Dreaming of the Sleep Lab Is Associated With Improved Performance on a Sign Language Learning Task: A Pilot Study

Evidence suggests that dream content, such as dreaming about a learning task, is associated with improved task performance following sleep. Given links between sleep and language learning, we conducted a morning nap study to assess whether dream content correlates with improvement on a sign language learning task. We collected data from 16 participants who completed a sign language vocabulary learning and recall task before and after a 2-hr nap opportunity. Participants were awakened from REM sleep and asked to report a dream and rate the extent to which their dream incorporated elements of the laboratory or the task on a 1-9 Likert scale, and an independent judge additionally scored laboratory incorporation in dreams. Results showed that lab-related dreams were associated with improved performance on the task following sleep. Overall, the results are in line with recent findings that dream content correlates with learning, here extended to a sign language task. The results could be interpreted in several ways: Dream content may be influenced by trait factors (cognitive capacity and motivation) that correspond with learning, or dream content could either reflect or actively enhance underlying memory consolidation during sleep.