The dream-lag effect: selective processing of personally significant events during rapid eye movement sleep, but not during slow wave sleep
Open accessAbstract
Incorporation of details from waking life events into Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep dreams has been found to be highest on the night after, and then 5-7 nights after events (termed, respectively, the day-residue and dream-lag effects). In experiment 1, 44 participants kept a daily log for 10 days, reporting major daily activities (MDAs), personally significant events (PSEs), and major concerns (MCs). Dream reports were collected from REM and Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) in the laboratory, or from REM sleep at home. The dream-lag effect was found for the incorporation of PSEs into REM dreams collected at home, but not for MDAs or MCs. No dream-lag effect was found for SWS dreams, or for REM dreams collected in the lab after SWS awakenings earlier in the night. In experiment 2, the 44 participants recorded reports of their spontaneously recalled home dreams over the 10 nights following the instrumental awakenings night, which thus acted as a controlled stimulus with two salience levels, high (sleep lab) and low (home awakenings). The dream-lag effect was found for the incorporation into home dreams of references to the experience of being in the sleep laboratory, but only for participants who had reported concerns beforehand about being in the sleep laboratory. The delayed incorporation of events from daily life into dreams has been proposed to reflect REM sleep-dependent memory consolidation. However, an alternative emotion processing or emotional impact of events account, distinct from memory consolidation, is supported by the finding that SWS dreams do not evidence the dream-lag effect.
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Delayed incorporation of daytime events holds for REM sleep dreams but not NREM-DE.
“This delayed incorporation of daytime events has been found to hold for REM sleep dreams but not NREM-DE (Blagrove et al., 2011; van Rijn et al., 2015).”
From The Functional Role of Dreaming in Emotional Processes (2019) · cites this paper as van Rijn et al., 2015
The Introduction states that the dream-lag effect holds for REM dreams but not N2 dreams. The paper’s own results (Abstract; REM sleep dreams results) found it for personally significant events in REM dreams collected at home, but not for other daytime-event categories or REM dreams collected in the laboratory; it was also absent from slow-wave-sleep dreams. The claim omits those limits on when delayed incorporation was observed. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSome dream experiences could incorporate waking events.
“In other words, some dream experiences could incorporate waking events.48–51”
From Spotlight on dream recall: the ages of dreams (2018) · cites this paper as [48]
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Flagged first, then by citations
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- Authors
- van Rijn, E., Eichenlaub, J.-B., Lewis, P. A., Walker, M. P., Gaskell, M. G., Malinowski, J. E., & Blagrove, M.
- Affiliations
- Swansea University (GB)
- University of Manchester (GB)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- University of York (GB)
- University of Bedfordshire (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Blagrove, M.
- Venue
- Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-07
- Volume
- 122
- Pages
- 98-109
- ISSN
- 1074-7427 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2079550489
- Cited by
- 74
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 5
- FWCI
- 5.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (acceptedVersion)
- UEL Research Repository (University of East London) (acceptedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (submittedVersion)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- UEL Research Repository (University of East London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/I037555/1)
- 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
- REM sleep, slow-wave sleep, dream content, memory consolidation, emotional processing, dream recall
- MeSH terms
- Memory Consolidation, Adolescent, Adult, Brain, Dreams, Electroencephalography, Emotions, Female, Humans, Male, Sleep Stages, Sleep, REM, Time Factors, Young Adult
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