Key News in Family Medicine April 17, 2019 (8 of 8)

The researchers identified a pattern of brain activity reflecting the anger felt during the dream according to a new study conducted on healthy adults and published in The journal of neuroscience. The study helps to clarify the neural basis of dream emotions.

Although emotions are felt both in the waking state and in the dream state, few studies have studied the brain mechanisms underlying the affective component of dreaming. The doctoral candidate in psychology, Pilleriin Sikka, along with other researchers from the University of Turku in Finland, the University of Skövde in Sweden and the University of Cambridge in the Kingdom One has discovered a common emotional mechanism between the two states of consciousness.

The researchers obtained electroencephalographic recordings of participants during two separate nights in a sleep laboratory. After periods of REM sleep of 5 minutes, the participants were awakened and invited to describe their dreams and to evaluate the emotions they experienced.

"We found that individuals who displayed superior brain activity in the right frontal cortex compared to the left side during evening vigil and during REM sleep experienced greater anger in dreams." This neural signature is known as Front alpha asymmetry (FAA) "explains Sikka, who is the lead author of the study.

The cerebral activity of the alpha band refers to brain waves with a frequency of 8 to 12 Hz. These waves are particularly present during the waking period. Alpha waves are thought to reflect the inhibition of the underlying brain areas. More alpha waves in the right frontal region therefore indicate a lower activity in this region of the brain.

"Previous studies have shown that frontal alpha asymmetry is related to anger and self-regulation during awakening." Our research findings show that this asymmetric brain activity is also related to perceived anger. during dreams.Front alpha asymmetry may therefore reflect our ability to regulate anger only in the waking state but also in the dream state, "Sikka continues.

The research could potentially help to understand the neural basis of the emotional content of nightmares, characteristic of various mental disorders and sleep. It also opens up new questions about the possibility of modulating the emotional experiences in dreams by stimulating the frontal brain areas with the help of brain stimulation techniques.