What Are the Biological Mechanisms of Dream Abnormalities?

In this paper, we sought to understand both the biological and psychological mechanisms responsible for dream abnormalities, in hopes to use the information to improve our relationships with sleep and dreams and to understand these concepts on a deeper level. Previous research has predicted dream abnormalities by variables such as sleep fragmentation, altered sleep architecture, and the involvement of the prefrontal cortex. In our correlational study, we tested the strength of these relationships by examining naturalistic daily changes in their variables longitudinally over a two-week period. We used Fitbit devices to measure both sleep fragmentation (by the number of sleep interruptions) and REM sleep amounts, and used subjective scales to measure prefrontal cortex activity during REM sleep (by the level of risk-taking and impulsive behaviour in dreams), the lucidity of dreams, and the nightmarish nature of dreams. Though it varied across participants, data pooled in our correlation study showed that there was a significant correlation of nightmares and lucid dreaming with sleep fragmentation, altered sleep architecture, and prefrontal cortex activity during REM sleep. This correlational study supports the role of these biological mechanisms in producing dream abnormalities.Supervising Instructor & Course Number: Michael Pollock, Psyc 215 (“Biological Psychology”