Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Functional neuroanatomy of human rapid-eye-movement sleep and dreaming

Nature volume 383, pages 163–166 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

RAPID-EYE-MOVEMENT (REM) sleep is associated with intense neuronal activity, ocular saccades, muscular atonia and dreaming1,2. The function of REM sleep remains elusive and its neural correlates have not been characterized precisely in man. Here we use positron emission tomography and statistical parametric mapping to study the brain state associated with REM sleep in humans. We report a group study of seven subjects who maintained steady REM sleep during brain scanning and recalled dreams upon awakening. The results show that regional cerebral blood flow is positively correlated with REM sleep in pontine tegmentum, left thalamus, both amygdaloid complexes, anterior cingulate cortex and right parietal operculum. Negative correlations between regional cerebral blood flow and REM sleep are observed bilaterally, in a vast area of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, in parietal cortex (supramarginal gyrus) as well as in posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus. Given the role of the amygdaloid complexes in the acquisition of emotionally influenced memories, the pattern of activation in the amygdala and the cortical areas provides a biological basis for the processing of some types of memory during REM sleep.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Jones, B. E. Neuroscience 40, 637–656 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hobson, J. A. The Dreaming Brain (Basic books, New York, 1988).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Rechtschaffen, A. & Kales, A. A. A Manual of Standardized Terminology, Techniques and Scoring System for Sleep Stages of Human Subjects (Brain Information Service/Brain Research Institute, Los Angeles, 1968).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Hall, C. S. & van de Castle, R. L. The Content Analysis of Dreams (Appleton Century Crofts, New York, 1966).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Maquet, P. et al. Brain Res. 513, 136–143 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Braun, A. R. et al. Neurology 42 (Suppl. 3), 182 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Buchsbaum, M. S. et al. Life Sci. 45, 1349–1356 (1989).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hong, C. C. H., Gillin, J. C., Dow, B. M., Wu, J. & Buchsbaum, M. S. Sleep 18, 570–580 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Steriade, M., Jones, E. G. & Llinas, R. Thalamic Oscillations and Signalling (Wiley, New York, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Llinas, R. & Paré, D. Neuroscience 44, 521–535 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Calvo, J. M., Badillo, S., Morales-Ramirez, M. & Palacios-Salas, P. Brain Res. 403, 22–30 (1987).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Amaral, D. G., Price, J. L., Pitkänen, A. & Carmichael, S. T. in The Amygdala. Neurobiological Aspects of Emotion, Memory, and Mental Dysfunction (ed. Aggleton, J. P.) 1–66 (Wiley-Liss, New York, 1992).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Aggleton, J. P., Burton, M. J. & Passingham, R. E. Brain Res. 190, 347–368 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Davis, M. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 15, 353–375 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Orem, J. & Keeling, J. in Physiology in Sleep (eds Orem, J. & Barnes, C. D.) 315–335 (Academic, London, 1980).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  16. Amaral, D. G. & Price, J. L. J. Comp. Neurol. 230, 465–496 (1984).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Bechara, A. et al. Science 269, 1115–1118 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Gallagher, M. & Chiba, A. A. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 6, 221–227 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Smith, C. Behav. Brain Res. 69, 137–145 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Smith, C. & Lapp, L. Sleep 14, 325–330 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Madsen, P. L. et al. J. Cereb. Blood Flow Metab. 11, 502–507 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Aggleton, J. P. Trends Neurosci. 16, 328–333 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Olson, C. R. & Musil, S. Y. J. Comp. Neurol. 324, 237–260 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Fletcher, P. C. et al. Brain 118, 401–416 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Paulesu, E., Frith, C. D. & Frackowiak, R. S. J. Nature 362, 342–345 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Jonides, J. et al. Nature 363, 623–625 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Devinsky, O. et al. Brain 118, 279–306 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Friston, K. J. et al. Human Brain Mapp. 2, 165–189 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Friston, K. J. et al. Human Brain Mapp. 2, 189–210 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cyclotron Research Centre (B30), University of Liège, 4000, Liège, Belgium

    Pierre Maquet, Jean-Marie Péters, Joël Aerts, Guy Delfiore, Christian Degueldre, André Luxen & Georges Franck

  2. Department of Neurology, CHU Sart Tilman (B35), 4000, Liège, Belgium

    Pierre Maquet & Georges Franck

Authors
  1. Pierre Maquet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jean-Marie Péters
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Joël Aerts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Guy Delfiore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Christian Degueldre
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. André Luxen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Georges Franck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Maquet, P., Péters, JM., Aerts, J. et al. Functional neuroanatomy of human rapid-eye-movement sleep and dreaming. Nature 383, 163–166 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/383163a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/383163a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing