Violent dreams indication for brain disease; study finds

There is a surprising connection between strange, physically violent dreams and possibility of neurological diseases like Parkinson’s or dementia later in life, researchers have discovered.

Referring to the dreams as early warning indications of the ailments, researchers said that the people may act out their dreams by lashing out in their sleep such as talking, shouting or punching.

These unusual dream disorders, called REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), include people to physically move themselves whilst dreaming, informs the National Sleep Foundation.

Neuroscientist Dr. John Peever found out that more than 80% of people suffering from RBD develop diseases like Parkinson’s and dementia.

It has been long known that the brain stem cells are involved in managing dreams during rapid eye movement sleep (REM) when the vivid dreams occur.

Peever found out the stem cells accountable for dreaming conditions are called REM-active neurons. His team also learned to control these cells in rodents during their dreaming processes. He said that they are able to ‘switch on’ the cells for creating fast transition into REM sleep.

They also used the data to observe dreaming dysfunctions like RBD in humans. “Our research suggests sleep disorders may be an early warning sign for diseases that may appear some 15 years later in life,” Peever declared.

Peever presented his results at the 2017 Canadian Neuroscience Meeting, the annual meeting of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience - Association Canadienne des Neurosciences (CAN-ACN). He wishes that the research would probably permit for the advancements of protective strategies for people who might develop such conditions.

“Much like we see in people prone to cancer, diagnosing REM disorders may allow us to provide individuals with preventative actions to keep them healthy long before they develop these more serious neurological conditions,” Peever concluded.