Lucid dream

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Lucid Dream (disambiguation).
In the psychology subfield of oneirology, a lucid dream is a type of dream wherein
the dreamer realizes that they are dreaming during their dream. The capacity to have
and sustain lucid dreams is a trainable cognitive skill.[1][2] During a lucid dream, the
dreamer may gain some amount of volitional control over the dream characters,
narrative, or environment, although this control of dream content is not the salient
feature of lucid dreaming.[3][4][5][6] An important distinction is that lucid dreaming is a
distinct type of dream from other types of dreams such as prelucid dreams and vivid
dreams, although prelucid dreams are a precursor to lucid dreams, and lucid dreams
are often accompanied with enhanced dream vividness. Lucid dreams are also a
distinct state from other lucid boundary sleep states such as lucid hypnagogia or
lucid hypnopompia.

In formal psychology, lucid dreaming has been studied and reported for many years.
Prominent figures from ancient to modern times have been fascinated by lucid
dreams and have sought ways to better understand their causes and purpose. Many
different theories have emerged as a result of scientific research on the subject. [7]
[8]
Further developments in psychological research have pointed to ways in which this
form of dreaming may be utilized as a therapeutic technique.[9]

The term lucid dream was coined by Dutch author and psychiatrist Frederik van
Eeden in his 1913 article A Study of Dreams,[6] though descriptions of dreamers
being aware that they are dreaming predate the article.[6] Psychologist Stephen
LaBerge is widely considered the progenitor and leading pioneer of modern lucid
dreaming research.[10] He is the founder of the Lucidity Institute at Stanford
University.

Definition
Paul Tholey laid the epistemological basis for the research of lucid dreams,
proposing seven different conditions of clarity that a dream must fulfill to be defined
as a lucid dream:[11][12][13]

1. Awareness of the dream state (orientation)

2. Awareness of the capacity to make decisions
3. Awareness of memory functions
4. Awareness of self
5. Awareness of the dream environment
6. Awareness of the meaning of the dream
7. Awareness of concentration and focus (the subjective clarity of that state)
Later, in 1992, a study by Deirdre Barrett examined whether lucid dreams contained
four "corollaries" of lucidity:

1. The dreamer is aware that they are dreaming

2. They are aware that actions will not carry over after waking
3. Physical laws need not apply in the dream
4. The dreamer has a clear memory of the waking world
Barrett found that less than a quarter of lucidity accounts exhibited all four. [14]
Subsequently, Stephen LaBerge studied the prevalence among lucid dreams of the
ability to control the dream scenario, and found that while dream control and dream
awareness are correlated, neither requires the other. LaBerge found dreams that
exhibit one clearly without the capacity for the other. He also found dreams where,
although the dreamer is lucid and aware they could exercise control, they choose
simply to observe.[3]

History
Eastern
The practice of lucid dreaming is central to both the ancient Indian Hindu practice
of Yoga nidra and the Tibetan Buddhist practice of dream Yoga. The cultivation of
such awareness was a common practice among early Buddhists.[15]

Western
Early references to the phenomenon are also found in ancient Greek writing. For
example, the philosopher Aristotle wrote: "often when one is asleep, there is
something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a
dream."[16] Meanwhile, the physician Galen of Pergamon used lucid dreams as a form
of therapy.[17] In addition, a letter written by Saint Augustine of Hippo in AD 415 tells
the story of a dreamer, Doctor Gennadius, and refers to lucid dreaming.[18][19]

Philosopher and physician Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682) was fascinated by

dreams and described his own ability to lucid dream in his Religio Medici, stating:
"...yet in one dream I can compose a whole Comedy, behold the action, apprehend
the jests and laugh my self awake at the conceits thereof."[20]

Samuel Pepys, in his diary entry for 15 August 1665, records a dream, stating: "I had
my Lady Castlemayne in my arms and was admitted to use all the dalliance I desired
with her, and then dreamt that this could not be awake, but that it was only a
dream."[21]

In 1867, the French sinologist Marie-Jean-Léon, Marquis d'Hervey de Saint

Denys anonymously published Les Rêves et Les Moyens de Les Diriger;
Observations Pratiques ("Dreams and the ways to direct them; practical
observations"), in which he describes his own experiences of lucid dreaming, and
proposes that it is possible for anyone to learn to dream consciously.[22][23]
 Frederik van Eeden (left) and Marquis
d'Hervey de Saint Denys (right), early researchers of lucid dreaming
In 1913, Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederik (Willem) van Eeden (1860–1932)
coined the term "lucid dream" in an article entitled "A Study of Dreams". [24][16][23]

Some have suggested that the term is a misnomer because Van Eeden was
referring to a phenomenon more specific than a lucid dream.[25] Van Eeden intended
the term lucid to denote "having insight", as in the phrase a lucid interval applied to
someone in temporary remission from a psychosis, rather than as a reference to the
perceptual quality of the experience, which may or may not be clear and vivid.[26]

Skill mastery
Clinical psychologist, Kristen LaMarca outlined four stages[27] towards mastering the
skill of using lucid dreaming:

Lucid Dreaming Skill Levels

Stage Title Description Rarity

The practitioner may have no recollection of ever

1 Beginner having a lucid dream, and perhaps has at most Common
experienced only brief moments of lucidity.

An experienced lucid dreaming practitioner wields an

increased ability of dream control and capacity to
execute pre-intended actions. However, there are still
Less
2 Experienced aspects of lucid dream practice about employing
common
lucidity productively that are yet to be honed. One's
understanding of accessing and maintaining dream
lucidity deepen as one has more lucid dreams.

3 Proficient A proficient lucid dreamer is marked by a deliberate Uncommon

ability to accomplish intended actions in lucid dreams,
along with knowledge of the best actions for given
dream scenarios. The proficient lucid dream
practitioner's practice is well-planned, drawing upon a
broad skill set facilitating flexible oneironautic
 exploration, which can include contemplative practices
or athletic motor skill training. This level of skill
adequacy is not necessary to develop a fulfilling lucid
dream practice.

Expertise in lucid dream skill is accompanied by

normalization of greater intensity of lucidity during
lucid dreams. LaMarca writes that the expert's practice
is "characterized by at least a decade of intense Extremely
4 Expert
dedication, long training hours, and mentorship by other rare
more advanced experts." Spiritual figures, such Tibetan
Buddhist masters, tend to display the highest order of
mastery.

Progression along the skill levels is akin to a maturity in the development of the
practitioner's discipline, methodology and application.

Cognitive science
In 1968, Celia Green analyzed the main characteristics of such dreams, reviewing
previously published literature on the subject and incorporating new data from
participants of her own. She concluded that lucid dreams were a category of
experience quite distinct from ordinary dreams and said they were associated
with rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep). Green was also the first to link lucid
dreams to the phenomenon of false awakenings,[28] which has since been
corroborated by more recent studies.[29]

In 1973, the National Institute of Mental Health reported that researchers at the
University of California, San Francisco, were able to train sleeping subjects to
recognize they were in REM dreaming and indicate this by pressing micro switches
on their thumbs. Using tones and mild shocks as cues, the experiments showed that
the subjects were able to signal knowledge of their various sleep stages, including
dreaming.[30]

In 1975, Dr. Keith Hearne had the idea to exploit the nature of rapid eye movements
(REM) to allow a dreamer to send a message directly from dreams to the waking
world. Working with an experienced lucid dreamer (Alan Worsley), he eventually
succeeded in recording (via the use of an electrooculogram or EOG) a pre-defined
set of eye movements signaled from within Worsley's lucid dream. This occurred at
around 8 am on the morning of April 12, 1975. Hearne's EOG experiment was
formally recognized through publication in the journal for The Society for Psychical
Research. Lucid dreaming was subsequently researched by asking dreamers to
perform pre-determined physical responses while experiencing a dream, including
eye movement signals.[31][32]

In 1980, Stephen LaBerge at Stanford University developed such techniques as part

of his doctoral dissertation.[33] In 1985, LaBerge performed a pilot study that showed
that time perception while counting during a lucid dream is about the same as during
waking life. Lucid dreamers counted out ten seconds while dreaming, signaling the
start and the end of the count with a pre-arranged eye signal measured
with electrooculogram recording.[34][35][36] LaBerge's results were confirmed by German
researchers D. Erlacher and M. Schredl in 2004.[37]

In a further study by Stephen LaBerge, four subjects were compared, either singing
or counting while dreaming. LaBerge found that the right hemisphere was more
active during singing and the left hemisphere was more active during counting.[38]

Neuroscientist J. Allan Hobson has hypothesized what might be occurring in the

brain while lucid. The first step to lucid dreaming is recognizing that one is dreaming.
This recognition might occur in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is one of the
few areas deactivated during REM sleep and where working memory occurs. Once
this area is activated and the recognition of dreaming occurs, the dreamer must be
cautious to let the dream continue, but be conscious enough to remember that it is a
dream. While maintaining this balance, the amygdala and parahippocampal
cortex might be less intensely activated.[39] To continue the intensity of the dream
hallucinations, it is expected the pons and the parieto-occipital junction stay active.[40]

Using electroencephalography (EEG) and other polysomnographical measurements,

LaBerge and others have shown that lucid dreams begin in the rapid eye movement
(REM) stage of sleep.[41][42][43] LaBerge also proposes that there are higher amounts of
beta-1 frequency band (13–19 Hz) brain wave activity experienced by lucid
dreamers, hence there is an increased amount of activity in the parietal lobes making
lucid dreaming a conscious process.[44]

Paul Tholey, a German Gestalt psychologist and a professor of psychology

and sports science, originally studied dreams in order to resolve the question of
whether one dreams in colour or black and white. In his phenomenological research,
he outlined an epistemological frame using critical realism.[45] Tholey instructed his
subjects to continuously suspect waking life to be a dream, in order that such a habit
would manifest itself during dreams. He called this technique for inducing lucid
dreams the Reflexionstechnik (reflection technique).[46] Subjects learned to have such
lucid dreams; they observed their dream content and reported it soon after
awakening. Tholey could examine the cognitive abilities of dream figures.[47] Nine
trained lucid dreamers were directed to set other dream figures arithmetic and verbal
tasks during lucid dreaming. Dream figures who agreed to perform the tasks proved
more successful in verbal than in arithmetic tasks. Tholey discussed his scientific
results with Stephen LaBerge, who has a similar approach.[48]

A study was conducted by Stephen LaBerge and other scientists to see if it were
possible to attain the ability to lucid dream through a drug. In 2018, galantamine was
given to 121 patients in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the only one of its
kind. Some participants found as much as a 42 percent increase in their ability to
lucid dream, compared to self-reports from the past six months, and ten people
experienced a lucid dream for the first time. It is theorized that galantamine
allows acetylcholine to build up, leading to greater recollection and awareness during
dreaming.[49]

Two-way communication
Graphical abstract of "Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers
during REM sleep"
Teams of cognitive scientists have established real-time two-way communication
with people undergoing a lucid dream. During dreaming, they were able to
consciously communicate with experimenters via eye movements[50] or facial muscle
signals, were able to comprehend complex questions and use working memory.
Such interactive lucid dreaming could be a new approach for the scientific
exploration of the dream state and could have applications for learning and creativity.
[51][52][53][54]
Researchers have also demonstrated that individuals in a lucid dream can
control and respond to feedback within a virtual environment.[55]

Alternative theories
Other researchers suggest that lucid dreaming is not a state of sleep, but of brief
wakefulness, or "micro-awakening".[56][57] Experiments by Stephen LaBerge used
"perception of the outside world" as a criterion for wakefulness while studying lucid
dreamers, and their sleep state was corroborated with physiological measurements.
[32]
LaBerge's subjects experienced their lucid dream while in a state of REM, which
critics felt may mean that the subjects are fully awake. J. Allen Hobson responded
that lucid dreaming must be a state of both waking and dreaming.[58]

Philosopher Norman Malcolm was a proponent of dream skepticism.[59] He has

argued against the possibility of checking the accuracy of dream reports, pointing out
that "the only criterion of the truth of a statement that someone has had a certain
dream is, essentially, his saying so."[60] Yet dream reports are not the only evidence
that some inner drama is being played out during REM sleep. Electromyography on
speech and body muscles has demonstrated the sleeping body covertly walking,
gesturing and talking while in REM.[61][62]

Prevalence and frequency

In 2016, a meta-analytic study by David Saunders and colleagues[63] on 34 lucid
dreaming studies, taken from a period of 50 years, demonstrated that 55% of a
pooled sample of 24,282 people claimed to have experienced lucid dreams at least
once or more in their lifetime. Furthermore, for those that stated they did experience
lucid dreams, approximately 23% reported to experience them on a regular basis, as
often as once a month or more. In a 2004 study on lucid dream frequency and
personality, a moderate correlation between nightmare frequency and frequency of
lucid dreaming was demonstrated. Some lucid dreamers also reported that
nightmares are a trigger for dream lucidity.[64] Previous studies have reported that
lucid dreaming is more common among adolescents than adults.[65]

A 2015 study by Julian Mutz and Amir-Homayoun Javadi showed that people who
had practiced meditation for a long time tended to have more lucid dreams. The
authors claimed that "Lucid dreaming is a hybrid state of consciousness with
features of both waking and dreaming" in a review they published in Neuroscience of
Consciousness in 2017.[7]

Mutz and Javadi found that during lucid dreaming, there is an increase in activity of
the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the bilateral frontopolar prefrontal cortex,
the precuneus, the inferior parietal lobules, and the supramarginal gyrus. All are
brain functions related to higher cognitive functions, including working memory,
planning, and self-consciousness. The researchers also found that during a lucid
dream, "levels of self-determination" were similar to those that people experienced
during states of wakefulness. They also found that lucid dreamers can only control
limited aspects of their dream at once.

Mutz and Javadi also have stated that by studying lucid dreaming further, scientists
could learn more about various types of consciousness, which happen to be less
easy to separate and research at other times.[66]

Suggested applications
Treating nightmares
It has been suggested that those who suffer from nightmares could benefit from the
ability to be aware they are indeed dreaming.[2][67] A pilot study performed in 2006
showed that lucid dreaming therapy treatment was successful in reducing nightmare
frequency. This treatment consisted of exposure to the idea, mastery of the
technique, and lucidity exercises. It was not clear what aspects of the treatment were
responsible for the success of overcoming nightmares, though the treatment as a
whole was said to be successful.[68]

Australian psychologist Milan Colic has explored the application of principles

from narrative therapy to clients' lucid dreams, to reduce the impact not only of
nightmares during sleep but also depression, self-mutilation, and other problems in
waking life.[69] Colic found that therapeutic conversations could reduce the distressing
content of dreams, while understandings about life—and even characters—from
lucid dreams could be applied to their lives with marked therapeutic benefits.[70]

Psychotherapists have applied lucid dreaming as a part of therapy. Studies have

shown that, by inducing a lucid dream, recurrent nightmares can be alleviated. It is
unclear whether this alleviation is due to lucidity or the ability to alter the dream itself.
A 2006 study performed by Victor Spoormaker and Van den Bout evaluated the
validity of lucid dreaming treatment (LDT) in chronic nightmare sufferers.[71] LDT is
composed of exposure, mastery and lucidity exercises. Results of lucid dreaming
treatment revealed that the nightmare frequency of the treatment groups had
decreased. In another study, Spoormaker, Van den Bout, and Meijer (2003)
investigated lucid dreaming treatment for nightmares by testing eight subjects who
received a one-hour individual session, which consisted of lucid dreaming exercises.
[72]
The results of the study revealed that the nightmare frequency had decreased and
the sleep quality had slightly increased.

Holzinger, Klösch, and Saletu managed a psychotherapy study under the working
name of ‘Cognition during dreaming—a therapeutic intervention in night