Mental time travel to the future might be reduced in sleep.
Abstract
We present a quantitative study of mental time travel to the future in sleep. Three independent, blind judges analysed a total of 563 physiology-monitored mentation reports from sleep onset, REM sleep, non-REM sleep, and waking. The linguistic tool for the mentation report analysis is based on established grammatical and cognitive-semantic theories and has been validated in previous studies. Our data indicate that REM and non-REM sleep must be characterized by a reduction in mental time travel to the future, which would support earlier physiological evidence at the level of brain function.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Cites
Tulving, E. (1985) · Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne · doi:10.1037/h0080017 · Cited by 4,638 · see citing works
Diekelmann, S., & Born, J. (2010) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2762 · Cited by 3,760 · see citing works
Rasch, B., & Born, J. (2013) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.00032.2012 · Cited by 2,783 · cited 1× · see citing works
“…physiological process of memory consolidation will express itself in the (dream) mentation, and a number of studies support the assumption that sleep does indeed play a role in replay and consolidation of declarative memories (and thus also episodic memories; see Rasch & Born, 2013, for a review).”
BackgroundRemembering the past to imagine the future: the prospective brain
Schacter, D. L., Addis, D. R., & Buckner, R. L. (2007) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2213 · Cited by 2,394 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Importantly, previous studies suggest that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex play a vital role for mental time travel to the future (Flinn, Geary, & Ward, 2005; Schacter et al., 2007; Suddendorf & Corballis, 2007).”
BackgroundResultMappings in Thought and Language
Fauconnier, G. (1997) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139174220 · Cited by 2,168 · see citing works
The evolution of foresight: What is mental time travel, and is it unique to humans?
Suddendorf, T., & Corballis, M. C. (2007) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x07001975 · Cited by 2,031 · see citing works
Addis, D. R., Wong, A. T., & Schacter, D. L. (2007) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.10.016 · Cited by 1,949 · see citing works
Toward a theory of episodic memory: The frontal lobes and autonoetic consciousness.
Wheeler, M. A., Stuss, D. T., & Tulving, E. (1997) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.121.3.331 · Cited by 1,751 · see citing works
Mental spaces : aspects of meaning construction in natural language
Fauconnier, G. (1994) · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Cited by 1,691 · see citing works
Patients with hippocampal amnesia cannot imagine new experiences
Hassabis, D., Kumaran, D., Vann, S. D., & Maguire, E. A. (2007) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0610561104 · Cited by 1,414 · see citing works
The future of memory: remembering, imagining, and the brain
Schacter, D. L., Addis, D. R., Hassabis, D., Martin, V. C., Spreng, R. N., & Szpunar, K. K. (2012) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2012.11.001 · Cited by 1,398 · see citing works
The role of sleep in learning and memory
Maquet, P. (2001) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1062856 · Cited by 1,177 · see citing works
Functional neuroanatomy of human rapid-eye-movement sleep and dreaming
Maquet, P., Péters, J.-M., Aerts, J., Delfiore, G., Degueldre, C., Luxen, A., & Franck, G. (1996) · Nature · doi:10.1038/383163a0 · Cited by 1,168 · see citing works
The brain's default network and its adaptive role in internal mentation
Andrews-Hanna, J. R. (2012) · The Neuroscientist · doi:10.1177/1073858411403316 · Cited by 1,114 · see citing works
Dreaming and the brain: toward a cognitive neuroscience of conscious states
Hobson, J. A., Pace-Schott, E. F., & Stickgold, R. (2000) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x00003976 · Cited by 985 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The M(odulation) axis depicts accompanying shifts in cholinergicaminergic neuromodulation (for details see Hobson et al., 2000).”
BackgroundThe Hippocampo-Neocortical Dialogue
Buzsáki, G. (1996) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/6.2.81 · Cited by 938 · see citing works
Sleep, learning, and dreams: off-line memory reprocessing
Stickgold, R., Hobson, J. A., Fosse, R., & Fosse, M. (2001) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1063530 · Cited by 762 · see citing works
The reinterpretation of dreams: An evolutionary hypothesis of the function of dreaming
Revonsuo, A. (2000) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x00004015 · Cited by 676 · see citing works
REM sleep and dreaming: towards a theory of protoconsciousness
Hobson, J. A. (2009) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2716 · Cited by 625 · see citing works
The Theta System – an overview
Reinhart, T. (2002) · Theoretical Linguistics · doi:10.1515/thli.28.3.229 · Cited by 598 · see citing works
The prefrontal cortex in sleep
Muzur, A., Pace-Schott, E. F., & Hobson, J. A. (2002) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/s1364-6613(02)01992-7 · Cited by 571 · see citing works
Prefrontal atrophy, disrupted NREM slow waves and impaired hippocampal-dependent memory in aging
Mander, B. A., Rao, V. R., Lu, B. S., Saletin, J., Lindquist, J. R., Ancoli‐Israel, S., Jagust, W. J., & Walker, M. P. (2013) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.3324 · Cited by 565 · see citing works
Takashima, A., Petersson, K. M., Rutters, F., Tendolkar, I., Jensen, O., Zwarts, M. J., McNaughton, B. L., & Fernández, G. (2006) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0507774103 · Cited by 557 · see citing works
Klein, S. B., Loftus, J., & Kihlstrom, J. F. (2002) · Social Cognition · doi:10.1521/soco.20.5.353.21125 · Cited by 553 · see citing works
The Lexicon-Syntax Parameter: Reflexivization and Other Arity Operations
Reinhart, T., & Siloni, T. (2005) · Linguistic Inquiry · doi:10.1162/0024389054396881 · Cited by 544 · see citing works
"Memory of the future": an essay on the temporal organization of conscious awareness.
Ingvar, D. H. (1985) · PubMed · Cited by 519 · see citing works
Functional Neuroanatomy of Human Slow Wave Sleep
Maquet, P., Degueldre, C., Delfiore, G., Aerts, J. J., Peters, J., Luxen, A., & Franck, G. (1997) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.17-08-02807.1997 · Cited by 514 · see citing works
Caeyenberghs, K., Leemans, A., Leunissen, I., Michiels, K., & Swinnen, S. P. (2013) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00726 · Cited by 462 · see citing works
Psychobiology of Altered States of Consciousness.
Vaitl, D., Birbaumer, N., Gruzelier, J., Jamieson, G. A., Kotchoubey, B., Kübler, A., Lehmann, D., Miltner, W. H. R., Ott, U., Pütz, P., et al. (2005) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.98 · Cited by 448 · see citing works
Piolino, P. (2003) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/awg222 · Cited by 396 · see citing works
Dreaming and episodic memory: a functional dissociation?
Fosse, M. J., Fosse, R., Hobson, J. A., & Stickgold, R. J. (2003) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/089892903321107774 · Cited by 388 · see citing works
Benoit, R. G., & Schacter, D. L. (2015) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.06.034 · Cited by 366 · see citing works
Ecological dominance, social competition, and coalitionary arms races
Flinn, M. V., Geary, D. C., & Ward, C. V. (2005) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2004.08.005 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
Botzung, A., Denkova, E., & Manning, L. (2007) · Brain and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2007.07.011 · Cited by 327 · see citing works
The neuropsychology of REM sleep dreaming
Hobson, J. A., Stickgold, R., & Pace-Schott, E. F. (1998) · Neuroreport · doi:10.1097/00001756-199802160-00033 · Cited by 319 · see citing works
Tracking the construction of episodic future thoughts
D'Argembeau, A., & Mathy, A. (2011) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/a0022581 · Cited by 294 · see citing works
Mappings in thought and language
(1998) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.35-3591 · Cited by 286 · see citing works
Episodic memory and autonoetic consciousness: a first–person approach
Gardiner, J. M. (2001) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2001.0955 · Cited by 285 · see citing works
REM and NREM sleep reports: comparison of word frequencies by cognitive classes
Antrobus, J. (1983) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1983.tb03015.x · Cited by 215 · see citing works
Stawarczyk, D., & D'Argembeau, A. (2015) · Human Brain Mapping · doi:10.1002/hbm.22818 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
The Handbook of contemporary syntactic theory
(2001) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.38-4298 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
A role for the hippocampus in encoding simulations of future events
Martin, V. C., Schacter, D. L., Corballis, M. C., & Addis, D. R. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1105816108 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Stickgold, R., Malia, A., Fosse, R., Propper, R., & Hobson, J. A. (2001) · Sleep · doi:10.1093/sleep/24.2.171 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
The threat simulation theory in light of recent empirical evidence: a review
VALLI, K., & REVONSUO, A. (2009) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.2307/27784372 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Austrian dream behavior: Results of a representative population survey.
Stepansky, R., Holzinger, B., Schmeiser-Rieder, A., Saletu, B., Kunze, M., & Zeitlhofer, J. (1998) · Dreaming · doi:10.1023/b:drem.0000005912.77493.d6 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Speth, J., Speth, C., Kaelen, M., Schloerscheidt, A. M., Feilding, A., Nutt, D., & Carhart-Harris, R. (2016) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/0269881116628430 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Self-citationBrain-mind states: reciprocal variation in thoughts and hallucinations
Fosse, R., Stickgold, R., & Hobson, J. A. (2001) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00306 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Baylor, G. W., & Corrado Cavallero, P. (2001) · SLEEP · doi:10.1093/sleep/24.2.165 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Nightcap: Laboratory and home‐based evaluation of a portable sleep monitor
Ajilore, O., Stickgold, R., Rittenhouse, C. D., & Hobson, J. A. (1995) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1995.tb03410.x · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Weiler, J. A., Suchan, B., & Daum, I. (2010) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.20695 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Klein, S. B., Robertson, T. E., & Delton, A. W. (2011) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658211.2010.537827 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Abraham, A., von Cramon, D. Y., & Schubotz, R. I. (2008) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn.2008.20059 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Stickgold, R., Pace-Schott, E., & Hobson, J. A. (1994) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1006/ccog.1994.1002 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Inducing involuntary and voluntary mental time travel using a laboratory paradigm
Cole, S. N., Staugaard, S. R., & Berntsen, D. (2015) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/s13421-015-0564-9 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Dreaming and consciousness: Testing the threat simulation theory of the function of dreaming.
Revonsuo, A., & Valli, K. (2000) · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Slow-wave sleep, acetylcholine, and memory consolidation
Power, A. E. (2004) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0400237101 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Personality and mental time travel: A differential approach to autonoetic consciousness
Quoidbach, J., Hansenne, M., & Mottet, C. (2008) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2008.04.002 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up
Hobson, A. J. (2009) · International journal of dream research · doi:10.11588/ijodr.2009.2.403 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Dream-associated Behaviors Affecting Pregnant and Postpartum Women.
Nielsen, T., & Paquette, T. (2007) · SLEEP · doi:10.1093/sleep/30.9.1162 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Nightcap: A Reliable System for Determining Sleep Onset Latency
Cantero, J. L., Atienza, M., Stickgold, R., & Hobson, J. A. (2002) · SLEEP · doi:10.1093/sleep/25.2.238 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Hobson, A. J., & Schredl, M. (2011) · International journal of dream research · doi:10.11588/ijodr.2011.1.9087 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Wamsley, E. J. (2013) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00637 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Clinical Characteristics of Primary Insomniacs with Sleep-State Misperception
Moon, H., Song, M. L., & Cho, Y. W. (2015) · Journal of Clinical Neurology · doi:10.3988/jcn.2015.11.4.358 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Ackema, P., & Marelj, M. (2012) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199602513.003.0009 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Will students pass a competitive exam that they failed in their dreams?
Arnulf, I., Grosliere, L., Le Corvec, T., Golmard, J.-L., Lascols, O., & Duguet, A. (2014) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2014.06.010 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Speth, C., & Speth, J. (2016) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2016.01.009 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Self-citationGruber, J. S. (2001) · doi:10.1002/9780470756416.ch9 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Speth, J., Frenzel, C., & Voss, U. (2013) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2013.07.003 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citationSpeth, J., Speth, C., & Harley, T. A. (2015) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2015.07.005 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Self-citationSpeth, J., & Speth, C. (2016) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.04.010 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Self-citationSpeth, J., Schloerscheidt, A. M., & Speth, C. (2016) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2016.08.014 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationAuditory Verbal Experience and Agency in Waking, Sleep Onset, REM, and Non‐REM Sleep
Speth, J., Harley, T. A., & Speth, C. (2016) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.12363 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Constructive episodic simulation in dreams
Wamsley, E. J. (2022) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0264574 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
- Authors
- Speth, J., Schloerscheidt, A. M., & Speth, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Dundee (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Speth, Jana
- Venue
- Consciousness and Cognition
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-02
- Volume
- 48
- Pages
- 180-189
- ISSN
- 1053-8100 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2560550317
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 72
- Citations by year
- 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 0.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Consciousness and Cognition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Discovery Research Portal (University of Dundee) (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Keywords
- mental time travel, sleep, REM sleep, NREM sleep, sleep onset, semantic-cognitive analysis
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Dreams, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Recall, Sleep Stages, Sleep, REM, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review