title: What physicians need to know about dreams and dreaming.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  An overview of the current status of dream science is given, designed to provide a basic background of this field for the sleep-interested physician.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No cognitive state has been more extensively studied and is yet more misunderstood than dreaming. Much older work is methodologically limited by lack of definitions, small sample size, and constraints of theoretical perspective, with evidence equivocal as to whether any special relationship exists between rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and dreaming. As the relationship between dreams and REM sleep is so poorly defined, evidence-based studies of dreaming require a dream report. The different aspects of dreaming that can be studied include dream and nightmare recall frequency, dream content, dreaming effect on waking behaviors, dream/nightmare associated medications, and pathophysiology affecting dreaming.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Whether studied from behavioral, neuroanatomical, neurochemical, pathophysiological or electrophysiological perspectives, dreaming reveals itself to be a complex cognitive state affected by a wide variety of medical, psychological, sleep and social variables.
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado School of Medicine and Medical Director, Sleep Disorders Center of Southern Colorado and Sleepworks Sleep Laboratory, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. Pueo34@earthlink.net
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Pagel
mesh_terms: D002491:Central Nervous System Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D004325:Dreams / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D020447:Parasomnias / Q000503:physiopathology; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002491:Central Nervous System Agents