Koulack D, Prevost F, De Koninck J
Sleep. 1985;8(3):244-53. doi: 10.1093/sleep/8.3.244.
Sixteen male subjects slept in the laboratory for 4 consecutive nights. Night 1 was an adaptation night and night 2 was a baseline night of uninterrupted sleep. On nights 3 and 4 subjects were asked to complete "intelligence" tests prior to sleep. One half of the subjects attempted to complete difficult versions of "intelligence" tests without knowing that they could not be completed in te time allotted. The other subjects were given easier versions of the same tests that they were able to complete in the time allotted. Night 3 was a night of uninterrupted sleep and night 4 involved REM period awakenings for the purpose of dream collection. Stressful manipulation consisted of telling the subjects before the administration of either set of tests that an average university student should complete most of the items within the allotted time. On night 3 both groups showed a significant increase in sleep latency and a significant decrease in REM density compared to the baseline night. On night 4 subjects in the difficult condition experienced significantly more anxiety in their dreams and somewhat higher levels of incorporation of the presleep material than subjects in the easy condition. Our findings suggest that following a stressful experience uninterrupted sleep has more short term adaptive value than a procedure which enhances dream recall and that subjects who incorporate elements from a presleep stressful event into their remembered dreams show less adaptation on awakening than subjects who do not.
16名男性受试者在实验室连续睡了4个晚上。第1晚是适应期，第2晚是无中断睡眠的基线期。在第3晚和第4晚，受试者被要求在睡前完成“智力”测试。一半受试者尝试完成难度较大的“智力”测试，却不知道在规定时间内无法完成。另一半受试者则进行相同测试的较简单版本，他们能够在规定时间内完成。第3晚是无中断睡眠，第4晚为了收集梦境，在快速眼动（REM）期将受试者唤醒。压力操纵包括在进行任何一组测试之前告诉受试者，一名普通大学生应该在规定时间内完成大部分题目。与基线期相比，第3晚两组受试者的入睡潜伏期均显著增加，快速眼动密度均显著降低。在第4晚，与处于简单测试条件的受试者相比，处于困难测试条件的受试者在梦境中体验到更多焦虑，且梦境中更多地融入了睡前材料。我们的研究结果表明，在经历压力事件后，无中断睡眠比增强梦境回忆的过程具有更多的短期适应性价值，并且在记忆梦境中融入睡前压力事件元素的受试者，醒来时的适应性比未融入的受试者要低。
