The relation of eye movements during sleep to dream activity: An objective method for the study of dreaming.

TLDR

Dream activity is traditionally assessed subjectively, but physiological markers such as rapid eye movements during sleep have been shown to correlate with dream recall, providing a potential objective measure. The study rigorously tests the relationship between eye movements and dreaming. Three methods were employed, including eliciting dream recall during REM or quiet periods without direct experimenter–subject contact. Rapid eye movements were confirmed to be associated with dreaming in both normal subjects and schizophrenics, occurring at regular intervals tied to cyclic changes in sleep depth. The study was supported by a grant from the Wallace C.

Abstract

The study of dream activity and its relation to physiological variables during sleep necessitates a reliable method of determining with precision when dreaming occurs. This knowledge, in the final analysis, always depends upon the subjective report of the dreamer, but becomes relatively objective if such reports can be significantly related to some physiological phenomena which in turn can be measured by physical techniques. Such a relationship was reported by Aserinsky and Kleitman (1) who observed periods of rapid, conjugate eye movements during sleep and found a high incidence of dream recall in Ss awakened during these periods and a low incidence when awakened at other times. The occurrence of these characteristic eye movements and their relation to dreaming were confirmed in both normal Ss and schizophrenics (4), and they were shown to appear at regular intervals in relation to a cyclic change in the depth of sleep during the night as measured by the EEC (5). This paper represents the results of a rigorous testing of the relation between eye movements and dreaming. Three approaches were used: (a) Dream recall during rapid eye movement or quiescent periods was elicited without direct contact between E and S, thus eliminating the 1 Postdoctoral Public Health Service Research Fellow of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness. 2 Aided by a grant from the Wallace C. and Clara A. Abbott Memorial Fund of the University of Chicago.