Age changes in dream recall in adulthood.

Giambra, Leonard M.; Jung, Rex E.; Grodsky, Alicia

doi:10.1037/h0094443

Cited by 61 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The present findings partly confirm previous results of Giambra et al (1996) who reported a decrease over a 6-year period for women but not for men. In the present data, there was neither an effect of age nor of gender on the decrease in dream recall frequency.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 95%

“…Even though there is an overall decrease in the total sample, it should kept in mind that for about 75% of the participants dream recall frequency remained quite stable; a finding which supports the retrospective study of Schredl et al (1996). The retest correlation was quite high (r ϭ .663), comparable with the values reported by Giambra et al (1996) who found a correlation of r ϭ .69 for women and r ϭ .75 for men. The question of interest is, of course, the reason(s) for the intraindividual decreases in dream recall frequency, at least in some adults.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

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Changes in dream recall frequency, nightmare frequency, and lucid dream frequency over a 3-year period.

Schredl¹,

Göritz²

2015

Dreaming

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Cross-sectional studies indicate that dream recall frequency declines with age; longitudinal studies, however, are scarce. The present data from 2 online dream studies in the same panel carried out independently (N ϭ 1,340 completed both surveys) indicate that there is an overall decline in dream recall frequency, nightmare frequency, and lucid dreaming frequency, even though for the majority of the sample the 3 variables remained quite stable over this time interval. The reasons for this decline are yet poorly understood. Future longitudinal studies should include cognitive measures (visual memory), personality measures (thin boundaries), sleep parameters, stress measures, and attitude toward dreams scales to test whether changes in these measures might explain the changes in the recall measures.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 95%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Changes in dream recall frequency, nightmare frequency, and lucid dream frequency over a 3-year period.

Schredl¹,

Göritz²

2015

Dreaming

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“…They are especially consistent with the finding that this DRF decrease occurs in early-to-middle adulthood rather than in later years (e.g., Herman and Shows, 1983; Giambra et al, 1996). We also demonstrate that this DRF decrease is preceded by a significant increase during adolescence, i.e., during the transition from ages 10–19 to 20–29.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Variations in Dream Recall Frequency and Dream Theme Diversity by Age and Sex

Nielsen

2012

Front. Neur.

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We assessed dream recall frequency (DRF) and dream theme diversity (DTD) with an internet questionnaire among a cohort of 28,888 male and female participants aged 10–79 years in a cross-sectional design. DRF increased from adolescence (ages 10–19) to early adulthood (20–29) and then decreased again for the next 20 years. The nature of this decrease differed for males and females. For males, it began earlier (30–39), proceeded more gradually, and reached a nadir earlier (40–49) than it did for females. For females, it began later (40–49), dropped more abruptly, and reached nadir later (50–59). Marked sex differences were observed for age strata 10–19 through 40–49 and year-by-year analyses estimated the window for these differences to be more precisely from 14 to 44 years. DTD decreased linearly with age for both sexes up to 50–59 and then dropped even more sharply for 60–79. There was a sex difference favoring males on this measure but only for ages 10–19. Findings replicate, in a single sample, those from several previous studies showing an increase in DRF from adolescence to early adulthood, a subsequent decrease primarily in early and middle adulthood, and different patterns of age-related decrease in the two sexes. Age-related changes in sleep structure, such as decreasing %REM sleep which parallel the observed dream recall changes, might help explain these findings, but these sleep changes are much smaller and more gradual in nature. Changes in the phase and amplitude of circadian rhythms of REM propensity and generational differences in life experiences may also account for some part of the findings. That decreases in DTD parallel known age-related decreases in episodic and autobiographical memory may signify that this new diversity measure indexes an aspect of autobiographical memory that also influences dream recall.

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“…A bulk of empirical evidence had made it clear that both the mechanisms underlying the encoding of episodic memory in sleep and wakefulness (De Gennaro et al 2011;Domhoff 2003;Marzano et al 2011a;Scarpelli et al 2015a;Schredl & Hoffmann 2003) and a specific electrophysiological background during sleep could affect the retrieval of the sleep mentation (De Gennaro et al 2010;Schredl 2009). On the one hand, frontal theta oscillations during REM sleep (Marzano et al 2011a;Scarpelli et al 2015a) and lower alpha power during NREM sleep (Esposito et al 2004;Marzano et al 2011a) predict the subsequent DR, and these patterns resemble the EEG pattern observed in wakefulness during a successful performance in episodic memory tasks (Addante et al 2011;Guderian et al 2009;Klimesch 1996Klimesch , 1999Klimesch et al 1996). Moreover, neuroimaging studies provided some support in favor of this perspective.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Actually, it should be mentioned that the most studies on dreaming in older subjects were carried out by using retrospective questionnaire that are affected by some memory biases. It should also be considered that the cognitive-mnestic impairment might affect the DR process upon awakening (Giambra et al 1996;Schredl 2009). Finally, individual factors like a reduced interest in dream (Strunz 1993) should be considered.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting Dream Recall: EEG Activation During NREM Sleep or Shared Mechanisms with Wakefulness?

et al. 2017

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The common knowledge of a uniqueness of REM sleep as a privileged scenario of dreaming still persists, although consolidated empirical evidence shows that the assumption that dreaming is just an epiphenomenon of REM sleep is no longer tenable. However, the brain mechanisms underlying dream generation and its encoding in memory during NREM sleep are still mostly unknown. In fact, only few studies have investigated on the mechanisms of dream phenomenology related to NREM sleep. For this reason, our study is specifically aimed to elucidate the electrophysiological (EEG) correlates of dream recall (DR) upon NREM sleep awakenings. Under the assumption that EEG activity predicts the presence/absence of DR also during NREM sleep, we have investigated whether DR from stage 2 NREM sleep shares similar brain mechanisms to those involved in the encoding of episodic memory during wakefulness, or it depends on the specific electrophysiological milieu of the sleep period along the desynchronized/synchronized EEG continuum. We collected DR from a multiple nap protocol in a within-subjects design. We found that DR is predicted by an extensive reduction of delta activity during the last segment of sleep, encompassing left frontal and temporo-parietal areas. The results could represent an update on the mechanisms underlying the sleep mentation during NREM sleep. In particular, they support the hypothesis that an increased cortical EEG activation is a prerequisite for DR, and they are not necessarily in conflict with the hypothesis of common wake-sleep mechanisms. We also confirmed that EEG correlates of DR depend on a state-like relationship.

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Age changes in dream recall in adulthood.

Cited by 61 publications

References 18 publications

Changes in dream recall frequency, nightmare frequency, and lucid dream frequency over a 3-year period.

Changes in dream recall frequency, nightmare frequency, and lucid dream frequency over a 3-year period.

Variations in Dream Recall Frequency and Dream Theme Diversity by Age and Sex

Predicting Dream Recall: EEG Activation During NREM Sleep or Shared Mechanisms with Wakefulness?

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