Scientists have gradually shifted their stance on lucid dreams (LD) — the ability to know that you are dreaming and even controlling your fate within that dream state.
Many were initially skeptical when, in the 1970s, Stanford psychophysiologist Stephen LaBerge proposed the concept. Psychologists slowly came around, conducting research and tapping into patients’ lucid dreaming capacity for therapeutic purposes.
Now, a team of neuroscientists has collected and analyzed the largest known set of data that compares brain activity during wakefulness, rapid-eye-movement sleep, and lucid dreaming. Comparing brain imaging of these three states of consciousness shows how different parts of the brain are involved in each, and how each state affects perception, memory, self awareness and cognitive control, according to a study in JNeurosci. For instance, some brain waves during lucid dreams cross from one side of the other, or, within the same hemisphere, from one region to the other.
Lucid Dreaming: Another State of Consciousness
“This research opens the door to a deeper understanding of lucid dreaming as an intricate state of consciousness by pointing to the possibility that conscious experience can arise from within sleep itself,” Çağatay Demirel, a neuroscientist from Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands, an author of the paper, said in a press release. “This work offers a perspective that could challenge the traditional binary view of sleep and wakefulness in future research.”
The new study shows how lucid dreaming, which the paper said has “remained poorly understood” — works on a molecular and electrochemical level. The work could provide more insight into similarities and differences within the brain during different states of consciousness.
Read More: What Are Lucid Dreams, and Are There Any Real Dangers To Them?
Harnessing Lucid Dreams
Earlier psychological studies have investigated how lucid dreaming can be tapped into for both performance-enhancing and therapeutic purposes. One study examining the sleep state’s effects on performance showed that dart players could improve their accuracy by first controlling their dreams about their techniques. Another showed that people could reduce nightmares by essentially taking control of them in a lucid dream state.
Some psychologists recommend harnessing their dreams with a three-step process. First, record your dreams in a journal as soon as you awaken, so you don’t forget them. Then, over time, look for common themes. Finally, set an intention to address them. For instance, if, in your dream, you are consistently being chased by a specific monster (representing some neurosis or other) make a plan to stop, turn around, and confront that creature the next time you dream about it.
Understanding how these dreams work as electrical signals in different parts of the brain could further aid therapeutic attempts to tap into them. It could also be used to improve brain-computer interfaces for paralyzed people.
“Taken together, these findings illuminate the electrophysiological correlates of LD, laying the groundwork for decoding the mechanisms of this intriguing state of consciousness,” the paper concluded.
Read More: Yes, You Can Control Your Dreams: The Strange Science of Lucid Dreaming
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
JNeurosci. Electrophysiological correlates of lucid dreaming: sensor and source level signatures
Current Biology. Enhancing imagery rehearsal therapy for nightmares with targeted memory reactivation
Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
