This study explores the role of cortical activation for dream recall in non rapid eye movement sleep. Six healthy young females were awakened in three consecutive nights five times per night from slow wave sleep and stage 2 sleep. Spectral analysis of the EEG was performed over the 32 s preceding awakening. Power spectra of the recall categories ‘dream’ and ‘no dream’ were compared, and spectral power in specific frequency bands was correlated with dream report length. Dream recall was not associated with cortical activation. However, correlations between spectral power in the delta, sigma and beta bands and dream report length support a relationship between cortical activation and memory capacity for dreams.