lucid dream

Paul Tholey laid the epistemological basis for the research of lucid dreams, proposing seven different conditions of clarity that a dream must fulfill in order to be defined as a lucid dream:{{cite journal|last1=Tholey|first1=P.|year=1980|title=Klarträume als Gegenstand empirischer Untersuchungen [Conscious Dreams as an Object of Empirical Examination]|journal=Gestalt Theory|volume=2|pages=175–91 }}{{cite journal|last1=Tholey|first1=P.|year=1981|title=Empirische Untersuchungen über Klartraüme [Empirical Examination of Conscious Dreams]|journal=Gestalt Theory|volume=3|pages=21–62}}{{cite journal|author=Holzinger B|year=2009|title=Lucid dreaming – dreams of clarity|journal=Contemporary Hypnosis|volume=26|issue=4|pages=216–24|doi=10.1002/ch.390}}

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 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 less than a quarter of lucidity accounts exhibited all four.{{cite web|url=http://asdreams.org/journal/issues/asdj2-04.htm#Barrett|title=Dreaming 2(4) Abstracts – The Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams|work=asdreams.org|access-date=2009-08-02|archive-date=2021-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320172609/https://asdreams.org/journal/issues/asdj2-04.htm#Barrett|url-status=live}}

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.

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.Tse-fu Kuan (2008), Mindfulness in Early Buddhism: New Approaches through Psychology and Textual Analysis of Pali, Chinese and Sanskrit Sources (Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism)

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." Meanwhile, the physician Galen of Pergamon used lucid dreams as a form of therapy.{{cite book|author=Véronique Boudon-Millot |title=Galien de Pergame. Un médecin grec à Rome |publisher=Les Belles Lettres, 2012}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://dreamstudies.org/2009/10/08/lucid-dreaming-and-christianity/|title=Lucid Dreaming and Christianity: Entering the Light|date=October 8, 2009|first=Ryan|last=Hurd|publisher=Dream Studies Portal|access-date=Mar 12, 2018|archive-date=March 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313031514/http://dreamstudies.org/2009/10/08/lucid-dreaming-and-christianity/|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102159.htm |title=Letter from St. Augustine of Hippo |publisher=Newadvent.org |access-date=2009-06-20 |archive-date=2012-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029014929/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102159.htm |url-status=live }}

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."Religio Medici, part 2:11. Text available at http://penelope.uchicago.edu/relmed/relmed.html

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."{{cite web|url=http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1665/08/15/|title=Tuesday 15 August 1665|work=The Diary of Samuel Pepys|date=15 August 2008 |access-date=29 December 2008|archive-date=20 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320172611/https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1665/08/15/|url-status=live}}

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.{{cite book |author=D'Hervey de Saint-Denys |title=Les Rêves et Les Moyens de Les Diriger; Observations Pratiques |year=1867 |location=Paris |publisher=Amyot |url=https://archive.org/details/lesrvesetlesmoye00herv |via=Internet Archive }}{{cite book|last=Bulkeley|first=Kelly|author-link = Kelly Bulkeley|title=Visions of the night: dreams, religion, and psychology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ogZ49yw8i0C&pg=PA157|access-date=29 April 2013|year=1999|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-9798-2|page=157|quote=The person most widely credited with coining the term "lucid dream" is Frederick Van Eeden, a Dutch psychiatrist who from 1898 to 1912 gathered reports of lucid dreams and performed experiments on his own abilities to have lucid dreams ...}}

File:EedenSaintDenys.jpg (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".{{cite journal|author=Frederik van Eeden|year=1913|url=http://www.lucidity.com/vanEeden.html|title=A study of Dreams|journal=Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research|volume=26|access-date=2007-06-06|archive-date=2019-10-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008035022/http://lucidity.com/vanEeden.html|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Andreas Mavromatis|title=Hypnogogia: The Unique State of Consciousness Between Wakefullness and Sleep|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dGgOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA96|access-date=29 April 2013|year=1987|publisher=Routledge, Chapman & Hall, Incorporated|isbn=978-0-7102-0282-6|page=96|quote=The lucid dream, a term coined by van Eeden himself, had already been noted by Aristotle who wrote that 'often when...}}

Some have suggested that the term is a misnomer because Van Eeden was referring to a phenomenon more specific than a lucid dream.{{cite journal |title=Lucid Dreaming: Awake in Your Sleep? |url=http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Articles/si91ld.html |first=Susan |last=Blackmore |author-link=Susan Blackmore |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |year=1991 |volume=15 |pages=362–70 |access-date=2004-01-14 |archive-date=2007-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070730195525/http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Articles/si91ld.html |url-status=live }} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.lucidity.com/LucidDreamingFAQ2.html|title=Lucid Dreaming Frequently Asked Questions Answered by Lucidity Institute|work=lucidity.com|access-date=2005-07-08|archive-date=2019-09-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190910121945/http://www.lucidity.com/LucidDreamingFAQ2.html|url-status=live}}

Clinical psychologist, Kristen LaMarca outlined four stages{{cite book | last= Lamarca | first=Kristen | title=Learn to Lucid Dream | publisher=Rockridge Press | publication-place=Naperville | date=2019-10-22 | isbn=1-64152-382-4 | page=12-14}} towards mastering the skill of lucid dreaming:

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

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,Green, C. (1968). Lucid Dreams, London: Hamish Hamilton. which has since been corroborated by more recent studies.{{Cite journal |last=Buzzi |first=Giorgio |date=December 2019 |title=False awakenings in lucid dreamers: How they relate with lucid dreams, and how lucid dreamers relate with them. |url=https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/drm0000114 |journal=Dreaming |language=en |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=323–338 |doi=10.1037/drm0000114 |issn=1573-3351}}

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.{{cite book |last1=Luce |first1=Gay Gaer |title=Current Research on Sleep and Dreams |date=Jan 1973 |publisher=National Institute of Mental Health |location=Washington, D.C. |page=61 |url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=cftFAAAAYAAJ&rdid=book-cftFAAAAYAAJ&rdot=1}}

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.{{cite journal |author=Watanabe Tsuneo |date = March 2003|title=Lucid Dreaming: Its Experimental Proof and Psychological Conditions |journal=Journal of International Society of Life Information Science |location=Japan |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=159–62 |quote=The occurrence of lucid dreaming (dreaming while being conscious that one is dreaming) has been verified for four selected subjects who signaled that they knew they were dreaming. The signals consisted of particular dream actions having observable concomitants and were performed in accordance with a pre-sleep agreement.}}{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.lucidity.com/SleepAndCognition.html |chapter=Lucid Dreaming: Psychophysiological Studies of Consciousness during REM Sleep |first=Stephen |last=LaBerge |editor=Richard R. Bootzin |editor2=John F. Kihlstrom |editor3=Daniel L. Schacter |title=Sleep and Cognition |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=American Psychological Association |year=1990 |pages=109–26 |isbn=978-1557982629 |access-date=2006-12-27 |archive-date=2019-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808012859/http://www.lucidity.com/SleepAndCognition.html |url-status=live }}

In 1980, Stephen LaBerge at Stanford University developed such techniques as part of his doctoral dissertation.{{cite thesis |last=Laberge |first=S. |year=1980 |title=Lucid dreaming: An exploratory study of consciousness during sleep |type=PhD thesis |publisher=Stanford University |via=University Microfilms No. 80-24, 691 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/303063091 |access-date=2021-02-06 |id={{ProQuest|303063091}} }} 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.{{cite journal |author=LaBerge, S. |year=2000 |url=http://www.lucidity.com/slbbs/index.html |title=Lucid dreaming: Evidence and methodology |journal=Behavioral and Brain Sciences |volume=23 |issue=6 |pages=962–63 |doi=10.1017/S0140525X00574020 |s2cid=145725908 |access-date=2006-12-07 |archive-date=2006-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061129105923/http://www.lucidity.com/slbbs/index.html |url-status=live }}LaBerge, Stephen (1990). in Bootzin, R.R., Kihlstrom, J.F. & Schacter, D.L., (Eds.): Lucid Dreaming: Psychophysiological Studies of Consciousness during REM Sleep Sleep and Cognition. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, pp. 109–26.LaBerge, Stephen; Levitan, Lynne (1995). "Validity Established of DreamLight Cues for Eliciting Lucid Dreaming". Dreaming 5 (3). International Association for the Study of Dreams. LaBerge's results were confirmed by German researchers D. Erlacher and M. Schredl in 2004.{{cite journal |author=Erlacher, D. |author2=Schredl, M. |url=http://daniel.erlacher.de/index.php/Time_required_for_motor_activity_in_lucid_dreams |year=2004 |title=Required time for motor activities in lucid dreams |journal=Perceptual and Motor Skills |volume=99 |pages=1239–42 |doi=10.2466/pms.99.3f.1239-1242 |pmid=15739850 |issue=3 Pt 2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070305181802/http://daniel.erlacher.de/index.php/Time_required_for_motor_activity_in_lucid_dreams#References |archive-date=2007-03-05 }}

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.{{cite journal |author1=LaBerge S. |author2=Dement W.C. | year = 1982b | title = Lateralization of alpha activity for dreamed singing and counting during REM sleep | doi = 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1982.tb02567.x | journal = Psychophysiology | volume = 19 | pages = 331–32 }}

Neuroscientist J. Allan Hobson has hypothesized what might be occurring in the brain while lucid. The first step to lucid dreaming is recognizing 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.{{cite journal |author=Muzur A., Pace-Schott E.F. |author2=Allan Hobson |date=November 2002 |url=http://www.bostonneuropsa.org/PDF%20Files/Pace-Schott/MUZUR_ET_AL.__02.pdf |title=The prefrontal cortex in sleep |journal=Trends Cogn Sci |volume=6 |pages=475–81 |doi=10.1016/S1364-6613(02)01992-7 |issue=11 |pmid=12457899 |s2cid=5530174 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630033042/http://www.bostonneuropsa.org/PDF%20Files/Pace-Schott/MUZUR_ET_AL.__02.pdf |archive-date=2007-06-30 }} To continue the intensity of the dream hallucinations, it is expected the pons and the parieto-occipital junction stay active.{{cite book |last=Hobson |first=J. Allan |title=The Dream Drugstore: Chemically Altered States of Consciousness |url=https://archive.org/details/dreamdrugstorech00hobs |url-access=limited |year=2001 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-262-58220-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dreamdrugstorech00hobs/page/n97 96]–98}}

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.{{cite journal |author1=Ogilvie R. |author2=Hunt H. |author3=Sawicki C. |author4=McGowan K. | year = 1978 | title = Searching for lucid dreams | journal = Sleep Research | volume = 7 | page = 165 }}{{cite web|last=Harms|first=R. (n.d.)|title=Polysomnography (sleep study). Definition|website=Mayo Clinic|access-date=April 21, 2014|url=http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/polysomnography/basics/definition/prc-20013229|archive-date=March 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320172601/https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/polysomnography/about/pac-20394877|url-status=live}}LaBerge S., Levitan L., Dement W.C. (1986) Lucid dreaming: physiological correlates of consciousness during REM sleep. Journal of Mind and Behavior 7: 251(121)–8(8). 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.{{cite journal |author1=Holzinger B. |author2=LaBerge S. |author3=Levitan L. | year = 2006 | title = Psychophysiological correlates of lucid dreaming | journal = Dreaming| volume = 16 | issue = 2| pages = 88–95 | doi = 10.1037/1053-0797.16.2.88 }}

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.Tholey, Paul (1980). Erkenntnistheoretische und systemtheoretische Grundlagen der Sensumotorik aus gestalttheoretischer Sicht. In: Sportwissenschaft. 10, S. 7–35. 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).{{cite journal |last=Tholey |first=Paul |year=1983 |title=Techniques for inducing and manipulating lucid dreams |journal=Perceptual and Motor Skills |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=79–90 |doi=10.2466/pms.1983.57.1.79 |s2cid=144169561 }} 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.Tholey, Paul, (1983). Cognitive abilities of dream figures in lucid dreams. In: Lucidity Letter, p. 71. 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.{{cite journal |last=Tholey |first=Paul |year=1991 |title=Conversation Between Stephen LaBerge and Paul Tholey in July of 1989 |editor-first=B. |editor-last=Holzinger |journal=Lucidity |volume=10 |issue=1&2 |pages=62–71 }}

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.{{Cite journal|last1=LaBerge|first1=Stephen|last2=LaMarca|first2=Kristen|last3=Baird|first3=Benjamin|date=2018-08-08|title=Pre-sleep treatment with galantamine stimulates lucid dreaming: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=13|issue=8|pages=e0201246|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0201246|issn=1932-6203|pmc=6082533|pmid=30089135|bibcode=2018PLoSO..1301246L|doi-access=free}}

File:Graphical abstract of "Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep".jpg

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{{Cite journal |last=Voss |first=Ursula |last2=Holzmann |first2=Romain |last3=Tuin |first3=Inka |last4=Hobson |first4=J. Allan |date=September 2009 |title=Lucid dreaming: a state of consciousness with features of both waking and non-lucid dreaming |url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2737577/ |journal=Sleep |volume=32 |issue=9 |pages=1191–1200 |doi=10.1093/sleep/32.9.1191 |issn=0161-8105 |pmc=2737577 |pmid=19750924}} 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.{{cite news |title=Study finds real-time dialogue with a dreaming person is possible |url=https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-real-time-dialogue-person.html |access-date=7 March 2021 |work=medicalxpress.com |language=en |archive-date=4 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304125452/https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-real-time-dialogue-person.html |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Konkoly |first1=Karen R. |last2=Appel |first2=Kristoffer |last3=Chabani |first3=Emma |last4=Mangiaruga |first4=Anastasia |last5=Gott |first5=Jarrod |last6=Mallett |first6=Remington |last7=Caughran |first7=Bruce |last8=Witkowski |first8=Sarah |last9=Whitmore |first9=Nathan W. |last10=Mazurek |first10=Christopher Y. |last11=Berent |first11=Jonathan B. |last12=Weber |first12=Frederik D. |last13=Türker |first13=Başak |last14=Leu-Semenescu |first14=Smaranda |last15=Maranci |first15=Jean-Baptiste |last16=Pipa |first16=Gordon |last17=Arnulf |first17=Isabelle |last18=Oudiette |first18=Delphine |last19=Dresler |first19=Martin |last20=Paller |first20=Ken A. |title=Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep |journal=Current Biology |date=18 February 2021 |volume=31 |issue=7 |pages=1417–1427.e6 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.026 |pmid=33607035 |pmc=8162929 |language=English |issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021CBio...31E1417K }} 50px Available under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC BY 4.0] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016050101/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |date=2017-10-16 }}.{{Cite journal |last1=Türker |first1=Başak |last2=Musat |first2=Esteban Munoz |last3=Chabani |first3=Emma |last4=Fonteix-Galet |first4=Alexandrine |last5=Maranci |first5=Jean-Baptiste |last6=Wattiez |first6=Nicolas |last7=Pouget |first7=Pierre |last8=Sitt |first8=Jacobo |last9=Naccache |first9=Lionel |last10=Arnulf |first10=Isabelle |last11=Oudiette |first11=Delphine |date=November 2023 |title=Behavioral and brain responses to verbal stimuli reveal transient periods of cognitive integration of the external world during sleep |journal=Nature Neuroscience |language=en |volume=26 |issue=11 |pages=1981–1993 |doi=10.1038/s41593-023-01449-7 |issn=1097-6256 |pmc=10620087 |pmid=37828228}}{{Cite journal |last=Oza |first=Anil |date=2023-10-18 |title=Deep asleep? You can still follow simple commands, study finds |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03252-7 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=622 |issue=7984 |pages=678–679 |doi=10.1038/d41586-023-03252-7|pmid=37853201 |bibcode=2023Natur.622..678O |s2cid=264305006 }} Researchers have also demonstrated that individuals in a lucid dream can control and respond to feedback within a virtual environment.{{Cite web |last=Dolan |first=Eric W. |date=2024-02-10 |title=Scientists demonstrate that a virtual "Cybertruck" can be controlled while dreaming |url=https://www.psypost.org/scientists-demonstrate-that-a-virtual-cybertruck-can-be-controlled-while-dreaming/ |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=PsyPost - Psychology News |language=en-US}}

Other researchers suggest that lucid dreaming is not a state of sleep, but of brief wakefulness, or "micro-awakening".{{cite journal |last1=Schwartz |first1=B. A. |last2=Lefebvre |first2=A. |year=1973 |title=Contacts Veille/P.M.O. II : Les P.M.O. morcelées |trans-title=Conjunction of waking and REM sleep. II Fragmented REM periods |language=fr |journal=Revue d'Electroencephalographie et de Neurophysiologie Clinique |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=165–76 |doi=10.1016/S0370-4475(73)80034-6 |pmid=4377888 }}{{cite book |last=Hartmann |first=E. |year=1975 |chapter=Dreams and other hallucinations: an approach to the underlying mechanism |editor-first=R. K. |editor-last=Siegel |editor2-first=L. J. |editor2-last=West |title=Hallucinations : Behavior, Experience and Theory |pages=71–79 |location=New York |publisher=J. Wiley & Sons |isbn=0-471-79096-6 }} 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. 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.{{cite journal|title=The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up|journal=International Journal of Dream Research|volume=2|issue=2|pages=41–44|author=J. Allan Hobson|date=October 2009|doi=10.11588/ijodr.2009.2.403}}

Philosopher Norman Malcolm was a proponent of dream skepticism.Dreams and Dreaming (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). (2019, November 27). https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dreams-dreaming/#DreaExpe 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."{{cite book |last=Malcolm |first=N. |year=1959 |title=Dreaming |location=London |publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul }} 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.{{cite journal |last1=Carr |first1=Michelle |title=Animating Dreams and the Future of Dream Recording |journal=Psychology Today |date=September 18, 2017 |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dream-factory/201709/animating-dreams-and-the-future-dream-recording}}{{cite journal |last1=Shimizu |first1=A |last2=Inoue |first2=T |title=Dreamed speech and speech muscle activity |journal=Psychophysiology |date=1986 |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=210–4 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-8986.1986.tb00620.x|pmid=3704077 }}

In 2016, a meta-analytic study by David Saunders and colleagues{{Cite journal|last1=Saunders|first1=David T.|last2=Roe|first2=Chris A.|last3=Smith|first3=Graham|last4=Clegg|first4=Helen|title=Lucid dreaming incidence: A quality effects meta-analysis of 50 years of research|journal=Consciousness and Cognition|volume=43|pages=197–215|doi=10.1016/j.concog.2016.06.002|pmid=27337287|year=2016|s2cid=3965065|url=http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/8705/1/Saunders20168705.pdf|access-date=2019-11-10|archive-date=2018-07-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721150632/http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/8705/1/Saunders20168705.pdf|url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite journal|last1=Schredl|first1=Michael|last2=Erlacher|first2=Daniel|date=2004-11-01|title=Lucid dreaming frequency and personality|journal=Personality and Individual Differences|volume=37|issue=7|pages=1463–73|doi=10.1016/j.paid.2004.02.003|issn=0191-8869}} Previous studies have reported that lucid dreaming is more common among adolescents than adults.{{Cite journal|last1=Szczegielniak|first1=A.|last2=Palka|first2=K.|last3=Goc|first3=T.|last4=Krysta|first4=K.|date=March 2015|title=Lucid Dreaming: a Mysterious Phenomenon|journal=European Psychiatry|volume=30|page=1780|doi=10.1016/s0924-9338(15)31372-9|s2cid=147290557|issn=0924-9338}}

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{{Cite journal|last1=Mutz|first1=Julian|last2=Javadi|first2=Amir-Homayoun|date=2017-01-01|title=Exploring the neural correlates of dream phenomenology and altered states of consciousness during sleep|url=https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2017/1/nix009/3859602|journal=Neuroscience of Consciousness|volume=2017|issue=1|pages=nix009|doi=10.1093/nc/nix009|pmid=30042842|pmc=6007136|archive-date=2021-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320172620/https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2017/1/nix009/3859602|url-status=live}} in 2017.

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.{{Cite web |date=2019-09-27 |title=Lucid dreams: Their role, and how they register in the brain |url=https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326496 |access-date=2023-06-09 |website=www.medicalnewstoday.com |language=en}}

It has been suggested that those who suffer from nightmares could benefit from the ability to be aware they are indeed dreaming.{{Cite web |title=Leveraging the power of lucid dreams |url=https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2024/10/leveraging-the-power-of-lucid-dreams/ |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=news.northwestern.edu |language=en}} 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.{{cite journal |url=http://content.karger.com/produktedb/produkte.asp?typ=fulltext&file=PPS2006075006389 |author1=Spoormaker,-Victor-I |author2=van-den-Bout,-Jan |date=October 2006 |title=Lucid Dreaming Treatment for Nightmares: A Pilot Study |journal=Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics |volume=75 |issue=6 |pages=389–94 |doi=10.1159/000095446 |pmid=17053341 |s2cid=15457895 |quote=Conclusions: LDT seems effective in reducing nightmare frequency, although the primary therapeutic component (i.e. exposure, mastery, or lucidity) remains unclear. |access-date=2007-10-26 |archive-date=2011-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221192436/http://content.karger.com/produktedb/produkte.asp?typ=fulltext&file=PPS2006075006389 |url-status=live }}

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.{{cite web|url=https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-02432-006|title=PsycNET|website=psycnet.apa.org|language=en|access-date=2019-11-03|archive-date=2021-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320172606/https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-02432-006|url-status=live}} 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.Colic, M. (2007). "Kanna's lucid dreams and the use of narrative practices to explore their meaning." The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work (4): 19–26.

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.{{cite journal | last1 = Spoormaker | first1 = V.I. | last2 = van den Bout | first2 = J. | year = 2006 | title = Lucid dreaming treatment for nightmares: a pilot study | journal = Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics | volume = 75 | issue = 6| pages = 389–94 | doi=10.1159/000095446 | pmid=17053341| s2cid = 15457895 }} 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.{{cite journal | last1 = Spoormaker | first1 = V.I. | last2 = van den Bout | first2 = J. | last3 = Meijer | first3 = E.J.G. | year = 2003 | title = Lucid dreaming treatment for nightmares: a series of cases | journal = Dreaming | volume = 13 | issue = 3| pages = 181–86 | doi=10.1037/1053-0797.13.3.181| doi-access = free }} 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 nightmares’, which included 40 subjects, men and women, 18–50 years old, whose life quality was significantly altered by nightmares.{{cite web|url=http://registration.akm.ch/einsicht.php|author=Holzinger, B., Klösch, G., & Saletu, B. |title= Cognition in Sleep – A Therapeutic Intervention in Patients with Nightmares and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. 21st Congress of the European Sleep Research Society|access-date =April 21, 2014|work=akm.ch|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424074809/http://registration.akm.ch/einsicht.php|archive-date=April 24, 2014}} The test subjects were administered Gestalt group therapy and 24 of them were also taught to enter the state of lucid dreaming by Holzinger. This was purposefully taught in order to change the course of their nightmares. The subjects then reported the diminishment of their nightmare prevalence from 2–3 times a week to 2–3 times per month.

In her book The Committee of Sleep, Deirdre Barrett describes how some experienced lucid dreamers have learned to remember specific practical goals such as artists looking for inspiration seeking a show of their own work once they become lucid or computer programmers looking for a screen with their desired code. However, most of these dreamers had many experiences of failing to recall waking objectives before gaining this level of control.Barrett, Deirdre. The Committee of Sleep: How Artists, Scientists, and Athletes Use their Dreams for Creative Problem Solving ... and How You Can, Too. Hardback Random House, 2001, Paperback Oneroi Press, 2010.

Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold (1990) discusses creativity within dreams and lucid dreams, including testimonials from a number of people who claim they have used the practice of lucid dreaming to help them solve a number of creative issues, from an aspiring parent thinking of potential baby names to a surgeon practicing surgical techniques. The authors discuss how creativity in dreams could stem from "conscious access to the contents of our unconscious minds"; access to "tacit knowledge"—the things we know but can't explain, or things we know but are unaware that we know.{{cite book |last1=LaBerge |first1=Steven |last2=Rheingold |first2=Howard |title=Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming |date=1990 |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=0-345-37410-X|chapter=9}}

The Dreams Behind the Music book by Craig Webb (2016) details lucid dreams of a number of musical artists, including how they are able not just to hear, but also compose, mix, arrange, practice, and perform music while conscious within their dreams.{{cite book |last=Webb |first=Craig |title=The Dreams Behind the Music: Learn Creative Dreaming as 100+ Artists Reveal their Breakthrough Inspirations |date=2016 |publisher=The DREAMS Foundation |isbn=978-0973428223}}

Though lucid dreaming can be beneficial to a number of aspects of life, some risks have been suggested. Those struggling with certain mental illnesses could find it hard to tell the difference between reality and the lucid dream (psychosis).{{cite web|url=https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323077.php|title=Lucid Dreaming: Controlling the stories of sleep|last=Cohut|first=Maria|date=September 14, 2018|website=Medical News Today|access-date=May 3, 2019|archive-date=March 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320172610/https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323077|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.newhealthadvisor.com/is-lucid-dreaming-dangerous.html|title=Is Lucid Dreaming Dangerous?|date=2015-07-31|access-date=2019-05-05|archive-date=2021-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320172610/https://www.newhealthadvisor.org/is-lucid-dreaming-dangerous.html|url-status=live}}

A very small percentage of people may experience sleep paralysis, which can sometimes be confused with lucid dreaming. Although from the outside, both seem to be quite similar, there are a few distinct differences that can help differentiate them. A person usually experiences sleep paralysis when they partially wake up in REM atonia, a state in which said person is partially paralyzed and cannot move their limbs. When in sleep paralysis, people may also experience hallucinations. Although said hallucinations cannot cause physical damage, they may still be frightening. There are three common types of hallucinations:{{Cite journal|last1=Cheyne|first1=J. Allan|last2=Rueffer|first2=Steve D.|last3=Newby-Clark|first3=Ian R.|date=1999-09-01|title=Hypnagogic and Hypnopompic Hallucinations during Sleep Paralysis: Neurological and Cultural Construction of the Night-Mare|journal=Consciousness and Cognition|volume=8|issue=3|pages=319–37|doi=10.1006/ccog.1999.0404|pmid=10487786|s2cid=23758148|issn=1053-8100}} an intruder in the same room, a crushing feeling on one's chest or back, and a feeling of flying or levitating. About 7.6% of the general population have experienced sleep paralysis at least once.{{Cite journal|last1=Sharpless|first1=Brian A.|last2=Barber|first2=Jacques P.|date=October 2011|title=Lifetime Prevalence Rates of Sleep Paralysis: A Systematic Review|journal=Sleep Medicine Reviews|volume=15|issue=5|pages=311–15|doi=10.1016/j.smrv.2011.01.007|issn=1087-0792|pmc=3156892|pmid=21571556}} Exiting sleep paralysis to a waking state can be achieved by intently focusing on a part of the body, such as a finger, and wiggling it, continuing the action of moving to then the hand, the arm, and so on, until the person is fully awake.{{Cite web |title=What Causes Sleep Paralysis? |url=https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21974-sleep-paralysis |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250328094111/https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21974-sleep-paralysis |archive-date=2025-03-28 |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Cleveland Clinic |language=en}}

Long-term risks with lucid dreaming have not been extensively studied,{{cite journal|last1=Aviram|first1=Liat|last2=Soffer-Dudek|first2=Nirit|year=2018|title=Lucid Dreaming: Intensity, But Not Frequency, Is Inversely Related to Psychopathology|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|volume=9|page=384|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00384|pmc=5875414|pmid=29623062|quote=To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to explore, and demonstrate, a potential long-term risk following the use of LD induction techniques.|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |last1=Schredl |first1=Michael |last2=Dyck |first2=Sophie |last3=Kühnel |first3=Anja |title=Lucid Dreaming and the Feeling of Being Refreshed in the Morning: A Diary Study |journal=Clocks & Sleep |date=12 February 2020 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=54–60 |doi=10.3390/clockssleep2010007 |pmid=33089191 |pmc=7445824 |issn=2624-5175 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Ribeiro |first1=Nicolas |last2=Gounden |first2=Yannick |last3=Quaglino |first3=Véronique |title=Is There a Link Between Frequency of Dreams, Lucid Dreams, and Subjective Sleep Quality? |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |date=25 June 2020 |volume=11 |page=1290 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01290|pmid=32670153 |pmc=7330170 |doi-access=free }} although many people have reported lucid dreaming for many years without any adverse effects. In 2018, researchers at the [https://sleep-and-consciousness.wisc.edu/ Wisconsin Institute for Sleep and Consciousness] conducted a study that concluded individuals who lucid dream more frequently have a more active and well connected prefrontal cortex.{{Cite journal |last=Baird |first=Benjamin |last2=Castelnovo |first2=Anna |last3=Gosseries |first3=Olivia |last4=Tononi |first4=Giulio |date=2018-12-12 |title=Frequent lucid dreaming associated with increased functional connectivity between frontopolar cortex and temporoparietal association areas |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-36190-w |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=17798 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-36190-w |issn=2045-2322|pmc=6290891 }}

{{Portal|Psychology}}

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}

• Active imagination
• Astral projection
• Patricia Garfield
• Pre-lucid dream
• Recurring dream
• Sleep paralysis
• Yoga nidra
• Carl Jung
• Sigmund Freud
• Dream
• Dreamwork
• Dream character
• Dreams in analytical psychology
• Dreaming (journal)
• Oneirology
• Oneiromancy
• Oneironautics
• Unconscious mind
• International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD)

{{div col end}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{Refbegin|30em}}

• Blanken, C.M. den and Meijer, E.J.G. "An Historical View of Dreams and the Ways to Direct Them; Practical Observations by Marie-Jean-Léon-Lecoq, le Marquis d'Hervey-Saint-Denys". Lucidity Letter, 7 (2) 67–78; 1988. Revised Edition in: Lucidity, 10 (1&2) 311–22; 1991.
• {{Cite conference |last=Conesa |first=Jorge |title=Sleep Paralysis Signaling (SPS) as a Natural Cueing Method for the Generation and Maintenance of Lucid Dreaming |conference=The 83rd Annual Convention of the Western Psychological Association |date=May 1–4, 2003 |location=Vancouver, BC, Canada}}
• {{Cite journal|first=Jorge|last=Conesa|title=Isolated Sleep Paralysis and Lucid Dreaming: Ten-year longitudinal case study and related dream frequencies, types, and categories|journal=Sleep and Hypnosis|volume=4|issue=4|year=2002|pages=132–42|url=http://www.sleepandhypnosis.org/article.asp?ID=125|access-date=2007-12-18|archive-date=2021-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320172621/https://s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js|url-status=live}}
• {{Skeptoid | id=4632 | number= 632| title=Lucid Dreaming | date= July 17, 2018| quote= | access-date=}}
• {{Cite book |last=Gackenbach |first=Jayne |author-link=Jayne Gackenbach |author2=Laberge, Stephen |title=Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain|year=1988|isbn=0306428490|publisher=Plenum Press|location=New York}}
• {{Cite book |last=Green |first=Celia |author2=McCreery, Charles|title=Lucid Dreaming: The Paradox of Consciousness During Sleep|year=1994|isbn=0415112397|publisher=Routledge|location=London}}
• {{Cite book |last=LaBerge |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen LaBerge |title=Lucid Dreaming|year=1985|isbn=0874773423|publisher=J.P. Tarcher|location=Los Angeles}}
• {{Cite book |last=LaBerge |first=Stephen |title=Lucid Dreaming: A Concise Guide to Awakening in Your Dreams and in Your Life|year=2009|isbn=978-1591796756 |location=Boulder, Col.|publisher=Sounds True}}
• {{Cite journal|first=Parmy|last=Olson|title=Saying 'Hi' Through A Dream: How The Internet Could Make Sleeping More Social|journal=Forbes|year=2012|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2012/11/08/saying-hi-through-a-dream-how-the-internet-could-make-sleeping-more-social/|access-date=2017-09-04|archive-date=2016-05-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531010710/http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2012/11/08/saying-hi-through-a-dream-how-the-internet-could-make-sleeping-more-social/|url-status=live}}
• {{Cite book|chapter=The Lucid Dream|title=The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness|url=https://archive.org/details/headtrip00jeff|url-access=registration|year=2007|isbn=978-0679314080|first=Jeff|last=Warren|publisher=Random House|location=Toronto}}
• Tholey, Paul (1983). "Relation between dream content and eye movements tested by lucid dreams". Perceptual and Motor Skills, 56, pp. 875–78.
• Tholey, Paul (1988). "A model for lucidity training as a means of self-healing and psychological growth". In: J. Gackenbach & S. LaBerge (eds.), Conscious mind, sleeping brain. Perspectives on lucid dreaming, pp. 263–87. London: Plenum Press.
• {{Cite book |last1= Tuccillo |first1= Dylan |last2= Zeizel |first2= Jared |last3= Peisel |first3= Thomas |date= 2013 |title= A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming: Mastering the Art of Oneironautics |publisher= Workman Publishing |isbn= 978-0761177395 }}
• [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/11/lucid-dreaming-electric-scalp-stimulation-study Lucid dreaming can be induced by electric scalp stimulation, study finds] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320172609/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/11/lucid-dreaming-electric-scalp-stimulation-study |date=2021-03-20 }}
• [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-nov-15-la-he-psychology-fads-20101115-story.html "A look at four psychology fads"] – a comparison of est, primal therapy, Transcendental Meditation and lucid dreaming at the Los Angeles Times

{{Refend}}

• {{Wikibooks inline|Lucid Dreaming}}

{{Dreaming}}

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{{Jungian psychology}}

{{Jung}}

{{Sigmund Freud}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucid Dream}}

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