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Dream Content Analysis in Persons with an Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Abstract

Dream questionnaires were completed by 28 young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) participants. Seventy-nine typically developed individual served as the control group. In a subset of 17 persons with ASD and 11 controls matched for verbal IQ, dream narratives were obtained following REM sleep awakenings in a sleep laboratory. Questionnaires revealed that participants with ASD, compared to controls, had fewer recollections of dreaming, fewer bad dreams and fewer emotions. In the sleep laboratory, dream content narratives following REM sleep awakenings were shorter in ASD participants than in controls. ASD participants also reported fewer settings, objects, characters, social interactions, activities, and emotions. It is concluded that these characteristics of dreaming in ASD may reflect neurocognitive dimensions specific to this condition.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this project was supplied by an operating grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR, No. 81898, Studies of Sleep, EEG, and Cognitive Performance in Autism) to R.G. and L.M., studentships from the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) to A-M.D. and the CIHR to F.A.L. and a research scholarship from the FRSQ to L.M.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de Recherche Fernand-Seguin, Neurodevelopmental Disorders Program, Hôpital Rivière-des-Prairies, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Anne-Marie Daoust, Félix-Antoine Lusignan, Laurent Mottron & Roger Godbout

  2. Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Claude M. J. Braun

  3. Sleep Laboratory and Clinic, Hôpital Rivière-des-Prairies, 7070 Perras Blvd., Montreal, QC, Canada, H1E 1A4

    Roger Godbout

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  1. Anne-Marie Daoust
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  2. Félix-Antoine Lusignan
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  3. Claude M. J. Braun
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  4. Laurent Mottron
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  5. Roger Godbout
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Correspondence to Roger Godbout.

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Daoust, AM., Lusignan, FA., Braun, C.M.J. et al. Dream Content Analysis in Persons with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 38, 634–643 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0431-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0431-z

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