Our mission is to advance knowledge in oneirology, bridging the gap between psychology and neuroscience for a deeper understanding of the dreaming mind. We achieve this by comparing qualia descriptions of medication-induced dreams to known neural mechanisms of those medications in order to explore the "prodromal potential" of dreams.
Dissertation Proposal 1: Exploring the SCIENCE of Dreams
Dreams as prodromal symptoms: Contemporary studies have identified the potential of dreams as early warning signs with patients reporting disrupted dreams up to one year before other disease symptoms emerge. https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keac655 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102634 An October 2024 systematic review of studies on the potential prodromal nature of dreams https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1461495 concluded "there are still too few studies available to understand the basis of this relationship [between dreams and clinical symptomatology]" hence the demonstrable "gap in literature" that warrants this PhD dissertation proposal as part of a PhD in Clinical and Health Psychology.
Systematic Reviews: A systematic review published in Sleep Medicine Reviews examined the impact of antidepressants on dream content in both depressed and non-depressed individuals. The review found that certain antidepressants can indeed cause vivid or strange dreams https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1087079212000500
Effects on Sleep Architecture: Research published in Current Psychiatry Reports highlights that the effects of antidepressants on sleep can vary depending on the type of medication, dosage, and duration of treatment. Some antidepressants, particularly those with activating effects like fluoxetine and venlafaxine, may disrupt sleep and lead to vivid dreams https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11920-017-0816-4
Adverse Effects on Sleep: Another study in the journal SLEEP reviewed the adverse effects of 21 different antidepressants on sleep during acute-phase treatment for major depressive disorder. It found that sleep disorders, including abnormal dreams, were among the most commonly reported side effects https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad177
Drawing upon NPA pharmacology training (DNF) while working for 2 years as a dispensing technician in London, a preliminary investigation into the effects of anti-depression medication upon dream experiences yielded a result which could prove a prodromal insight into the relationship between dreams and clinical symptomatology - this could lead to psychological interventions for mental health and well-being hence the aim is to see if this result can be replicated consistently across a larger scale PhD level study.
Neuropharmacology Insights
Neuropharmacology is the study of how drugs affect function in the nervous system, and the neural mechanisms through which they influence behaviour. There are two main branches of neuropharmacology: behavioural and molecular. Behavioral neuropharmacology focuses on the study of how drugs affect human behaviour (neuropsychopharmacology), including the study of how drug dependence and addiction affect the human brain.
Molecular neuropharmacology involves the study of neurons and their neurochemical interactions, with the overall goal of developing drugs that have beneficial effects on neurological function.
Both of these fields are closely connected, since both are concerned with the interactions of neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, neurohormones, neuromodulators, enzymes, second messengers, co-transporters, ion channels, and receptor proteins in the central and peripheral nervous systems.
Qualia descriptions of medication-induced dreams will be compared to these neural mechanisms to ascertain whether any patterns can reveal prodromal information