A Preliminary Study on the Relation between the Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Sensations and Emotions of Dreams

• Published in: The Japanese Journal of Mental Imagery Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 1 - 9
• Main Authors: Matsuoka, Kazuo, Matduda, Eiko, Okada, Hitoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: The Japanese Imagery Association 2022; 日本イメージ心理学会
• Subjects: autism spectrum disorder; dream content analysis; dream emotions; dream sensations; paresthesia; 夢の感情; 夢の感覚; 夢内容分析; 感覚異常; 自閉症スペクトラム障害
• ISSN: 1349-1903; 2434-3595
• DOI: 10.32145/jia.19.1_1

Most international reports regarding research on autism spectrum disorder（ASD）and the characteristics of dreams have conducted analysis based on emotions and themes of dreams; however, there are few reports on this topic in Japan. Recently, DSM-5 added a new paresthesia to the diagnostic criteria for ASD; therefore, it is expected that future research on paresthesia and dream sensations will be needed. The purpose of this study is to classify the sensory and emotional features of dreams recorded in the home dream diaries of adolescents with ASD. Dream materials were obtained from a fourth-year college student with ASD the collaborator was able to recall their dreams in vivid detail and enjoyed the dream reports. Qualitative analysis suggested that the content of the recalled dream reflected the vividness of the visual and auditory image and hypersensitivity of the minor sensations in the dreams such as gustatory and olfactory. Additionally, the collaborator experienced many positive emotions in their recalled dreams, although few negative emotions surfaced. A future challenge is to investigate the relationship between paresthesia in ASD and dreams using an enough sample data spanning from childhood to adolescence.