An association between geomagnetic activity and dream bizarreness

Summary 

Daily disturbances of the earth’s magnetic field produce variations in geomagnetic activity (GMA) that are reportedly associated with widespread effects on human health and behaviour. Some of these effects could be mediated by an established influence of GMA on the secretion of melatonin. There is evidence from unrelated research that melatonin influences dream bizarreness, and it is hypothesised here that there is an association between GMA and dream bizarreness. Also reported is a preliminary test of this hypothesis, a case study in which the dreams recorded over 6.5years by a young adult male were analysed. Reports of dreams from the second of two consecutive days of either low or high GMA (K index sum ⩽6 or ⩾28) were self-rated for bizarreness on a 1–5 scale. Dreams from low GMA periods (n=69, median bizarreness=4) were found to be significantly more bizarre than dreams from high GMA periods (n=85, median bizarreness=3; p=0.006), supporting the hypothesised association between GMA and dream bizarreness. Studies with larger samples are needed to verify this association, and to determine the extent to which melatonin may be involved. Establishing that there is an association between GMA and dream bizarreness would have relevance for neurophysiological theories of dreaming, and for models of psychotic symptoms resembling bizarre dream events.