Several findings support the activation hypothesis, positing that cortical arousal promotes dream recall (DR). However, most studies have been carried out on young participants, while the electrophysiological (EEG) correlates of DR in older people are still mostly unknown. We aimed to test the activation hypothesis on 20 elders, focusing on the Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep stage. All the subjects underwent polysomnography, and a dream report was collected upon their awakening from NREM sleep. Nine subjects were recallers (RECs) and 11 were non-RECs (NRECs). The delta and beta EEG activity of the last 5 min and the total NREM sleep was calculated by Fast Fourier Transform. Statistical comparisons (RECs vs. NRECs) revealed no differences in the last 5 min of sleep. Significant differences were found in the total NREM sleep: the RECs showed lower delta power over the parietal areas than the NRECs. Consistently, statistical comparisons on the activation index (delta/beta power) revealed that RECs showed a higher level of arousal in the fronto-temporal and parieto-occipital regions than NRECs. Both visual vividness and dream length are positively related to the level of activation. Overall, our results are consistent with the view that dreaming and the storage of oneiric contents depend on the level of arousal during sleep, highlighting a crucial role of the temporo-parietal-occipital zone.

中文翻译：

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老年人从非快速眼动睡眠中醒来时的梦回忆：电生理模式和定性特征。

一些研究结果支持激活假说，认为皮质唤醒促进梦境回忆（DR）。然而，大多数研究都是针对年轻参与者进行的，而老年人 DR 的电生理 (EEG) 相关性仍然大多未知。我们旨在测试 20 名老年人的激活假设，重点关注非快速眼动 (NREM) 睡眠阶段。所有受试者均接受多导睡眠监测，并在他们从非快速眼动睡眠中醒来时收集梦境报告。9 名受试者为回忆者 (REC)，11 名受试者为非 REC (NREC)。最后 5 分钟的 delta 和 beta 脑电图活动以及总 NREM 睡眠通过快速傅里叶变换计算。统计比较（REC 与 NREC）显示最后 5 分钟睡眠没有差异。在总 NREM 睡眠中发现了显着差异：REC 的顶叶区域功率增量低于 NREC。一致地，对激活指数（δ/β 功率）的统计比较表明，REC 的额颞叶和顶枕区的唤醒水平高于 NREC。视觉生动度和梦的长度都与激活水平呈正相关。总体而言，我们的结果与以下观点一致：做梦和梦境内容的存储取决于睡眠期间的唤醒水平，凸显了颞顶枕区的关键作用。