This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wagner, U. Articles by Born, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wagner, U. Articles by Born, J. Related Collections Neurology Sleep and Biological Rhythms

Changes in Emotional Responses to Aversive Pictures Across Periods Rich in Slow-Wave Sleep Versus Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

From the Department of Physiological Psychology, University of Bamberg (U.W., J.B.), Bamberg, Germany; and Department of Clinical Neuroendocrinology, Medical University of Lübeck (U.W., S.F., J.B.), Lübeck, Germany.

Address reprint requests to: Ullrich Wagner, Medical University of Lübeck, Department of Clinical Neuroendocrinology, Ratzeburger Allee 160, Hs. 23a, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany. Email: wagner{at}kfg.mu-luebeck.de

OBJECTIVE: Since Freud’s "Interpretation of Dreams," sleep has been related to emotional functions, where dreams were assumed to play a cathartic role. In psychophysiological research, this role was attributed mainly to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The present study compared processing pictures with negative emotional impact over intervals covering either early sleep dominated by slow-wave sleep (SWS) or late REM sleep-dominated sleep.

METHOD: Emotional reactions were assessed by a nonverbal rating procedure along the two emotional dimensions valence (positive vs. negative) and arousal (low vs. high). Two groups of healthy men were tested across 3-hour periods of early and late nocturnal sleep (sleep group) or corresponding intervals filled with wakefulness (wake group). After the intervals, subjects rated new pictures together with old pictures already presented before the interval. Sleep was recorded polysomnographically.

RESULTS: As expected, the amount of REM sleep was about three times greater during late than early nocturnal sleep, whereas a reversed distribution was observed for SWS (p< .001). Valence ratings indicated a shift toward enhanced negative ratings after late sleep (p< .05), contrasting with a trend toward more positive ratings after early sleep (p< .10). Arousal habituated slightly to repeated presentation of the same stimuli, but sleep generally enhanced subsequent arousal ratings (p< .05). Effects of sleep did not depend on whether pictures had low or high emotional impact.

CONCLUSIONS: Indicating a priming-like enhancement of emotional reactivity after periods rich in REM sleep, results do not confirm a cathartic function of REM sleep or sleep in general.

Key Words: REM sleep • emotion • affective picture processing • IAPS • cortisol

Abbreviations: REM = rapid eye movement;; SWS = slow-wave sleep;; IAPS = International Affective Picture System;; SAM = Self Assessment Manikin;; EEG = electroencephalogram;; EMG = electromyogram;; EOG = electrooculogram;; HPA axis = hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Peigneux, R. Schmitz, and S. Willems Cerebral asymmetries in sleep-dependent processes of memory consolidation Learn. Mem., June 6, 2007; 14(6): 400 - 406. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Gais and J. Born Declarative memory consolidation: Mechanisms acting during human sleep Learn. Mem., November 1, 2004; 11(6): 679 - 685. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]