Michelle Carr1, Cloé Blanchette-Carrière1, Louis-Philippe Marquis2, Cher Tieng Ting3, Tore Nielsen4. 1. Dream & Nightmare Laboratory, Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada. 2. Dream & Nightmare Laboratory, Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada. 3. Dream & Nightmare Laboratory, Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Montréal, Canada. 4. Dream & Nightmare Laboratory, Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada. Electronic address: tore.nielsen@umontreal.ca.
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate whether nightmare (NM) sufferers exhibit an abnormal network of emotional semantic associations as measured by a recently developed, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep-sensitive, associational breadth (AB) task. DESIGN: NM sufferers were compared to healthy controls (CTL) for their performance on an emotional AB task containing positive and negative cue words both before and after a nap with REM sleep. AB was assessed in both a priming condition, where cue words were explicitly memorized before sleep, and a non-priming condition, where cue words were not memorized. Performance was assessed again 1 week later. SETTING: The study was conducted in a sleep laboratory with polysomnographic recording at the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-eight participants between the ages of 18 and 35 years (Mage = 23.3 ± 3.4) were included in the study. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The NM group scored higher than the CTL group on both positive and negative AB, with group differences persisting at the 1-week retest. However, the two groups did not differ as expected in the AB priming effect following REM sleep. Both groups showed decreased REM sleep-related AB priming for negative cue words and increased AB priming for positive cue words. However, the NM group maintained these effects 1 week later, whereas the CTL group did not. CONCLUSIONS: NM sufferers may access broader than normal emotional semantic networks in the wake state, a difference that may lead to this group being perceived as more creative. The fact that the AB priming effect is maintained at the 1-week retest for NM sufferers suggests that the presence of frequent NMs may alter REM sleep-dependent emotional processes over time.
STUDY OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate whether nightmare (NM) sufferers exhibit an abnormal network of emotional semantic associations as measured by a recently developed, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep-sensitive, associational breadth (AB) task. DESIGN: NM sufferers were compared to healthy controls (CTL) for their performance on an emotional AB task containing positive and negative cue words both before and after a nap with REM sleep. AB was assessed in both a priming condition, where cue words were explicitly memorized before sleep, and a non-priming condition, where cue words were not memorized. Performance was assessed again 1 week later. SETTING: The study was conducted in a sleep laboratory with polysomnographic recording at the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-eight participants between the ages of 18 and 35 years (Mage = 23.3 ± 3.4) were included in the study. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The NM group scored higher than the CTL group on both positive and negative AB, with group differences persisting at the 1-week retest. However, the two groups did not differ as expected in the AB priming effect following REM sleep. Both groups showed decreased REM sleep-related AB priming for negative cue words and increased AB priming for positive cue words. However, the NM group maintained these effects 1 week later, whereas the CTL group did not. CONCLUSIONS: NM sufferers may access broader than normal emotional semantic networks in the wake state, a difference that may lead to this group being perceived as more creative. The fact that the AB priming effect is maintained at the 1-week retest for NM sufferers suggests that the presence of frequent NMs may alter REM sleep-dependent emotional processes over time.
Authors: Annika Gieselmann; Malik Ait Aoudia; Michelle Carr; Anne Germain; Robert Gorzka; Brigitte Holzinger; Birgit Kleim; Barry Krakow; Anna E Kunze; Jaap Lancee; Michael R Nadorff; Tore Nielsen; Dieter Riemann; Hinuga Sandahl; Angelika A Schlarb; Carolin Schmid; Michael Schredl; Victor I Spoormaker; Regina Steil; Annette M van Schagen; Lutz Wittmann; Maria Zschoche; Reinhard Pietrowsky Journal: J Sleep Res Date: 2019-01-29 Impact factor: 3.981