Wollman M C, Antrobus J S
Sleep. 1986;9(3):438-48. doi: 10.1093/sleep/9.3.438.
This article describes some of the variables that distinguish waking and sleeping (REM) thought. Mentation reports from the waking state, as described here, tend to have more topic shifts than those from the REM state, which often have a single-theme storylike quality. It is assumed that heightened response thresholds to sensory stimuli, in conjunction with the state of high cortical activation typical of REM sleep, account for the storylike quality of REM imagery. In this experiment, an intermittent auditory stimulus was the model for environmental influences on waking mentation. It was hypothesized that the removal of this intermittent auditory stimulation, simulating in waking subjects the increased sensory thresholds of REM sleep, would decrease the number of topic shifts in spontaneous thought. It was expected that this reduction in number of topics would approach levels achieved in REM sleep. Thirty subjects participated in individual sessions in which they lay in a sound-attenuated, lightproof room with eyes closed. They were asked for mentation reports as follows: after lying awake with external stimulation (W), after lying awake without external stimulation (WO), and after being wakened from REM sleep. Transcribed mentation reports were scored on seven content rating scales, including total recall count, a count of all words in which the subject was describing his/her experience during the previous interval, and number of thought units (TU) per report, a count of the distinct, thematically homogeneous thought sequences. Hotelling t-squared tests were performed with the different states as the independent variables and the scores on the cognitive scales as the dependent variables. The major factor distinguishing mentation reports of waking subjects and subjects wakened from REM sleep was the TU count, with waking subjects changing topics more frequently. Removal of the intermittent auditory stimulus reduced the number of topic shifts in waking subjects, with a significance approaching the 95% confidence limit.
本文描述了一些区分清醒思维和睡眠（快速眼动期）思维的变量。如这里所描述的，来自清醒状态的思维报告往往比来自快速眼动期状态的思维报告有更多的话题转换，快速眼动期状态的思维报告通常具有单一主题的故事性特质。据推测，对感觉刺激的反应阈值提高，再加上快速眼动睡眠典型的高皮质激活状态，导致了快速眼动期意象的故事性特质。在这个实验中，间歇性听觉刺激作为环境对清醒思维影响的模型。据推测，去除这种间歇性听觉刺激，在清醒受试者中模拟快速眼动睡眠中增加的感觉阈值，会减少自发思维中的话题转换次数。预计话题数量的这种减少将接近快速眼动睡眠中的水平。30名受试者参加了单独的实验环节，他们躺在隔音、避光的房间里，双眼紧闭。他们被要求按以下方式提供思维报告：在有外部刺激的情况下清醒躺着（W）、在没有外部刺激的情况下清醒躺着（WO）以及从快速眼动睡眠中醒来后。转录的思维报告在七个内容评分量表上进行评分，包括总回忆计数，即受试者描述其在前一时间段内经历的所有单词的计数，以及每份报告的思维单元（TU）数量，即对不同的、主题同质的思维序列的计数。以不同状态为自变量，认知量表得分作为因变量进行霍特林T方检验。区分清醒受试者和从快速眼动睡眠中醒来的受试者的思维报告的主要因素是TU计数，清醒受试者更频繁地转换话题。去除间歇性听觉刺激减少了清醒受试者的话题转换次数，其显著性接近95%置信限。
