By Sola Ogundipe
People who sleep on their left side may be more prone to nightmares than those who favour their right side, according to research that has revived interest in the relationship between sleeping position and the way the brain processes dreams.
The findings come from a 2004 study by researchers at Yuzuncu Yil University School of Medicine in Turkey, published in the journal Sleep and Hypnosis.
The study found that 40.9 percent of left-side sleepers reported frequent nightmares, compared with 14.6 percent of those who slept on their right.
The research involved 63 healthy adults, whose sleep quality and dream experiences were assessed using self-reported questionnaires, including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).
Beyond experiencing fewer nightmares, right-side sleepers also tended to report more pleasant dreams and better overall sleep quality.
By contrast, participants who preferred sleeping on their left side were significantly more likely to describe disturbing dreams.
Why this happens remains uncertain, but the researchers suggested that body position during Rapid Eye movement (REM) sleep—the stage when most dreaming occurs— subtly affect the brain’s emotional processing.
They said differences in autonomic nervous system activity and other physiological changes associated with sleeping posture could influence the content and emotional tone of dreams.
Studies have also associated stomach sleeping with vivid or distressing dreams.
Researchers believe pressure on the chest or changes in breathing in that position may become incorporated into dreams, producing sensations of inability to move.
The Turkish study was relatively small, and relied on participants’ recollections of their dreams and cannot prove that sleeping on the left side directly causes nightmares.
Nightmares are shaped by a wide range of factors, including stress, anxiety, trauma, certain medications, sleep deprivation and underlying sleep disorders. Sleeping position, researchers say, is likely to be just one piece of a much larger puzzle.
For people who experience recurring nightmares without an obvious explanation, changing sleeping position may be a simple, low-risk adjustment worth trying.
Although evidence remains preliminary, switching from the left side to the right side during sleep may help reduce disturbing dreams in some individuals.
Larger studies using objective sleep-monitoring techniques are needed to determine whether sleeping position truly affects dream quality or whether the differences observed are driven by other biological or psychological factors.
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