BAD
DREAMS IN ADULTS AS POSSIBLE RESULTS OF GUTAMATE EXCESS AND REVERSE HALF-BRAIN
DOMINANCE DURING THE SLEEP.
Renato
Cocchi, a neurologist and a medical psychologist.
Summary.
The
nightmares and the bad dreams are nearly surely two different phenomena. While
the nightmares appear primarily in childhood, the bad dreams in adult age, in
persons with stress and depression, and often with troubles of the half-brain
dominance. The bad dreams, - as usually death, misfortunes, accidents -, rarely
induce the awakening, but they too can easily be recalled.
I
suggested that the occurrence of bad dreams depend on glutamate excess during
the sleep by its reduced turnover, and on greater easiness of the not dominant
half-brain to recall negative contents for the oneiric activity, perhaps
because more stimulated during the sleep,
Key
words: Nightmare, bad dreams, waking up, stress, depression, half brain
dominance, GABAA, GAD, glutamate, excess, turnover.
Theoretical and basic research
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Between
nightmares and bad dreams there is a difference that not is always understood.
As for it, in the Italian and international literature, it seems be a confusion
for which nightmares and bad dreams become synonyms (Levin, 1994; Vineth,
2005).
For my
personal experience, they are different events at least for epidemiology and
clinics. I do not think that the bad dreams are only lighter nightmares, then
the same phenomenon but with smaller intensity. While there are no problems in
the nightmare description, they seem to arise for defining the bad dreams. With
this article I shall try to make the nature and the clinic of the bad dream
more clear cut, by hypothesizing the origin in nighttime reverse half-brain
dominance in presence of stress and glutamic acid excess.
Definitions.
A
nightmare is a dream occurring during rapid eye movement (REM)sleep that brings
out feelings of strong, inescapable fear, terror,distress, or extreme anxiety.
They typically occur in the latterpart of the night and usually awaken the
sleeper, who is able to ecall the content of the dream. (Vineth, 2005)
Nightmares
tend to be more common among children and decrease in frequency toward
adulthood. About 50% of adults experience occasional nightmares, women more
often than men. Eating just prior to going to bed, which raises the body's
metabolism
and brain activity, may cause nightmares to occur more often Vineth, 2005).
Even the popular culture affirms so, at least in
In his
excellent review, Pagel ( 2000 ) wrote only of the nightmares. Recently Vineeth
(2005), pointed out, as nightmare synonym, the bad dream. Now, it is true that
a nightmare is a bad dream, but, as I shall write at a stretch, no all bad dreams
are nightmares.
The bad
dreams are instead negative dreams, which usually concern dies, misfortunes,
accidents, which do not necessarily implicate the person that is dreaming. They
have smaller emotional contents, rarely they elicit the awakening, but they
leave a memory trace, for which in the morning the person can remember them.
They incline to return.
From the
first data from an epidemiological investigation I am doing on this topic, they
seem more frequent in females. Even if in two cases I published, the only ones
that report the presence of bad dreams, the subjects were both males (Cocchi
2004; Cocchi 2005. Often the same patient reports spontaneously the occurrence
of bad dreams.
I do not
remember that cases of this type I collected nightmares happened, currently or
in past, but this is a datum I have to check.
A possible other explanation of the bad dreams.
As for my
clinical experience, the persons who have bad dreams show depression and a condition
of primary stress, which may correspond to a stable reduction of the type A
GABAergic inhibition. (Havoundjian, Paul and Skolnick 1986; Cocchi, Patrucco
and Zerbi, 1987; Trullas, Havoundjian, Zamir, Paul and Skolnick, 1987; Reddy
and Rogawski, 2002; Mody 2005). The same followed rapid different conformation
of many type A GABAergic receptors, so becoming indifferent to the synaptic
GABA.
This
state, when not unblocked with some therapeutic provision, the easier being a
well-conducted drug therapy, inclines to self-sustaining even for the action of
the secondary stress, mainly psychological, induced by the same depression
(Antelman, 1988).
A GABA
reduced turnover by the post-synaptic receptors drives consequently to an
excess of GABA on the type B receptors, and to a retroactive block of the same
GABA synthesis for GAD (Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase) reduced activity. For
which it occurs a greater availability of glutamic acid, because it is less
transformed into GABA (Loescher, 1980; Cocchi, Patrucco, Zerbi, 1987).
In these
persons I observed often even problems of unstable half-brain dominance, for
what I couldn't evaluate, but the relationship between bad dreams and unstable
half-brain dominance seems not a relationship of cause and effect. In many cases
of unstable half-brain dominance I did not find any report of bad dreams.
The
partial blocking of the sensory afferences, that use primarily the glutamate,
as their neurotransmitter, leads to increasing of the brain glutamate, for his
reduced consumption.
In this
condition the left half-brain as the rational one, is less stimulated. So,
there is more facility to fish the contents of the dreams in the right
half-brain, which can store better into its memory negative emotions. From here
the bad dreams get round, though they are not nightmares.
While the
nightmares appear primarily in childhood, the bad dreams in adult age, in
persons with stress and depression, and often with troubles of the half-brain
dominance.
Conclusions.
The
nightmares and the bad dreams are nearly surely two different phenomena.
Unless
the nightmares, that affects primarily the children, the bad dreams appear in
adult age, in persons with stress and depression, and often with troubles of
the half-brain dominance. The bad dreams, - as usually death, misfortunes,
accidents -, rarely induce the awakening, but they too can easily be recalled.
I suggested that the occurrence of bad dreams depend on glutamate excess during
the sleep by its reduced turnover, and on greater easiness of the not dominant
half-brain to recall negative contents for the oneiric activity, perhaps
because more stimulated during the sleep,
References.
Antelman
SM. Stressor-induced sensitization to subsequent stress: Implications for the
development and treatment of clinical disorders. In: Kalivas PW, Barnes CD
(eds). Sensitization in the central nervous system. Academic Press,
Cocchi R.
Hyperosmia, and headache's fits from heavy, olfactory stimuli in a 35-years-old
man of 35 years. An approach with antiepilectic and antistress drugs. October
2004 <www.stress-cocchi.net/Other14.htm>
Cocchi R.
An other case of attention and concentration trouble in a man during a
post-graduate course. June 2005
<www.stress-cocchi.net/Droping6.htm>
Cocchi R., Patrucco M., Zerbi F.:
Presupposti razionali per l'aggiunta di una benzodiazepina alle forme
epilettiche non controllate in monoterapia. Riv. Neurobiologia 1987,
33/1: 33-48.
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H, Paul SM, Skolnick P.: Rapid, stress-induced modification of the benzodiazepine
receptor-coupled chloride ionophore. Brain Res. 1986, 375: 401-406.
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Sleep and Dreaming: Characteristics of Frequent Nightmare Subjects in a
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W.: Effects of inhibitors of GABA transaminase on the synthesis, binding,
uptake and metabolism of GABA. J. Neurochem. 1980, 34: 1603-1608.
Pagel
J.F.. Nightmares and Disorders of Dreaming. American Family Physician 2000,
61/7: 2037-2050.
Mody I.
Aspects of the homeostaic plasticity of GABAA receptor-mediated inhibition. J.
Physiol. (
Reddy DS
and Rogawski MA.: Stress-Induced Deoxycorticosterone-Derived Neurosteroids
Modulate GABAA Receptor. Function and Seizure Susceptibility. The Journal of
Neuroscience, 2002, 22: 3795-3805.
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R, Havoundjian H, Zamir N, Paul S, Skolnick P.: Environmentally-induced
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Vineeth
John, (the updater): Nightmares. A.D.A.M., Inc., 2005 (on line,
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003209.htm ,
Retrieved on 7 September2005).
Posted
on internet on 9 September 2005. Copyright
by Renato Cocchi, 2005.
Author's: address: dr Renato Cocchi, via Rabbeno,3
42100 Reggio Emilia
renatococchi@libero.it
Theoretical and basic research
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