REM sleep eye movement counts correlate with visual imagery in dreaming: A pilot study |
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| Authors: | CHARLES CHONG-HWA HONG STEVEN G. POTKIN JOHN S. ANTROBUS BRUCE M. DOW GLENN M. CALLAGHAN J. CHRISTIAN GILLIN |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, University of California. Irvine, USA;Department of Psychology, City College of the City University of New York, New York. USA;Department of Psychiatry, University of California–San Diego, La Jolla, USA |
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| Abstract: | ![]()
Based on the findings of our previously published positron emission tomography study, we proposed that recorded eye movements during REM sleep are visually targeted saccades. In the present study, we examined the correlation between the number of eye movements in REM sleep (EM) and visual imagery in dreaming (V) and provided further support for our proposal. All the observations (N= 11) were made with one individual to eliminate interindividual variation and were made during the second REM sleep period to control for a time-of-night effect. V, with or without dream report length partialled out, was strongly associated with EM only in the 1-min interval immediately preceding awakening. The time course of the association suggests that the strong EM–V association reflects a phasic, localized activation of the eye-movement-control system in association with REM sleep eye movements. |
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| Keywords: | REM sleep Eye movements Dreaming Visual imagery Saccadic scan |
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