The effects of music on dream content: An empirical analysis

Author(s): Levin, R.

Journal/Book: Dreaming. 1997; 7: 233 Spring St, New York, NY 10013-1578. Human Sci Press Inc. 215-220.

Abstract: The present study examined whether listening to music before sleep influenced dream content. Forty-seven subjects, all musicians, volunteered to participate. Twenty subjects completed the 10-day experimental protocol in which, just before sleep, they listened to no music (baseline clays), exciting music (three successive days), or calming music (three successive days). A total of 60 dreams were analyzed using the following scales: Hostility and Anxiety (Gottschalk, Winget, & Gleser, 1969), Referential Activity (Bucci & Kabasakalian-McKay, 1992), Primary Process Thinking (Auld, Goldenberg, & Weiss, 1968), and Boundary Disturbance (Lerner, Sugarman, & Barbour, 1985). There was a significant difference between the three musical conditions on the Primary Process Scale, with primary process imagery more common in dreams on nights following either exciting or calming music than on baseline nights. No differences were observed for hostility and anxiety, referential activity, or boundary disturbance.

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Keyword(s): music; dreams

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