Dreaming of the sleep lab

Abstract

The phenomenon of dreaming about the laboratory when participating in a sleep study is common. The content of such dreams draws upon episodic memory fragments of the participant’s lab experience, generally, experimenters, electrodes, the lab setting, and experimental tasks. However, as common as such dreams are, they have rarely been given a thorough quantitative or qualitative treatment. Here we assessed 528 dreams (N = 343 participants) collected in a Montreal sleep lab to 1) evaluate state and trait factors related to such dreams, and 2) investigate the phenomenology of lab incorporations using a new scoring system. Lab incorporations occurred in over a third (35.8%) of all dreams and were especially likely to occur in REM sleep (44.2%) or from morning naps (48.4%). They tended to be related to higher depression scores, but not to sex, nightmare-proneness or anxiety. Common themes associated with lab incorporation were: Meta-dreaming, including lucid dreams and false awakenings (40.7%), Sensory incorporations (27%), Wayfinding to, from or within the lab (24.3%), Sleep as performance (19.6%), Friends/Family in the lab (15.9%) and Being an object of observation (12.2%). Finally, 31.7% of the lab incorporation dreams included relative projections into a near future (e.g., the experiment having been completed), but very few projections into the past (2.6%). Results clarify sleep stage and sleep timing factors associated with dreamed lab incorporations. Phenomenological findings further reveal both the typical and unique ways in which lab memory elements are incorporated de novo into dreaming. Identified themes point to frequent social and skillful dream scenarios that entail monitoring of one’s current state (in the lab) and projection of the self into dream environments elaborated around local space and time. The findings have implications for understanding fundamental dream formation mechanisms but also for appreciating both the advantages and methodological pitfalls of conducting laboratory-based dream collection.

Dreaming of the sleep lab is associated with improved performance on a sign language learning task: A pilot study.

“…A possible explanation for the minimal ASL incorporation into dreams is that dreaming may prioritize incorporation of the novel experience of being in the sleep laboratory, over the relatively less salient ASL learning task. This is consistent with recent research reporting that 55.3% of morning REM nap dreams incorporate elements of the laboratory into dream content (Picard-Deland, Nielsen, & Carr, 2021).…”

The relationship between different bispectral index and the occurrence of dreams in elective surgery under general anesthesia: protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial

“…When this stage of sleep was first described in humans, researchers quickly noticed that people who awakened from REM sleep often reported dreaming (in 74% of cases, only 17% of non-REM [NREM] sleep). Therefore, dreaming is equivalent to rapid eye movement sleep, and this concept seems to be consistent with the electrophysiological characteristics of this sleep stage: closing the eyeballs under the eyelids, as if the sleeper is watching an animated scene [ 3 , 4 ]. General anesthesia causes a drug-induced state of unconsciousness and is a non-physiological process that is similar to natural sleep.…”

Memory reactivations during sleep: a neural basis of dream experiences?

“…Nonetheless, the projection of a dream-self in space is a common structuring mechanism of dream experience [57]. Wayfinding behaviors, where the dreamer explores the dream environment, are common in dreams collected in the laboratory [58] and participants dream about mazes or other exploratory behavior after being tested on virtual maze tasks [42][43][44]. However, dream locations and environments are often vague and discontinuous [59].…”

“…Experimentally induced incorporations into dreams are also common for non-spatial tasks, such as motor [44], visuo-olfactive [45] and declarative [46] learning. Interestingly, dreams relate not only to past waking life events but can also incorporate anticipated events (e.g., [60,61]), especially during late-night dreaming [41,58], which may be analogous to imaginary or prospective replays. Simulation of potential future scenarios has even been suggested as the core biological function of dreaming [62,63].…”

“…Similarly, dreams frequently incorporate memory elements but they rarely replay them in their original entirety [58,69,94]. Indeed, a high similarity between dream content and the actual episodic experience occurs in less than 2% of dreams [39,111].…”