Rev Neurol. 2021 Jun 16;72(12):411-418. doi: 10.33588/rn.7212.2020595.
ABSTRACT
AIM: The aim of this study is to determine whether there are any differences in the dream content in different sleep disorders and to describe their characteristics.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied four sleep disorders: sleep apnoea and hypopnoea syndrome (SAHS), primary insomnia (PI), idiopathic REM sleep behaviour disorder (IRBD) and narcolepsy type I. Each patient was asked to keep a dream diary for two weeks. The content of the diaries was transcribed and analysed for length, mental content, complexity and threat. The results were compared to establish differences.
RESULTS: Eighty-nine patients were studied: 23 with SAHS without continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) who had the highest number of dreams involving threats (32.5%); 19 with SAHS treated with CPAP who had the highest number of dreams involving objects (64.8%), descriptive elements (38%) and higher complexity (9.5%); 22 with primary insomnia who had the highest number of dreams with threatening events in the social sphere (57.7%); 12 with IRBD who had the highest number of dreams with failures (14%) and lower complexity (71.7%); and 13 with narcolepsy type I who had the highest number of dreams related to activities (84.3%) and threats to life (41.4%) These differences were statistically significant (p <0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Different sleep disorders are associated with different dream contents, which would be translating different underlying neurological processes. These findings should be replicated in studies that analyse more patients and add a control group without sleep disorders.
PMID:34109996 | DOI:10.33588/rn.7212.2020595
