Feedback loop of dream lag effect and emotional regulation

Abstract

The dream-lag effect may be defined as the late incorporation of details from events in the subject’s waking life into the REM dreams, mostly on the fifth or sixth night after the event. The dream lag effect, however, indicates that dreams are more likely to be affected by difficulties faced in the recent past. If any extraordinary emotions are felt by someone- good or bad- those will be seen in dreams even after a prolonged time, say weeks. There might be a subsequent interaction: intense dreams that evoked powerful feelings upon waking up may increase the measure of the emotional state, and this in turn increases the chances of recalling that dream during waking and feeling emotions in waking state. This review seeks to address how emotion is central to our dream form and how our dreams sculpts our emotions.