Dream Recall, Nightmares, and Aggression-Related Dream Content in Patients with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD)

Patients with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) enact their dreams, leading to enhanced dream recall. They report more negative emotions in their dreams, recall retrospective nightmares more frequently, and often experience more aggressive dreams. This study aims to understand dream characteristics...

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Main Authors: Ruben Jigalin, Michael Schredl
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.
Series:Sleep Science
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0045-1809924
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author Ruben Jigalin
Michael Schredl
author_facet Ruben Jigalin
Michael Schredl
author_sort Ruben Jigalin
collection DOAJ
description Patients with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) enact their dreams, leading to enhanced dream recall. They report more negative emotions in their dreams, recall retrospective nightmares more frequently, and often experience more aggressive dreams. This study aims to understand dream characteristics in REM sleep behavior disorder using both retrospective and prospective measures in a controlled sleep laboratory setting to address possible recall biases in retrospective dream recall frequency. The sample comprises 102 iRBD-diagnosed patients (21 women, 81 men; M = 64.08, SD = 11.27) and 208 healthy controls (136 women, 72 men; M = 30.08, SD = 12.03), all undergoing identical procedures of two consecutive nights in the sleep laboratory, enabling a robust comparative examination of dream patterns. Retrospective assessments revealed a higher frequency of dream recall in patients with iRBD, while no significant difference was observed in prospective assessments. Nightmares were also reported more frequently in retrospective assessments in iRBD patients compared to healthy controls. Aggressive dream content was more frequent in patients with iRBD compared to controls, a future prospective diary study might clarify whether this heightened aggression in dreams is related to waking-life traits.
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spelling doaj-art-e342b3ef91a843cfb6e7a3ffb0c63f182025-08-20T03:46:59ZengThieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.Sleep Science1984-06591984-006310.1055/s-0045-1809924Dream Recall, Nightmares, and Aggression-Related Dream Content in Patients with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD)Ruben Jigalin0https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4889-0992Michael Schredl1Sleep Laboratory, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, GermanySleep Laboratory, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, GermanyPatients with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) enact their dreams, leading to enhanced dream recall. They report more negative emotions in their dreams, recall retrospective nightmares more frequently, and often experience more aggressive dreams. This study aims to understand dream characteristics in REM sleep behavior disorder using both retrospective and prospective measures in a controlled sleep laboratory setting to address possible recall biases in retrospective dream recall frequency. The sample comprises 102 iRBD-diagnosed patients (21 women, 81 men; M = 64.08, SD = 11.27) and 208 healthy controls (136 women, 72 men; M = 30.08, SD = 12.03), all undergoing identical procedures of two consecutive nights in the sleep laboratory, enabling a robust comparative examination of dream patterns. Retrospective assessments revealed a higher frequency of dream recall in patients with iRBD, while no significant difference was observed in prospective assessments. Nightmares were also reported more frequently in retrospective assessments in iRBD patients compared to healthy controls. Aggressive dream content was more frequent in patients with iRBD compared to controls, a future prospective diary study might clarify whether this heightened aggression in dreams is related to waking-life traits.http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0045-1809924dream recallnightmaresREM sleep behavior disorderdream contentaggression
spellingShingle Ruben Jigalin
Michael Schredl
Dream Recall, Nightmares, and Aggression-Related Dream Content in Patients with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD)
Sleep Science
dream recall
nightmares
REM sleep behavior disorder
dream content
aggression
title Dream Recall, Nightmares, and Aggression-Related Dream Content in Patients with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD)
title_full Dream Recall, Nightmares, and Aggression-Related Dream Content in Patients with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD)
title_fullStr Dream Recall, Nightmares, and Aggression-Related Dream Content in Patients with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD)
title_full_unstemmed Dream Recall, Nightmares, and Aggression-Related Dream Content in Patients with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD)
title_short Dream Recall, Nightmares, and Aggression-Related Dream Content in Patients with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD)
title_sort dream recall nightmares and aggression related dream content in patients with rem sleep behavior disorder rbd
topic dream recall
nightmares
REM sleep behavior disorder
dream content
aggression
url http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0045-1809924
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