TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2011//
TI  - Sleep architecture and sleep-related mentation in securely and insecurely attached people
JO  - Attachment and human development
A1  - McNamara, Patrick
A1  - Pace-Schott, Edward F.
A1  - Johnson, Patricia
A1  - Harris, Erica
A1  - Auerbach, Sanford
SP  - 141
EP  - 154
VL  - 13
IS  - 2
N2  - Based on REM sleep's brain activation patterns and its participation in consolidation of emotional memories, we tested the hypothesis that measures of REM sleep architecture and REM sleep-related mentation would be associated with attachment orientation. After a habituation night in a sleep lab, a convenience sample of 64 healthy volunteers were awakened 10 minutes into a REM sleep episode and 10 minutes into a control NREM sleep episode in counterbalanced order, then asked to report a dream and to rate themselves and a significant other on a list of trait adjectives. Relative to participants classified as having secure attachment orientations, participants classified as anxious took less time to enter REM sleep and had a higher frequency of REM dreams with aggression and self-denigrating themes. There were no significant differences across attachment groups in other measures of sleep architecture or in post REM-sleep awakening ratings on PANAS subscales reflecting mood and alertness. Selected aspects of REM sleep architecture and mentation appeared to be associated with attachment orientation. We suggest that REM sleep plays a role in processing experiences and emotions related to attachment, and that certain features of sleep and dreaming reflect attachment orientations.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1461-6734
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2011.553999
ID  - ref1
ER  -