Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “DREAMS”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources

Direct interpretation of dreams: typology.

The dream typology assorts dreams into three major categories: dreams whose origin is endogenous, exogenous, or relational. Dreams of the first type arise from somatic needs, feelings, and states that accompany organismic adjustments to system requirements. Dreams of the second type are initiated by kinetic and dispositional tendencies toward engagement and exploration of the outer world. And dreams of the third type derive from interpersonal dispositions to interaction and relationship with other people. Within each category, dreams may occur at different levels of complexity. The dream typology permits the integration of psychoanalytic observations about the dreams from a variety of perspectives within a common framework. Freud's view that a dream is a wish fulfillment finds its primary niche in endogenous need, wish fulfillment, and convenience dreams. Kohut's observations about self-state dreams and inner regulation (1971, 1977) are accommodated to the middle range of endogenous dreams, and Jung's individuation dreams (1930) occupy the advanced range. Similarly, Bonime's interpersonal approach to dream interpretation (1962) is encompassed by relational dreams of the middle level. In addition, types and modes of dreams that are only infrequently encountered in clinical psychoanalysis are accommodated. The dream typology suggests that different psychoanalytic theories are like the position papers that might have derived from the fabled committee of learned blind who were commissioned to determine the appearance of an elephant. Each individual got a hold on some part, but could not see the whole; so for each, the part became the whole. The psychoanalytic theorist is in exactly an analogous position because, in fact, he is blind to the extent of the unconscious and is constrained to what he can infer. What he can infer depends on cohort, client population, and how he calibrates his observations. The result has been procrustean interpretation, dissention, and a remarkable stasis in the psychoanalytic theory of the unconscious. The theory of the unconscious that arises from the method of direct interpretation reflects a differentiated inner world with variegated landscapes of images and frameworks. The derivatives of the unconscious are determined by complex decision rules, symbol systems, and syntax. Images and dreams possess a primary autonomy from the conscious mind and arise through the configural mind, which serves the construction and synthesis of experience and knowledge. The derivatives emerge out of common human nature conjoined with concrete human experience. For this reason, dreams and images appear universal.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Cognition↗

[Incidence and quality of dreaming during anesthesia with propofol in comparison with enflurane].

UNLABELLED: Since the introduction of propofol into clinical practice, dreaming during general anaesthesia has been frequently reported with this drug. We investigated the incidence and character of these dreams with regard to distinction from intraoperative awareness and in comparison with habitual dreams or dreams during general anaesthesia with enflurane. METHOD: A total of 230 patients (ASA I-II) undergoing minor elective surgery were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Both groups received the same premedication (1 mg flunitrazepam) the previous evening. After induction using etomidate 2 mg/kg, anaesthesia in group I was maintained using 0.8%-1.5% enflurane supplemented in the sense of "balanced anaesthesia" with fentanyl, vecuronium, and nitrous oxide. Anaesthesia in group II was induced with propofol 2 mg/kg. After a saturation phase of approximately 10 mg/kg.h, 5-6 mg/kg.h was administered for maintenance supplemented by fentanyl, Vecuronium, and N2O as in group I. Interviews were conducted preoperatively, just after recovery from anaesthesia, and 24 h later. We inquired about preoperative fears or concerns, sensory perceptions, and the incidence and character (pleasant, unpleasant, indifferent) of habitual dreams. After recovery the patients were asked if they had had any conscious perceptions, whether they believe them to be dreams or reality, and repeated the preoperative questions as to common feelings and the character of sensory perceptions. RESULTS: The two groups were not entirely comparable due to the distribution of sex and age, but we did not find any differences in preoperative grades of fear and incidence of dreams. Of the propofol patients, 60% dreamed intraoperatively versus 11% in the enflurane group. No evidence of any intraoperative awareness was found. Because of the low incidence of dreams in the enflurane group, a comparison of detailed information between the groups could not be provided. Except for 1, all patients in the propofol group had very pleasant dreams compared to their habitual dreams (4.5% in the enflurane group). One day after surgery 37% of all patients in the propofol group remembered having dreamed intraoperatively. We did not found any correlation to the incidence of habitual dreaming, preoperative fear, age, sex, duration of anaesthesia, or total dose of propofol. Furthermore, intraoperative dreams differed from habitual dreams in character and content. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that sensory experiences during propofol anaesthesia are not stimulus-related perceptions or awareness, but dreams similar to normal ones. In view of the absence of clear signs of stimulus-related response, we presume that dreaming is a specific side effect of propofol. Because of the absence of difficulties, dreaming during propofol anaesthesia appears not to be a disadvantage with regard to the quality of anaesthesia.

Adult↗

Hypnotic susceptibility and dream characteristics.

This study examined the relationship of hypnotic susceptibility to a variety of dream characteristics and types of dream content. A Dream Questionnaire was constructed synthesizing Gibson's dream inventory and Hilgard's theoretical conceptions of hypnosis. Employing the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility and the Field Inventory for evaluating hypnotic response, several dream dimensions correlated significantly with hypnotizability. For subjects as a whole, the strongest correlates were the frequency of dreams which they believed to be precognitive and out-of-body dreams. Ability to dream on a chosen topic also correlated significantly with hypnotic susceptibility for both genders. For females only, there was a negative correlation of hypnotic susceptibility to flying dreams. Absorption correlated positively with dream recall, ability to dream on a chosen topic, reports of conflict resolution in dreams, creative ideas occurring in dreams, amount of color in dreams, pleasantness of dreams, bizarreness of dreams, flying dreams and precognitive dreams.

Adolescent↗

EEG activities during elicited sleep onset REM and NREM periods reflect different mechanisms of dream generation. Electroencephalograms. Rapid eye movement.

OBJECTIVE: To be the first to compare EEG power spectra during sleep onset REM periods (SOREMP) and sleep onset NREM periods (NREMP) in normal individuals and relate this to dream appearance processes underlying these different types of sleep periods. METHODS: Eight healthy undergraduates spent 7 consecutive nights in the sleep lab including 4 nights for SOREMP elicitation using the Sleep Interruption Technique. This enabled us to control preceding sleep processes between SOREMP and NREMP. EEG power spectra when participants did and did not report 'dreams' were compared between both types of sleep. Sleep stages, subjective measurements including dream property scores, sleepiness, mood, and tiredness after awakenings were also examined to determine their consistency with EEG findings. RESULTS: Increased alpha EEG activities (11.72-13.67 Hz) observed mainly in the central area were related to the absence of SOREMP dreams and appearance of NREMP dreams. Analyses of sleep stages combining two studies (16 participants) also supported the Fast Fourier Transform findings, showing that when dreams were reported there were decreased amounts of stage 2 and increased stage REM in SOREMP and increased stage W in NREMP. SOREMP dreams were more bizarre than NREMP dreams. Participants felt more tired after SOREMP with dreams than without dreams, while the opposite was observed after NREMP episodes. CONCLUSIONS: EEG power spectra patterns reflected different physiological mechanisms underlying generation of SOREMP and NREMP dreams. The same relationships were also reflected by sleep stage analyses as well as subjective measurements including dream properties and tiredness obtained after awakenings. This study not only supports the hypothesized relationships between REM mechanisms and REM dreams as well as arousal processes and NREM dreams, it also provides a new perspective to dream research due to its unique techniques to awaken participants and collect REM dreams during experimentally induced SOREMP.

Adult↗

Drug dreams in outpatients with bipolar disorder and cocaine dependence.

Patients with substance abuse or dependence often have dreams about alcohol or drugs during early recovery. However, the literature on drug dreams in rehabilitating patients with drug-related disorders remains limited. No data are available on drug dreams in people with substance-related disorders and other major mental illness. As part of a large study on the use of lamotrigine in patients with bipolar disorder and cocaine dependence, the frequency and nature of drug dreams, triggers for dreams, and response to the dreams during study participation were assessed in 37 outpatients for as long as 36 weeks. Altogether, 74% of participants experienced at least one drug dream during the study. Furthermore, drug dreams rapidly decreased during study participation. The presence of drug dreams at baseline did not predict mood, cocaine craving, or drug use at exit. No clear risk factors for drug dreams were identified. However, drug dreams were related to survival in the study by a negative U-shaped curve relationship in which those participants with the highest and lowest frequency of drug dreams discontinued from the study the earliest. Content of the dreams frequently included drug use or refusing to use the drug. Dreams of drug use tended to occur during the first few weeks of study participation. Most dreams were associated with triggers for drug use. The findings suggest that drug dreams are common in patients with bipolar disorder and cocaine dependence and are similar in nature to those previously reported in people with pure substance abuse.

Adolescent↗

Dreaming in agenesis of the corpus callosum: laboratory and home assessment of four cases.

Laboratory and home dream recall was studied in four subjects with agenesis of the corpus callosum and in four control subjects who were matched for age, gender, and handedness. In addition, the structural and emotional content of home dreams was compared for these two groups. Results indicate that acallosal subjects recalled fewer dreams in the laboratory than did control subjects, but recalled the same number of dreams at home. They also reported more contentless dreams in both situations. Furthermore, although acallosal subjects used fewer words to describe their dream content in both contexts, the number of content categories they reported differed little from the number reported by control subjects. However, some trends were found for acallosal's home dreams to differ from those of controls, i.e. more dreams with known characters and fewer dreams with unknown characters, animals, and colours. Differences in emotional contents were few; acallosals reported more distress than controls. The shorter length of acallosals' dreams might be explained, in part, by their lower verbal IQs. Other characteristics of dream content (e.g. more distress, fewer dreams with unknown and animal characters) may reflect limited social experiences in this group. However, the greater frequency of contentless dreams and the lower frequency of dreams with colour are trends consistent with the possibility that the corpus callosum may be implicated in processes of dream production and dream recall.

Journal Article↗

Another look at dreaming: disentangling Freud's primary and secondary process theories.

The Interpretation of Dreams contains Freud's first and most complete articulation of the primary and secondary mental processes that serve as a framework for the workings of mind, conscious and unconscious. While it is generally believed that Freud proposed a single theory of dreaming, based on the primary process, a number of ambiguities, inconsistencies, and contradictions reflect an incomplete differentiation of the parts played by the two mental processes in dreaming. It is proposed that two radically different hypotheses about dreaming are embedded in Freud's work. The one implicit in classical dream interpretation is based on the assumption that dreams, like waking language, are representational, and are made up of symbols connected to latent unconscious thoughts. Whereas the symbols that constitute waking language are largely verbal and only partly unconscious, those that constitute dreams are presumably more thoroughly disguised and represented as arcane hallucinated hieroglyphs. From this perspective, both the language of the dream and that of waking life are secondary process manifestations. Interpretation of the dream using the secondary process model involves the assumption of a linear two-way "road" connecting manifest and latent aspects, which in one direction involves the work of dream construction and in the other permits the associative process of decoding and interpretation. Freud's more revolutionary hypothesis, whose implications he did not fully elaborate, is that dreams are the expression of a primary mental process that differs qualitatively from waking thought and hence are incomprehensible through a secondary process model. This seems more adequately to account for what is now known about dreaming, and is more consistent with the way dream interpretation is ordinarily conducted in clinical practice. Recognition that dreams are qualitatively distinctive expressions of mind may help to restore dreaming to its privileged position as a unique source of mental status information.

Dreams↗

Changes in manifest dream affect during psychoanalytic treatment.

Affect is central to our understanding of many processes, including dreams. The question has been raised as to whether it is the affective or narrative aspect of dreaming that is central to its development. The purpose of the study is to assess the frequency and valence of affect in the manifest content of dream reports of patients in analytic therapy and if affect is absent to assess the frequency and valence of affect in the associations to the dream reports without affect [MK1]. The presence and valence of affect was evaluated in the first and last manifest dream report of 24 patients who had completed psychoanalytic treatment. If no affect was found, the dream associations were examined for affect and valence. Affect was found in 58.3% of dream reports. The valence of affect in dream reports became more positive during the course of treatment from 19.2% in the first manifest dream report to 53.3% in the last. The associations to the dream reports without affect had affect 94.1% of the time. Affect was present in either the dream report or the associations to it 97.9% of the time. The positive change in affect is most likely the result of psychotherapeutic treatment, although the psychotropic medication 46% of the patients were on at the time of the last dream report and the passage of time may also be factors. The centrality of affect in dream formation and interpretation is supported if the view of the dream experience includes the associations to the dream report.

Adult↗

Quantitative and qualitative scores on dream test.

A quantitative Dream Test score is defined as the ratio of the number of the key dream words selected by a subject and given a plus sign to the number of the dream words given minus sign as is done on the Initial-letter Word-association Test. The mean quantitative Dream Test score is 2+/3- with a slight prevalence of minus over plus signs and the mean number of selected key dream words of 5. The qualitative Dream Test score was formulated to represent the dream categories and subcategories in which individual dreams are classified according to manifest dream content. From a sample of 122 dreams reported by 122 women, students in psychology (M age 20 yr.), dreams were categorized as Death (27 or 22.0%), Nightmares (53 or 43.1%), Love (35 or 28.3%), Atypical dreams (7 or 5.7%), and No dreams (1 or .8%). The most frequent qualitative Dream Test score was for Nightmares which is in accord with the slight prevalence of minus over plus signs in the Dream Test mean quantitative score.

Adult↗

The pregnancy-related dreams of pregnant women.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the frequency and nature of pregnancy-related dreams in pregnant women in a family practice center and assessed the extent such dreams were discussed with providers of prenatal care. METHODS: Pregnant women 18 years of age or older who were receiving prenatal care at the University of Missouri-Columbia Family Medical Care Center responded to a two-page self-administered questionnaire. The major variables measured were frequency of pregnancy-related dreams, frequency of frightening dreams, content of dreams, and discussion of dreams. Health professionals providing prenatal care to these women were also surveyed. RESULTS: Eighty-eight pregnant women, 41 family physicians, and 3 nurse practitioners participated in the study. Dreams about their pregnancy or baby were reported by 59 (67 percent) of 88 pregnant women, of whom 22 had experienced at least one frightening dream. Seventeen women reported being upset by a dream. The frequency of dreams increased with advancing gestational age. The content of the most common dream involved conflict with the father of the baby. Most women had talked to another person about their dreams, usually the baby's father. Only 2 women told their physicians about the pregnancy-related dream. One-half of the providers of prenatal care reported discussing pregnancy-related dreams with a pregnant patient at least once during their careers. CONCLUSION: Dreams about their pregnancy or baby occurred frequently in pregnant women and could be a neglected source of information about the psychological state of the patient.

Adolescent↗

Development of disturbing dreams during adolescence and their relation to anxiety symptoms.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: This work assesses the prevalence and development of disturbing dreams among adolescents and the association of these dreams with anxiety. DESIGN: Sex differences in prevalence were analyzed with chi-square analyses. Changes over time were assessed with Wilcoxon tests and cross-tabulation tables. Associations with anxiety and DSM-III-R symptoms were assessed with ANOVA designs. SETTING: N/A. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 610 boys and girls rated their recall of disturbing and normal dreams at both 13 and 16 years of age. Subgroups of subjects were evaluated for anxiety symptoms at age 13 and for DSM-III-R symptoms of separation anxiety (SA), overanxious disorder (OD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) at age 16. INTERVENTIONS: N/A. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The recall of disturbing dreams was more prevalent for girls than for boys at both ages, and increased over time for girls while it decreased for boys. The recall of normal dreams was also more prevalent for girls at both ages, but this difference could not fully account for the difference in recall of disturbing dreams. Normal dream recall increased from age 13 to 16 for both sexes. The frequent occurrence of disturbing dreams was associated with anxiety at age 13 and with GAD, SA and OD symptoms at age 16 for both sexes. Evidence of more numerous OD symptoms for girls with frequent disturbing dreams suggests that this form of anxiety may partially account for the observed sex difference in disturbing dream prevalence. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight a prevalence of disturbing dreams that is especially marked for adolescent girls. Unlike previous cross-sectional studies, which have found the same sex difference, this longitudinal design also calls attention to within-subjects changes in disturbing dream recall. The results also confirm that the frequent recall of disturbing dreams is associated with pathological symptoms of trait anxiety-apparently even as young as 13 years of age. Further study of disturbing dreams may contribute to understanding of associated pathophysiological factors which, too, vary by sex (e.g., PTSD, insomnia, depression).

Adolescent↗

The relationship of alexithymia characteristics to dreaming.

OBJECTIVE: In two studies, we tested two hypotheses about the relationship of alexithymia to dreaming; that dreams of alexithymic people are barren and rarely recalled, and that the dreams are unregulated and nightmarish. METHODS: Study 1 was a retrospective survey of dreaming among several hundred young adults, and Study 2 was a 1-week, prospective diary study of 153 young adults in which recall, content, and length of dreams were assessed. RESULTS: Across both studies, the externally oriented thinking (EOT) facet of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS)-20 correlated with different dream characteristics than the difficulty identifying feelings (DIF) and difficulty describing feelings (DDF) facets, even after statistically controlling for the other facets. Greater EOT was related to an increased frequency of nights without dream recall, having shorter dreams, having dreams rated as boring and lacking vividness, and not believing in the importance of dreams. In contrast, greater DIF or DDF was related to an increased frequency of nights with disturbing dreams, and having dreams rated as bizarre and aggressive. CONCLUSION: We find support for both hypotheses, but different facets of the multidimensional alexithymia construct account for the two types of dream reports.

Adolescent↗

Jungian personality typology and the recall of everyday and archetypal dreams.

Hypotheses concerning the relations among personality types, neuroticism, and the recall of archetypal dreams were derived from Jungian theory. Dream records were obtained from a nonclinical population in two stages: first, recall of the most recent, most vivid, and earliest remembered dreams (N = 146), and then dream recall on awakening, over an average of 23 nights, from 30 of the first-sample subjects. A total of 697 dreams was recorded. Subjects also completed the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory, and a Dreaming Questionnaire. Dream archetypality was rated in accordance with procedures of H. Y. Kluger. The distribution of archetypal dreams across earliest (n = 106), most vivid (n = 105), and most recent (n = 102) dream types matched Kluger's earlier results. The dream diary recall data showed that Jungian intuitives, as measured via Myers-Briggs continuous scores, recalled more archetypal dreams; introverts, as measured via Myers-Briggs continuous scores, recalled more everyday dreams; high EPI neuroticism scorers recalled fewer archetypal dreams. The results support several propositions of Jungian personality theory.

Adolescent↗

Physiology and psychology of dreams.

The discovery of the close association between rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and dreaming and development of sleep laboratory techniques ushered in a new era in the study of dreams. For the first time, direct and systematic investigation could be made of such topics as the occurrence, qualities, recollection, and childhood development of dreaming. Experimental methodologies permitted investigation of the responsiveness of dreams to external stimulation and the effects of deprivation of REM sleep. Much effort was devoted to searching for parallels between physiological aspects of REM sleep and characteristics of associated dreams, with modest results. The leading theory of dreaming in the early decades of this research was the psychoanalytic, which views dreams as highly meaningful reflections of unconscious mental functioning. With developments in understanding of the neurophysiology of REM sleep, new theories of dreaming were proposed. The most prominent, the activation-synthesis hypothesis, derived its view of dreaming directly from the neurophysiology of REM sleep, in particular the role of the brain stem, and in its original form regarded dreams as not essentially meaningful. Further developments in neurobiological research, including lesion and brain imaging studies, have established a clearer view of the functional neuroanatomy of REM sleep and dreaming. To what degree, and in what way, implications can be drawn from these findings for the psychology of dreaming is controversial. Some more recent theories of dreaming emphasize an adaptive function related to emotion and a role in learning and memory consolidation.

Dreams↗

Dream self-reflectiveness as a learned cognitive skill.

This research was directed toward the contradiction sustained by cognitive dream psychology, which on the one hand regards dreaming as higher symbolic activity and, on the other, sees its organizational and functional characteristics as derivative and/or inferior to those of waking consciousness. Study 1 evaluates the degree of self-reflective meta-cognition in dreams from different sleep stages. Subjects were 24 college students selected such that half were self-reported high-frequency dream recallers and half were low-frequency recallers. Both groups were composed equally of men and women. Greater self-reflectiveness (SR) was found in REM dreams as compared with those from stages 2 and 4, which did not differ. High-frequency recallers showed more dream SR than did low-frequency recallers. Study 2 assessed the extent to which self-reflective and lucid dreaming can be learned as a cognitive skill by varying levels of intention and attention paid to dreaming. After 3 weeks of home dream collection, results showed that four experimental groups had greater dream SR than did a baseline group. The most effective treatment was the mnemonic, wherein attention patterning schemas learned in waking resulted in more self-reflective and lucid dreaming than did either baseline or attention-control conditions. These results provide evidence that dreaming is not single-minded but variable along a self-reflective process continuum, and suggest functional and organizational levels that are consistent with the conception of dreaming as higher order cognitive activity.

Adult↗

Weak electromagnetic fields restore dream recall in patients with multiple sclerosis.

It is now well established that dreaming is a phenomenon associated with REM sleep and that we dream far more than we can recall. Loss of dream recall has been reported in association with cerebral lesions of different sites with predilection to the posterior cerebral hemispheres. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disorder characterised by the presence of diffuse pathological lesions affecting cortical, subcortical, and brainstem areas which are implicated in the generation and maintenance of REM sleep as well as dream recall. Although MS is associated with a high incidence of sleep disturbances, little is known about the frequency of dreaming and particularly dream recall in these patients and their association with such features as the course of the disease, extent of neurological deficits, rate of progression, sites of demyelinating plaques on MRI scan, and recovery. In my experience morning dream recall and probably dreaming activity become infrequent with the onset and/or during periods of exacerbation of the disease. The present communication concerns four selected MS patients who experienced alterations in dream content and loss of morning dream recall during the course of the disease. In all patients dream recall was restored, along with improvement in neurological symptoms, following the external application of a series of treatments with weak electromagnetic fields (EMFs). These findings suggest that in MS morning dream recall may decline and cease to occur during the course of the disease. Recurrence of dream recall may be a marker of clinical recovery which can be used to assess neurologic improvement in patients undergoing treatment with experimental treatment modalities.

Adult↗

Dream recall: imagination, illusion and tough-mindedness.

The failure of dream psychology to delineate clear, consistent and interesting correlates of dream recall presents serious difficulties for the claim that dream recall is functionally significant. The present study examined the relation of six indices of boundary functioning and four measures of life affect to the consistency and frequency of dream recall in 373 young adults. Factor analysis indicated that consistency and frequency of dream recall were unrelated to global measures of boundary functioning, stress, depression, hassles and uplifts. On the assumption that the correlates of dream recall might be specific rather than global, 34 items from our expanded boundary questionnaire having significant zero order correlations with the frequency of dream recall were factor analyzed separately for consistent and inconsistent recallers. The two factors in each analysis were quite similar. Factor one was called the Imagination, factor two, Illusion. Among consistent recallers, dream recall and a group of items called "tough mindedness" loaded on the Imagination factor. For inconsistent recallers similar variables loaded on the Illusion factor. For all subjects, dream recall and tough mindedness were linked whether associated with Imagination or Illusion. The Imagination factor is creative and linked to dream recall for consistent recallers. Their illusion factor is frightening. For inconsistent recallers, the Illusion factor is linked to dreaming and is not frightening, and their Imagination factor is not creative. The stability-instability of dream generation and recall over time apparently results in the association of the dream recall tough-mindedness group of items with either the Imagination or Illusion factors.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

The dream in midlife women: its impact on mental health.

The current study examines the Dream in midlife women and its impact on mental health functioning. Ninety midlife women filled out a questionnaire examining Dream Status, Dream Success, Dream Content, and Dream Support, as well as mental health factors of depression, anxiety, and purpose-in-life. Neither early nor current Dream Status was not found to be significantly related to mental health factors. Partial support was found for the hypothesis that Dream Success is related to mental health factors. Early Dream Content related to career and current Dream Content related to both marriage/intimacy and career are related to positive performance on mental health factors. Dream Support is positively related both to Dream Success and to mental health factors while resistance to the Dream is not. The results are discussed in light of gender differences in the developmental function and impact of the Dream.

Adult↗