To Sleep, Perchance to Lucid Dream: What Science Is Learning from Dreamers

A new technique for analyzing data from lucid dreaming studies is opening the door for larger, more powerful studies.

By: Alexandra Paz, PhD

Have you ever dreamt that you desperately need to use the bathroom, only to wake up and realize you actually have to go? From an evolutionary perspective, it makes sense that we maintain a degree of awareness during sleep. After all, sleeping would be much riskier if we couldn’t wake ourselves in response to strange sounds like a fire alarm.

For the approximately 20% of people that regularly experience lucid dreaming, that boundary between waking reality and the dream world is especially thin. Lucid dreaming is a phenomenon in which people become aware that they’re dreaming and sometimes even gain control of the events or characters within the dream. While dreamers may take advantage of lucidity to make their dreams more pleasant, scientists see it as a valuable window into the workings of the sleeping brain and altered states of consciousness.

How Scientists Study Lucid Dreaming

During REM sleep the brain triggers muscle paralysis throughout the entire body, except for the heart, lungs, and eyes. This partial paralysis prevents us from physically acting out our dreams. While the continued function of the heart and lungs is obviously necessary for the sake of the dreamer’s survival, the eyes offer a unique opportunity for researchers.

Because eye movement remains under voluntary control during REM sleep, researchers can use it as a signal. In lucid dreaming studies, participants are trained to move their eyes in a specific pattern once they become lucid. This signal lets scientists know precisely when lucidity begins, allowing them to study in brain at that time.

Although this technique has been used for decades, there are still some challenges to fully understanding how lucid dreaming differs from other states like non-lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming is hard to induce reliably, which can result in small study sample sizes. Eye movements themselves can also be problematic because they introduce noise into brainwave recordings, making it harder to interpret which neural signals are due to dreaming and which are artifacts of motion.

Studying Brain Activity in Lucid Dreaming

A recent groundbreaking study published in The Journal of Neuroscience offers promising solutions to these challenges. In a first-of-its-kind approach, researchers from Radboud University Medical Center developed a new method for analyzing EEG data that works across a variety of equipment setups, from pricey lab gear to affordable, at-home options. As a result, the study boasts the largest EEG sample size in the history of lucid dreaming research.

Their findings reveal that lucid dreaming may represent a distinct state of consciousness, separate from REM sleep and wakefulness. Specifically, scientists found notable changes in gamma waves, the highest-frequency type of brain wave. This type of activity is thought to be involved in the integration of sensory information for higher level processes, like controlling attention. Researchers hypothesize that these changes in gamma activity at the onset of lucid dreaming is connected to the brain recognizing the dream state.

Differences in gamma waves were particularly strong in the precuneus, a brain region involved in self-awareness and part of the default mode network (DMN), the same network implicated in psychedelic experiences. These gamma shifts may reflect the brain’s recognition of the dream state, a kind of internal “reality check” that helps the dreamer realize they’re dreaming. By analyzing these neural changed, scientists hope to better understand how the brain differentiates reality form illusion.

Lucid Dreaming and Society

Though the term ‘lucid dream’ was first coined in 1913 by Dutch psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden, the concept has been part of human society for thousands of years. Aristotle wrote about it in his treatise De Insomniis (On Dreams) in the 300s BCE, and Tibetan Buddhist dream yoga (Milam) treats lucid dreaming as a spiritual practice for achieving enlightenment.

Today, lucid dreaming is not just a curiosity but also a potential tool for mental wellness. Surveys show lucid dreams are typically positive experiences. Even when nightmares occur, the ability to recognize the dream and reshape its narrative can be deeply empowering, particularly for those suffering from chronic nightmares or PTSD. Some lucid dreamers report using their dreams to tackle real-life challenges, like preparing for public speaking or solving complex problems.

Lucid dreaming also holds promise for mental health research. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) estimates that approximately 100,000 young people experience psychosis every year in the U.S. alone, highlighting the urgent need for breakthroughs in this area. The parallels between lucid dreaming, psychedelic states, and psychosis are of great interest to scientists because understanding how the brain navigates altered perceptions of reality may lead to better treatments for disorders like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. A better understanding of how the brain performs effective reality-checking is therefore of the utmost importance to providing relief to hundreds of thousands of people across the country.

As researchers continue to unlock the secrets of lucid dreaming, the implications extend far beyond sleep. From therapy to neuroscience to spirituality, lucid dreaming bridges both worlds – both in the mind and in society. It’s no surprise, then, that lucid dreaming has long fascinated monks, yogis, philosophers, and scientists alike. Whether you’re curious about trying lucid dreaming for the first time, or you’re already a seasoned lucid dreaming explorer, one thing is clear: the phenomenon isn’t just fascinating, it’s full of untapped potential.