The Science Behind EMPI DREAM:
Led by Dr. Antonio Zadra

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Dr. Antonio Zadra
PhD Dream Scientist

At EMPI DREAM, science is at the core of everything we do. Our app is guided by the expertise of Dr. Antonio Zadra, a world-renowned dream researcher with over 30 years of experience in sleep and dream science. His extensive body of work on topics such as nightmares, sleepwalking, and the nature of dreams ensures that every tool and technique in our app is grounded in rigorous scientific research. With Dr. Zadra’s leadership, EMPI DREAM provides users with evidence-based methods to better understand, recall, and influence their dreams, empowering them to improve both their sleep and mental well-being.

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Dreaming
& 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). ++

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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). ++

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Nightmares &
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. +++

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Sleep Disorders
& Parasomnias

Focuses on the science behind sleep disorders like sleepwalking and their effects on daily life.

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  • 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. +

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Dream Ethics
& Tech

Explores the ethical considerations and technological advancements in dream research and engineering.

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  • Dreams are a precious resource. Don't let advertisers hack them (2012). Aeon. ++

  • Advertising in Dreams is Coming: Now What? (2021). + +

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