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Cited by 34Sleep and Wakefulness ResearchSleep and related disordersRestless Legs Syndrome Research

Sleep talking: a viable access to mental processes during sleep

Alfonsi, Valentina, D'Atri, Aurora, Scarpelli, Serena, Mangiaruga, Anastasia, De Gennaro, Luigi·2019·Sleep Medicine Reviews
DOI 10.1016/j.smrv.2018.12.001
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Abstract

Sleep talking is one of the most common altered nocturnal behaviours in the whole population. It does not represent a pathological condition and consists in the unaware production of vocalisations during sleep. Although in the last few decades we have experienced a remarkable increase in knowledge about cognitive processes and behavioural manifestations during sleep, the literature regarding sleep talking remains dated and fragmentary. We first provide an overview of historical and recent findings regarding sleep talking, and we then discuss the phenomenon in the context of mental activity during sleep. It is shown that verbal utterances, reflecting the ongoing dream content, may represent the unique possibility to access the dreamlike mental experience directly. Furthermore, we discuss such phenomena within a cognitive theoretical framework, considering both the atypical activation of psycholinguistic circuits during sleep and the implications of verbal 'replay' of recent learning in memory consolidation. Despite current knowledge on such a common experience being far from complete, an in-depth analysis of sleep talking episodes could offer interesting opportunities to address fundamental questions on dreaming or information processing during sleep. Further systematic polysomnographic and neuroimaging investigations are expected to shed new light on the manifestation of the phenomenon and related aspects.

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  • The DEB can be a viable access to dreams, overcoming the intrinsic difficulty to study dreaming.

    “Finally, considering that dreaming is an irregular phenomenon and not always observable, it should be considered that a new frontier to investigate more directly the relationship between dreaming and emotions is represented by the DEB (Rivera-García et al., 2018) that can be a viable access to dreams, overcoming the intrinsic difficulty to study this phenomenon (Arnulf, 2012; Alfonsi et al., 2019)”

    From The Functional Role of Dreaming in Emotional Processes (2019) · cites this paper as Alfonsi et al., 2019

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Authors
Alfonsi, V., D'Atri, A., Scarpelli, S., Mangiaruga, A., & De Gennaro, L.
Affiliations
Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
ORCID
Venue
Sleep Medicine Reviews
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-04
Volume
44
Pages
12-22
ISSN
1087-0792 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.smrv.2018.12.001
OpenAlex
W2904257789
Cited by
34
References
135
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 1
FWCI
0.40
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • Sleep Medicine Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • IRIS Research product catalog (Sapienza University of Rome) (submittedVersion)
  • Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca - Università degli Studi dell Aquila (submittedVersion)
Funders
Sapienza” University of Rome (AR11715C545C9CF7)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Restless Legs Syndrome Research
Keywords
sleep talking, sleepwalking, dream content, memory consolidation
MeSH terms
Memory Consolidation, Dreams, Humans, Male, Psycholinguistics, Mental Recall, Sleep-Wake Transition Disorders

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