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April 2, 1962. FLUCTUATIONS IN THE DREAM-SLEEP CYCLE IN RELATION TO PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL STATES. Charles Fisher, M.D.
The author reviews the recent literature on the relationship of rapid eye movements to the electroencephalographic tracings obtained during sleep. There are four types of EEG patterns described during sleep and it was found that dreaming was associated with the first stage of the recurrent cycle of these four patterns. The rapid vertical and horizontal eye movements are found only during stage one of the EEG pattern and thus correspond to what the author calls 'dream time'. A usual night's sleep contains four cycles, each including one period of dream time, and these cycles can be observed with relative regularity. There are other physiological variables associated with dreaming, such as changes in the heart-rate, etc. Although some of the findings are contradictory, it appears from recent studies that dreaming occurs during deep sleep rather than light sleep. A number of studies indicate that secondary process phenomena are more inhibited during the dreaming stage (stage one) than during stages two, three, and four. It has been shown that it is possible to predict correctly the ocular movements to be found on records from the events of the dreams related by the subject when awakened during stage one. There is evidence, then, that the dream has dimension in time and does not occur instantaneously. The total time during which stage one EEG patterns are recorded is referred to as total dream time. This time, expressed in a percentage of total sleep time, is fairly constant under normal conditions.
The experimental work reported in this paper deals with the nature and meaning of the dream-sleep cycle. The author has attempted to reduce the amount of dream time by various methods, such as forced awakening, total sleep deprivation, and by drugs. The influence of psychoses and other mental disturbances on the dream cycle has also been studied.
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