Dream recall in patients with focal cerebral lesions

L. Murri, R. Arena, G. Siciliano, R. Mazzotta and A. Muratorio

Rare case reports have indicated that brain lesions may cause a loss of dream recall. We investigated reports of dream recallers with acute unilateral brain lesions who did not have clinical agnosia and examined 53 patients with such focal lesions clinically and radiologically. Patients with posterior lesions showed a frequent loss of dream recall while those with anterior lesions rarely did so. The cessation of dream recall was associated with defective performance in tests for visuoperceptive functions. We concluded that patients with acute posterior hemispheric lesions frequently lose their ability to recall dreams.