Science
The science behind EMPI DREAM
Every tool in EMPI is grounded in the research of Dr. Antonio Zadra, a dream scientist with more than 30 years in the field.
Dr. Antonio Zadra
Full professor, Université de MontréalOver 100 research articles and book chaptersCo-author of When Brains Dream (W. W. Norton, 2021)
Selected research
Dreaming and the brain
Uncovers how our brains shape dreams, dream recall, and consciousness while we sleep.
- Why brains need to dream (2022). DreamTime Magazine.
- Sleep: Opening a portal to the dreaming brain (2021). Current Biology.
- What dream characters reveal about the astonishing dreaming brain (2021). Psyche.
- The disintegrated theory of consciousness: Sleep, waking and meta-awareness (2022). Behavioral Brain Sciences.
- EEG functional connectivity prior to sleepwalking: evidence of interplay between sleep and wakefulness. SLEEP (2017).
Emotions in dreams
Explores factors that influence dream recall and emotions in dreams.
- Dream recall frequency and attitude towards dreams (2005). Journal of Personality and Individual Differences.
- Working with dreams in therapy: What do we know? (2004). Clinical Psychology Review.
- Targets of erotic dreams and their associations with waking couple and sexual life (2021). Dreaming.
- Predicting the affective tone of everyday dreams: A prospective study of state and trait variables (2019). Scientific Reports.
- Relationship between drug dreams, affect, and craving during treatment for substance dependence. Journal of Addiction Medicine (2015).
Nightmares and well-being
Explores the psychological relations between nightmares, trauma and mental health.
- Association between recurrent dreams, disturbing dreams and suicidal ideation in adolescents (2021). Dreaming.
- Nightmare frequency, nightmare distress and psychopathology in female victims of childhood abuse (2013). Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.
- Frequency and content of dreams associated with trauma (2011). Sleep Medicine Clinics.
- Longitudinal Study of Early Adversity and Disturbing Dream Frequency in adolescence. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (2024).
- Thematic and content analysis of nightmares and bad dreams (2014). Sleep.
Sleep disorders and parasomnias
Focuses on the science behind sleep disorders like sleepwalking and their effects on daily life.
- Developmental changes in sleep terror episodes in chronic sleepwalkers (2022). Sleep Medicine.
- Daytime somnolence in adult sleepwalkers (2013). Sleep Medicine.
- Altered brain perfusion patterns in wakefulness and slow-wave sleep in sleepwalkers (2018). Sleep.
- Psychopathologic correlates of adult sleepwalking. Sleep Medicine (2014).
- Somnambulism: clinical aspects and pathophysiological hypotheses (2013). The Lancet Neurology.
Dream ethics and tech
Explores the ethical considerations and technological advancements in dream research and engineering.