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Clocks & Sleep
Special Issues
Dream and Sleep
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Dream and Sleep

A special issue of Clocks & Sleep (ISSN 2624-5175). This special issue belongs to the section "Human Basic Research & Neuroimaging".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 31915

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sarah Chellappa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Interests: circadian rhythms; sleep; cognition; affective control; dreaming; aging; mental health
Dr. Francesca Siclari

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Centre for Investigation and Research in Sleep (CIRS), Lausanne, Switzerland
Interests: dreaming; consciousness; sleep perception; parasomnias; high-density EEG

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Dreams are experiences that happen during sleep while the human brain is disconnected from its surroundings. Content analysis and developmental studies have helped to promote our understanding of the dream phenomenology. Recent progress in neuroimaging techniques have advanced our knowledge of the neural basis of dreaming, as they allow relating dream features to specific patterns of brain activity. Importantly, dreaming is not only relevant as a unique human experience, but has diagnostic value, for instance in patients with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, who often experience negative affective dream content and replay negative daytime events and emotions in their dreams. Likewise, some neurological conditions can be associated with lucid dreams and parasonmias. Therefore, dreaming is reflected in physiological signals, behaviours, and brain activity patterns, with implications for health and disease. In this Special Issue, we invite submissions addressing different aspects of dreams, including – but not limited to – sleep/circadian mechanisms, and brain activity (using e.g. imaging, eletrophysiological techniques) underlying dreaming. We also encourage submissions of studies on patients who show altered dreaming, including modifications in dream recall and affective content. We look forward to your submission, which will contribute to the growing and ever so fascinating field of dreams and sleep.

Dr. Sarah Chellappa
Dr. Francesca Siclari
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Clocks & Sleep is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Dreaming
  • dream recall
  • daydreaming
  • lucid dreams
  • affective control
  • sleep
  • circadian
  • conciousness
  • brain imaging
  • EEG activity.

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 247 KiB  
Article
Combining Wake-Up-Back-to-Bed with Cognitive Induction Techniques: Does Earlier Sleep Interruption Reduce Lucid Dream Induction Rate?
by Daniel Erlacher, Vitus Furrer, Matthias Ineichen, John Braillard and Daniel Schmid
Clocks & Sleep 2022, 4(2), 230-239; https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep4020021 - 20 Apr 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5312
Abstract
Lucid dreaming offers the chance to investigate dreams from within a dream and by real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep. This state of consciousness opens a new experimental venue for dream research. However, laboratory study in this field is limited [...] Read more.
Lucid dreaming offers the chance to investigate dreams from within a dream and by real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep. This state of consciousness opens a new experimental venue for dream research. However, laboratory study in this field is limited due to the rarity of lucid dreamers. In a previous study, we were able to induce in 50% of the participants a lucid dream in a single sleep laboratory night by combining a wake-up-back-to-bed (WBTB) sleep routine and a mnemonic method (Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams, MILD). In three experiments, we tried to replicate our earlier findings while we adapted our procedure in shortening (Exp1–3: 4.5 vs. 6 h of uninterrupted sleep in the first half of the night), simplifying (Exp2: time-based wakening vs. REM wakening in the second half of the night), and applying another induction technique (Exp3: reality testing vs. MILD). In the three conditions, four out of 15 (26%), zero out of 20 (0%), and three out of 15 (20%) participants reported a lucid dream. Compared to the original study, the earlier sleep interruption seems to reduce the lucid dream induction rate. Furthermore, without REM awakenings in the morning, lucid dream induction failed, whereas reality testing showed a lower success rate compared to MILD. Further systematic sleep laboratory studies are needed to develop reliable techniques for lucid dream research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dream and Sleep)
15 pages, 1689 KiB  
Article
Circadian and Sleep Modulation of Dreaming in Women with Major Depression
by Angelina Birchler-Pedross, Sylvia Frey, Christian Cajochen and Sarah L. Chellappa
Clocks & Sleep 2022, 4(1), 114-128; https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep4010012 - 28 Feb 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3523
Abstract
Growing evidence indicates an association between reduced dream recall and depressive symptomatology. Here, we tested the prediction that reduced dream recall in individuals experiencing major depressive disorder (MDD) is due to alterations in circadian and sleep processes. Nine young healthy women (20–31 years) [...] Read more.
Growing evidence indicates an association between reduced dream recall and depressive symptomatology. Here, we tested the prediction that reduced dream recall in individuals experiencing major depressive disorder (MDD) is due to alterations in circadian and sleep processes. Nine young healthy women (20–31 years) and eight young unmedicated women (20–31 years) diagnosed with MDD underwent a 40 h multiple nap protocol with ten alternating cycles of 150 min wake/75 min sleep under a stringently controlled circadian laboratory protocol. After each nap, we assessed dream recall, number of dreams and dream emotional load using the Sleep Mentation Questionnaire. Dream recall and the number of dreams did not significantly differ between groups (pFDR > 0.1). However, there was a significant difference for the dream emotional load (interaction of “Group” vs. “Time”, pFDR = 0.01). Women with MDD had a two-fold higher (negative) emotional load as compared to healthy control women, particularly after naps during the circadian night (between ~22:00 h and ~05:00 h; Tukey–Kramer test, p = 0.009). Furthermore, higher (negative) dream emotional load was associated with impaired mood levels in both groups (R2 = 0.71; p < 0.001). Our findings suggest that the circadian and sleep modulation of dreaming may remain intact in unmedicated young women experiencing MDD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dream and Sleep)
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6 pages, 223 KiB  
Article
Clocks in Dreams: Analysis of a Long Dream Series
by Michael Schredl
Clocks & Sleep 2021, 3(4), 609-614; https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep3040043 - 24 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3242
Abstract
Many dream content analytic studies focus on dream characters, animals, social interactions and so on, but they rarely analyze the frequency of everyday objects in dreams. In the present paper, the frequency and phenomenology of clock dreams in a dream series of 12,476 [...] Read more.
Many dream content analytic studies focus on dream characters, animals, social interactions and so on, but they rarely analyze the frequency of everyday objects in dreams. In the present paper, the frequency and phenomenology of clock dreams in a dream series of 12,476 dreams of a single male dreamer was analyzed. The clock dreams (0.74% of all dreams) show a variety of contexts not only related to the time management of the dreamer within the dream. Interestingly, clocks that belong to the dreamer in waking life occurred very rarely in his dreams. Given that keeping time schedules and appointments in waking life is of importance to almost everyone, the low frequency of clock dreams might be explained by novelty, that is, waking-life experiences that repeat themselves regularly do not show up in dreams that often. Thus, studying everyday objects such as clocks in dreams might help refine the current models describing the continuity between waking and dreaming. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dream and Sleep)
18 pages, 297 KiB  
Article
Nightmares in Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Their Typically Developing Peers
by Rabya Mughal, Siu Sing Wong, Dagmara Dimitriou and Elizabeth Halstead
Clocks & Sleep 2021, 3(3), 465-481; https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep3030033 - 16 Sep 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3935
Abstract
Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) experience significantly higher rates of sleep disturbances than their typically developing (TD) peers. Pre-sleep anxiety and waking emotional content is known to affect the content and frequency of nightmares, which can [...] Read more.
Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) experience significantly higher rates of sleep disturbances than their typically developing (TD) peers. Pre-sleep anxiety and waking emotional content is known to affect the content and frequency of nightmares, which can be distressing to children and caregivers. This is the first study to analyse nightmare frequency and content in FASD, and to assess its association with psychometric outcomes. Using online caregiver questionnaires, we assessed reports from 277 caregivers of children with ASD (n = 61), FASD (n = 112), and TD children (n = 104) using the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS), and the Behaviour Rating Inventory for Executive Functioning (BRIEF). Within the ASD group, 40.3% of caregivers reported their children had nightmares. Within the FASD group, 73.62% of caregivers reported their children had nightmares, and within the TD group, 21.36% of caregivers reported their children had nightmares. Correlation analysis revealed significant associations between anxiety and nightmares, maladaptive behaviour and nightmares, and executive functioning and nightmares in the TD and FASD groups, but not ASD group. This paper adds to the emerging body of work supporting the need for sleep interventions as part of clinical practice with regard to children with ASD and FASD. As a relatively niche but important area of study, this warrants much needed further research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dream and Sleep)
9 pages, 226 KiB  
Article
Partners and Ex-Partners in Dreams: A Diary Study
by Michael Schredl and Lara C. Wood
Clocks & Sleep 2021, 3(2), 289-297; https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep3020018 - 26 May 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4076
Abstract
Romantic relationships are an important part of human life and thus, according to the continuity hypothesis of dreaming, one’s romantic partner should show up in dreams quite frequently. The present study is based on 1612 dream reports provided by 425 students. The findings [...] Read more.
Romantic relationships are an important part of human life and thus, according to the continuity hypothesis of dreaming, one’s romantic partner should show up in dreams quite frequently. The present study is based on 1612 dream reports provided by 425 students. The findings confirmed the hypothesis that partner dreams are more frequent than ex-partner dreams and, thus, support the continuity hypothesis of dreaming. Moreover, interactions with ex-partners within the dream were more often negatively toned compared to dreamed interactions with the partner. Unexpectedly, we also found more positive emotions and friendliness in ex-partner dreams compared to partner dreams, indicating that partner dreams are more mundane. To conclude, dreams reflect important aspects of romantic partnerships and their break-ups and, thus, can be very helpful in psychotherapy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dream and Sleep)

Review

Jump to: Research

20 pages, 321 KiB  
Review
The Language of Dreams: Application of Linguistics-Based Approaches for the Automated Analysis of Dream Experiences
by Valentina Elce, Giacomo Handjaras and Giulio Bernardi
Clocks & Sleep 2021, 3(3), 495-514; https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep3030035 - 19 Sep 2021
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 5930
Abstract
The study of dreams represents a crucial intersection between philosophical, psychological, neuroscientific, and clinical interests. Importantly, one of the main sources of insight into dreaming activity are the (oral or written) reports provided by dreamers upon awakening from their sleep. Classically, two main [...] Read more.
The study of dreams represents a crucial intersection between philosophical, psychological, neuroscientific, and clinical interests. Importantly, one of the main sources of insight into dreaming activity are the (oral or written) reports provided by dreamers upon awakening from their sleep. Classically, two main types of information are commonly extracted from dream reports: structural and semantic, content-related information. Extracted structural information is typically limited to the simple count of words or sentences in a report. Instead, content analysis usually relies on quantitative scores assigned by two or more (blind) human operators through the use of predefined coding systems. Within this review, we will show that methods borrowed from the field of linguistic analysis, such as graph analysis, dictionary-based content analysis, and distributional semantics approaches, could be used to complement and, in many cases, replace classical measures and scales for the quantitative structural and semantic assessment of dream reports. Importantly, these methods allow the direct (operator-independent) extraction of quantitative information from language data, hence enabling a fully objective and reproducible analysis of conscious experiences occurring during human sleep. Most importantly, these approaches can be partially or fully automatized and may thus be easily applied to the analysis of large datasets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dream and Sleep)
6 pages, 234 KiB  
Review
Dream Recall/Affect and the Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis
by Athanasios Tselebis, Emmanouil Zoumakis and Ioannis Ilias
Clocks & Sleep 2021, 3(3), 403-408; https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep3030027 - 22 Jul 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3958
Abstract
In this concise review, we present an overview of research on dream recall/affect and of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, discussing caveats regarding the action of hormones of the HPA axis (mainly cortisol and its free form, cortisol-binding globulin and glucocorticoid receptors). We present [...] Read more.
In this concise review, we present an overview of research on dream recall/affect and of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, discussing caveats regarding the action of hormones of the HPA axis (mainly cortisol and its free form, cortisol-binding globulin and glucocorticoid receptors). We present results of studies regarding dream recall/affect and the HPA axis under physiological (such as waking) or pathological conditions (such as in Cushing’s syndrome or stressful situations). Finally, we try to integrate the effect of the current COVID-19 situation with dream recall/affect vis-à-vis the HPA axis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dream and Sleep)
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