NCT05561166: EPIDREAM 1

EPIDREAM 1 : Study of Dreaming in Epilepsy

Completed Last updated 26 January 2024

What this trial tests

trial testing EPIDREAM Questionnaire in Epilepsy in 347 participants. Completed in 21 January 2024.

Timeline

7 February 2023

Primary endpoint
21 January 2024

21 January 2024

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Hospices Civils de Lyon
Status	Completed
Study type	OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment	347
Start date	7 February 2023
Primary completion	21 January 2024
Estimated completion	21 January 2024
Sites	1 location across France

Drugs / interventions tested

• EPIDREAM Questionnaire

Conditions studied

• Epilepsy — all drugs for Epilepsy →

Sponsor

Hospices Civils de Lyon — full company profile →

Who can join

Adults 18 to 65, any sex, with Epilepsy. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Dreaming is a sleep-associated cognitive process whose neural substrates and functions remain poorly understood. In healthy subjects, the frequency of dream recall is influenced by several factors such as age, gender, interest in dreams and sleep quality. The content of dreams mainly depends on waking life experiences, especially when they are recent and have a strong emotional content. The function of dreams remains debated but it is widely accepted that dreams play a role in emotional regulation.

Modifications in dreams are observed in several neurological diseases and sleep disorders, due to the modifications of sleep related to these diseases, as well as to associated disturbances in cognitive functioning and to the impact on such diseases on waking life. Epilepsy is a neurological condition characterized by a predisposition to seizures resulting from excessive and synchronized abnormal brain activity; it is associated with numerous co-morbidities including sleep and cognitive disorders, which are present in nearly one in two patients. However, the influence of epilepsy on sleep-related cognitive processes is poorly understood. It is suspected that nocturnal epileptic activity disturbs sleep-related memory consolidation processes, but the consequences of epilepsy on dreams have been little investigated.

The study of the determinants (epilepsy syndrome, location of the epileptic focus, presence of sleep-related seizures, certain anti-epileptic treatments, alteration of the quality of sleep) of dream characteristics in this context could lead to a better understanding of the dreams physiology, the interactions between epilepsy and sleep, as well as the cognitive and emotional functioning related to sleep in epilepsy. It could also determine whether dream characteristics can provide information on the epilepsy syndrome and on the presence of nocturnal seizures, and thus constitute a diagnostic tool.

In this cross-sectional observational study, we aim to identify determinants of dream recall in relation to epilepsy by administering a simple and brief questionnaire on sleep and dreams, to all consecutive patients seen in epileptology consultation during 12 months. Our objectives are

1. To determine whether the presence of sleep-related seizures influences the frequency of dream recall in patients with epilepsy
2. To describe the characteristics of dreams in epilepsy, the influence of epilepsy on dreams and to characterize the determinants of dream recall frequency in patients with epilepsy We hypothesize that the presence of seizures during sleep will be associated with poorer sleep quality, increased frequency of dream recall, and that we will observe the inclusion of epilepsy symptoms in dream content, particularly in subjects who are aware of their nocturnal seizures and are awakened by them.

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Dreaming in patients with epilepsy: a cross-sectional cohort study.
   Charpentier-Hélary M, de la Chapelle A, Linard M, André-Obadia N, et al · · 2025 · cited 2× · PMID 39891348 · DOI 10.1111/jsr.14464