Positron-emission tomographic studies of the relationship of cerebral glucose metabolism and the magnitude of anxiety and hostility experienced during dreaming and waking.

The authors examined correlations between anxiety and hostility levels experienced during wakefulness, rapid eye movement (REM) dreaming, nonrapid eye movement (NREM) mentation (as assessed by the Gottschalk-Gleser Content Analysis Scales), and cerebral glucose metabolism as measured by positron-emission tomography (PET) in 30 normal volunteers. Different cerebral areas showed significant correlations for anxiety and six anxiety subscales, hostility outward, hostility inward, and ambivalent hostility, as assessed by the patterns of significant positive or negative correlations found with the activation of these emotions. Significant correlations occurred more often in waking and REM dreaming subjects than NREM subjects and were more common in the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes than in the occipital lobe. Correlations tended to be positive for waking subjects and negative for REM subjects.