daily activities like reading books and watching films, movies and shows should be represented in our dreams. The majority of participants in the UK library study (N = 1375) stated that their dreams are affected by their reading and TV consumption, and by their daily activities. The more time they spend with an activity, the more likely they reported an effect of this activity on dreaming. Future studies should use daily logs and dream diaries to validate the present findings. In addition, measures of emotional intensity of the waking life experience and attitude towards dreaming should be included as these factors might have an effect on the continuity between waking and dreaming

A replication of the 5–7day dream-lag effect with comparison of dreams to future events as control for baseline matching

The dream-lag effect refers to there being, after the frequent incorporation of memory elements from the previous day into dreams (the day-residue), a lower incorporation of memory elements from 2 to 4 days before the dream, but then an increased incorporation of memory elements from 5 to 7 days before the dream. Participants kept a daily diary and a dream diary for 14 days and then rated the level of matching between every dream report and every daily diary record. A significant dream-lag effect for the 5–7 day period, compared to baseline and compared to the 2–4 day period, was found. This may indicate a memory processing function for sleep, which the dream content may reflect. The paper has significant theoretical implications for the time-course of consolidating autobiographical memory

Self-rated effects of reading, TV viewing and daily activities on dreaming in adolescents and adults: The UK library study.

The continuity hypothesis of dreaming states that our daily activities like reading books and watching films, movies and shows should be represented in our dreams. The majority of participants in the UK library study (N = 1375) stated that their dreams are affected by their reading and TV consumption, and by their daily activities. The more time they spend with an activity, the more likely they reported an effect of this activity on dreaming. Future studies should use daily logs and dream diaries to validate the present findings. In addition, measures of emotional intensity of the waking life experience and attitude towards dreaming should be included as these factors might have an effect on the continuity between waking and dreaming