Tone induction of ocular activity and dream imagery from stage 2 sleep.

Currently, there is debate as to whether ponto-geniculo-occipital (PGO) waves or the resulting cortical arousal associated with such neural activity constitute the biological substrate of dreaming. The present study aimed to induce PGO activity in humans using an external stimulation technique. Participants (N = 15) were presented with tones (1,000 Hz) of increasing intensity during Stage II and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. A peizosensor fixed to the eyelid captured ocular activity (OA) as an indicator of PGO activity in response to the tone. Compared to the stimulation, the Stage II control condition with no Stage II tone-induced ocular activity (OA) condition showed: a) more imagery reports that were rated as more vivid, and b) more electroencephalogram (EEG) arousal time. EEG arousal was correlated with the average Stage II imagery across participants. None of these findings were observed from REM sleep. It was concluded that investigation of PGO analogues, or even PGO activity itself, and dreaming might be inherently flawed due to the confounding presence of EEG arousal, as the two may be intimately linked. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)