Is sleep-dependent memory consolidation of a visuo-motor task related to dream content?
Open accessAbstract
A considerable amount of studies have shown that sleep facilitates memory consolidation. For procedural memory, some findings support the association with REM sleep but the relationship between memory consolidation and dreaming has been scarcely studied. The present study did not find an effect of direct incorporations of the mirror tracing task into the dream on over-night improvement. On the other hand, bizarre, long, and intense dreams were associated with poorer performance regarding speed but also with decreased amount of errors. Whether this can be explained by altered sleep physiology or negative effects of dreams on mood and performance can not yet been answered. Future research should study more complex and demanding procedural memory tasks and the relationship between dreaming and sleep-dependent consolidation of emotional memories.
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Evidence of dreaming about tasks specifically improving daily performance on those tasks can be found for mirror tracing and reading with inverted goggles.
“Evidence of dreaming about tasks specifically improving daily performance on those tasks can be found for things like mirror tracing131 and reading with inverted goggles on.132”
From The overfitted brain: Dreams evolved to assist generalization (2021) · cites this paper as [131]
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Hoel, E. (2021) · Patterns · doi:10.1016/j.patter.2021.100244 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
“Evidence of dreaming about tasks specifically improving daily performance on those tasks can be found for things like mirror tracing (Schredl and Erlacher, 2010) and read-”
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NREM sleep spindles are associated with dream recall
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Schredl, M., & Erlacher, D.
- Affiliations
- Central Institute of Mental Health (DE)
- Venue
- University Library Heidelberg
- Publisher
- University Library Heidelberg
- Published
- 2010
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 74-79
- ISSN
- 1866-7953 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2565358283
- Cited by
- 25
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- International journal of dream research (publishedVersion)
- heiDOK (Heidelberg University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- University Library Heidelberg
- International journal of dream research
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Keywords
- sleep-dependent memory consolidation, dream content, procedural memory, visuomotor task, mirror tracing, REM sleep, dream vividness
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