title: The neural correlates of dreaming.
abstract: Consciousness never fades during waking. However, when awakened from sleep, we sometimes recall dreams and sometimes recall no experiences. Traditionally, dreaming has been identified with rapid eye-movement (REM) sleep, characterized by wake-like, globally 'activated', high-frequency electroencephalographic activity. However, dreaming also occurs in non-REM (NREM) sleep, characterized by prominent low-frequency activity. This challenges our understanding of the neural correlates of conscious experiences in sleep. Using high-density electroencephalography, we contrasted the presence and absence of dreaming in NREM and REM sleep. In both NREM and REM sleep, reports of dream experience were associated with local decreases in low-frequency activity in posterior cortical regions. High-frequency activity in these regions correlated with specific dream contents. Monitoring this posterior 'hot zone' in real time predicted whether an individual reported dreaming or the absence of dream experiences during NREM sleep, suggesting that it may constitute a core correlate of conscious experiences in sleep.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.|Center for Research and Investigation in Sleep (CIRS), Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Siclari
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baird
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.|Sleep Laboratory, Division of Pneumology, Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), Geneva, Switzerland.|Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lampros
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Perogamvros
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.|Center for Research and Investigation in Sleep (CIRS), Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|IMT School for Advanced Studies, Lucca, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4045-7075
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bernardi
authors.affiliation: Medical Scientist Training Program and Neuroscience Training Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: LaRocque
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Brady
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Riedner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.|Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9584-0907
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boly
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.|Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Bradley R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Postle
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tononi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004325:Dreams / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult