A stroke that robbed a woman of her dreams may help pinpoint where and how dreams are born in the brain, scientists said on Friday.
They found the stroke had damaged areas deep in the back half of the brain, which is involved in the visual processing of faces and landmarks.
Writing in the Annals of Neurology, they said the finding suggests that this area was crucial for dreams.
“How dreams are generated, and what purpose they might serve, are completely open questions at this point,” said Dr. Claudio Bassetti, a neurologist at the University Hospital of Zurich in Switzerland, in a statement.
“These results describe for the first time in detail the extent of lesion necessary to produce loss of dreaming in the absence of other neurological deficits. As such, they offer a target for further study of the localization of dreaming,” added Bassetti, who led the study.
The 73-year-old woman also lost some of her vision, Bassetti and colleagues reported.
That came back but then her dreams disappeared.
They studied the patient’s brain waves as she slept and found no disruptions in her sleep cycle.
The woman has recovered some ability to dream, but they are less vivid, the researchers said.
“Further conclusions about this brain area and its role in dreams will require more studies analyzing dream changes in patients with brain damage,” said Bassetti.
