Women ‘more prone to nightmares’
Women ‘more prone to nightmares’
Dreaming occurs during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep
Women experience significantly more nightmares than men and have more emotional dreams, research suggests.
In a study of 170 volunteers asked to record their most recent dream, 19% of men reported a nightmare compared with 30% of women.
Researcher Dr Jennifer Parker of the University of the West of England said there was no difference in the overall number of dreams reported.
Other research has shown women tend to have more disturbed sleep than men.
One factor which has been linked to this is changes in a woman’s body temperature during her monthly cycle.
Women’s sleep tends to be more disrupted and they have more insomnia
Dr Chris Idzikowski, Edinburgh Sleep Centre
Dr Parker, a lecturer in psychology, said it has been known for a long time that pre-menstrual women report more vivid and disturbing dreams.
“The consistent finding in this research [...]