Despite much study of psychophysiological parallels during sleep, little is known about possible differences in pre-awakening mentation in sleep stages 2 to 4. This study sought such data by comparing reports at the extremes of this range. Stage 2 vs 4 differences in recall, length, and dreamlike quality were not significant; only one content comparison was significant. Preliminary data suggest that time in stage 4 may be negatively associated with intensity of mentation. Findings question the view that intensity of nocturnal mentation is a simple, monotonic increasing function of EEG-defined arousal as reflected in conventional stages of sleep.
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