A dream EEG and mentation database

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 7495 - 11
• Main Authors: Wong, William, Herzog, Rubén, Andrade, Kátia Cristine, Andrillon, Thomas, de Araujo, Draulio Barros, Arnulf, Isabelle, Ataei, Somayeh, Avvenuti, Giulia, Baird, Benjamin, Bellesi, Michele, Bergamo, Damiana, Bernardi, Giulio, Blagrove, Mark, Decat, Nicolas, Demirel, Çağatay, Dresler, Martin, Eichenlaub, Jean-Baptiste, Elce, Valentina, Gais, Steffen, De Gennaro, Luigi, Gott, Jarrod, Hiramatsu, Chihiro, Juel, Bjørn Erik, Konkoly, Karen R., Kumral, Deniz, Lacaux, Célia, LaRocque, Joshua J., Lenggenhager, Bigna, Mallett, Remington, Mota-Rolim, Sérgio Arthuro, Motomura, Yuki, Nilsen, Andre Sevenius, Noreika, Valdas, Oudiette, Delphine, Palhano-Fontes, Fernanda, Palmieri, Jessica, Paller, Ken A., Perogamvros, Lampros, Revonsuo, Antti, van Rijn, Elaine, Scarpelli, Serena, Schönauer, Monika, Schoch, Sarah F., Siclari, Francesca, Sikka, Pilleriin, Storm, Johan Frederik, Takeichi, Hiroshige, Valli, Katja, Wamsley, Erin J., Windt, Jennifer M., Zhang, Jing, Zhao, Jialin, Tsuchiya, Naotsugu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 13.08.2025; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/378/1385/519; 631/443/376; 9/26; Adult; Brain research; Cognition; Collaboration; Consciousness; Consciousness - physiology; Consciousness and Cognitive Neuroscience; Databases, Factual; Datasets; Dream research; Dreams; Dreams - physiology; EEG; Electroencephalography; Electroencephalography - methods; Eye movements; Female; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Kognitiv neurovetenskap och filosofi; Male; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Neurosciences; NREM sleep; REM sleep; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sleep; Sleep - physiology; Sleep Stages - physiology; Sleep, REM - physiology; Wakefulness - physiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61945-1

Magneto/electroencephalography (M/EEG) studies of dreaming are an essential paradigm in the investigation of neurocognitive processes of human consciousness during sleep, but they are limited by the number of observations that can be collected per study. Dream research also involves substantial methodological and conceptual variability, which poses problems for the integration of results. To address these issues, here we present the DREAM database—an expanding collection of standardized datasets on human sleep M/EEG combined with dream report data—with an initial release comprising 20 datasets, 505 participants, and 2643 awakenings. Each awakening consists, at minimum, of sleep M/EEG ( ≥ 20 s, ≥100 Hz, ≥2 electrodes) up to the time of waking and a standardized dream report classification of the subject’s experience during sleep. We observed that reports of conscious experiences can be predicted with objective features extracted from EEG recordings in both Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and non-REM (NREM) sleep. We also provide several examples of analyses, showcasing the database’s high potential in paving the way for new research questions at a scale beyond the capacity of any single research group. The authors present a multicenter database to investigate the neural correlates of dreaming, including physiological, behavioral and experiential data. This database could boost the research on the mechanisms of dreaming in humans and the signatures of consciousness.