Healthy young adults experience dream-enacting behavior. Most of us have had that experience of waking to find we’re subtly acting out a dream, right?
In a recent study, “Dream-Enacting Behaviors in a Normal Population,” researchers at the Université de Montreal in Canada found that more than 50% of study participants awakened from a dream to discover they were talking or crying. They also found themselves waking up while acting out an angry or defensive behavior like punching or kicking, or other actions like waving or pointing.
Women in the study experienced more speaking, crying, fear and smiling/laughing than men. However, men reported more sexual arousal in their sleep. Of all participants, 78% reported awakening from an erotic dream to find that they were sexually aroused. Plus, 72% reported awakening from a happy dream to find themselves smiling or laughing. The study results were published in the December 1 issue of the journal Sleep.
In the same issue of Sleep, researchers in Paris, France reported that people experiencing sleepwalking or sleep terrors (night terrors) may be acting out dreamlike thoughts. Research findings reveal that 71% of the study participants claimed at least one incident of “dreamlike mental content” linked with an episode of sleepwalking or sleep terrors. In addition, the action in the dreamlike thoughts corresponded with the observed behavior. The published article is “Dreamlike Mentations During Sleepwalking and Sleep Terrors in Adults.”
“The results are surprising, as it is commonly reported that sleepwalkers and patients with sleep terrors do not remember dreaming,” said principal investigator Isabelle Arnulf, MD, PhD, neurologist.
As someone who experiences sleep terrors from time to time, I can say the study makes sense to me. I sometimes remember dreams associated with sleep terrors, but not always. I have also found myself acting out those dreams by either sitting up in bed or standing up while trying to escape the unpleasant dream, which is usually that someone is standing over the bed. And, of course, there’s the loud screaming I often don’t remember.
Do you act out dreams or experience any sleep disorders like terrors or sleepwalking?
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Post from: Blisstree