For many of us, dreams slip away the moment we wake. But new research suggests that whether you remember them at all could be a subtle clue about your brain health
A new Australian study has found that not recalling dreams in later life may be linked to early biological changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease – and could help predict future cognitive decline.
Not remembering dreams could be an early signal
The research, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, followed around 1,000 older adults over a decade.
Participants who didn’t recall their dreams at the start of the study were more likely to go on to develop dementia. They also experienced cognitive decline at about twice the rate of people who could remember their dreams.
Lead author and Research Fellow at University of NSW’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, Dr Darren Lipnicki, says the findings point to dream recall as a simple early indicator of dementia risk.
“Older people who don’t recall their dreams may already be showing early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, even if their memory still appears normal,” he said.
Researchers also found links between poor dream recall and the APOE ε4 gene, the biggest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s, as well as higher levels of a key blood biomarker called p-tau217. These links showed up even when memory test results looked normal.
“This isn’t just about forgetting dreams,” Dr Lipnicki said. “It may indicate that the brain is producing fewer or less vivid dreams in the first place due to early neurodegenerative changes.”
Why dreams might matter
Dreaming is tied to the brain’s “default mode network”, which plays a role in memory, imagination and internal thought. This same system is affected early in Alzheimer’s disease.
Senior author Professor Perminder Sachdev says that overlap could be key.
“Dreaming is a window into how the brain generates internal thought,” he said.
“Our findings suggest that changes in this process may be one of the earliest detectable signs of Alzheimer’s disease, and a promising target for future research.”
Because dream recall is easy to notice and doesn’t require testing, researchers say it could one day help flag changes much earlier.
“If someone notices they’ve stopped remembering their dreams later in life, it may be worth paying attention,” Dr Lipnicki said. “It could be an early signal that something is changing in the brain.”
It’s not just about having no dreams
Other research suggests that the opposite experience – having frequent disturbing dreams – may also be linked to dementia risk.
A large international study, published in Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, analysed data from more than 10,000 adults aged 60 to 89.
Around one in four participants reported regular nightmares or “bad dreams”. Among adults aged 60–69, those experiencing disturbing dreams had nearly four times the risk of developing dementia compared with those who didn’t.
The link was especially strong in men, where frequent disturbing dreams were associated with more than three times the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
However, researchers stressed this doesn’t mean nightmares cause dementia but they may be another early sign.
“We found the strongest association in people in their 60s, which may suggest that disturbing dreams could be an early marker of dementia risk for some individuals,” Dr Lipnicki said.
“It’s important to emphasise that not everyone who experiences disturbing dreams will go on to develop dementia.”
What this means for you
A change in your dreams on its own isn’t something to panic about.
Sleep, stress, medications and mental health can all influence what happens when your head hits the pillow. And researchers are still working to understand why these patterns show up.
What this study suggests is that our dreams may reflect changes in the brain earlier than we once thought.
If you’ve noticed your dreams have changed or you’re no longer remembering them, and it’s playing on your mind, it’s always worth having a chat with your GP.
