We dream typical themes every single night.

In light of the previous retrospective and diary-based evidence for the marked prevalence and recurrence of typical dream themes, this study investigated whether typical dream themes would occur across all successive REM epochs of the night. The sample contained 7 subjects, whose sleep was monitored by a high-density electroencephalographic system. REM awakenings were performed in accordance with the progressive-interval protocol. Besides free-recall reports collected via the REM interviews, the subjects were asked next morning to recognize any typical themes occurring in each episode of REM mentation using a provided list of dream themes. Approximately 80% of dream reports retrieved from REM sleep displayed at least 1 typical theme, the greatest number of typical themes in 1 dream being 11. A more conservative estimate of the incidence of typical REM dreams still exceeded 60%. In addition, typical dream themes could be observed across all REM cycles over the night, even in those early, ephemeral REM dreams. These findings suggest that the majority of REM dreams are typical dreams. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Source: Dreaming - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Source Type: research