Dreams in patients with narcolepsy

Abstract

Although 'narcolepsy' is a sleep disorder involving the REM sleep systems, systematic research of dream recall and dream content in these patients is scarce. Dreaming is defined as mental activity which occurs during sleep. The deregulation of the REM sleep system in narcolepsy also manifests in heightened dream recall frequency and dreams which are more bizarre and more negatively toned. Specific approaches for treating nightmare have never applied to these patients. The number of studies in this field is still very small, however, and further research is needed to confirm and expand the reviewed findings. © 2010 Springer-Verlag New York.