Exploring the range of reported dream lucidity

Dream lucidity, or being aware of a dream as it occurs, is not an all-or-none phenomenon. Often, subjects report being some variant of “a little lucid” as opposed to completely or not at all. As recent neuroimaging work begins to elucidate the neural underpinnings of lucid experience, understanding subtle phenomenological variation within lucid dreams is essential. Here, we focus on the variety of lucid experience by asking participants to report their awareness of the dream on a 5-point Likert scale (from not at all to very much). Participants implemented lucid dream induction methods at home for one week and provided detailed reports about their dream experiences each morning. Consistent with previous research, cognitive induction methods led to about half of participants reporting at least one lucid dream and about half of all dreams including some level of lucidity. However, we also show that induction success rate varies significantly depending on the minimum criteria for lucidity. Participants also reported how much they adhered to specific components of each induction method, and the amount of mnemonic rehearsal during a brief early awake period was predictive of lucidity level. Furthermore, lucidity levels were positively correlated with dream control, dream bizarreness, and next-morning positive affect. Lastly, we asked participants open-ended questions about why they chose particular levels of lucidity. We focus a qualitative discussion on responses to those “semi- lucid” dreams (rated just a little, moderately, or pretty much lucid) to explore why participants rate their dreams as having intermediate levels of awareness. Together, the present study explores the frequency of semi-lucid dreams, what they are, why they might arise, their correlates, and how they impact methodological concerns in lucid dreaming research

Exploring the range of reported dream lucidity

Dream lucidity, or being aware that one is dreaming while dreaming, is not an all-or-none phenomenon. Often, subjects report being some variant of “a little lucid” as opposed to completely or not at all. As recent neuroimaging work begins to elucidate the neural underpinnings of lucid experience, understanding subtle phenomenological variation within lucid dreams is essential. Here, we focus on the variability of lucid experience by asking participants to report their awareness of the dream on a 5-point Likert scale (from not at all to very much). Participants implemented a combination of mnemonic training lucid dream induction methods at home for one week and provided detailed reports about their dream experiences each morning. Consistent with previous research, cognitive induction methods led to about half of participants reporting at least one lucid dream and about half of all dreams including some level of lucidity. However, we also show that induction success rate varies significantly depending on the minimum criteria for lucidity. Participants also reported how much they adhered to specific components of each induction method, and the amount of mnemonic rehearsal during a brief early awake period was predictive of lucidity level. Furthermore, lucidity levels were positively correlated with dream control, dream bizarreness, and next-morning positive affect. Lastly, we asked participants open-ended questions about why they chose particular levels of lucidity. We focus a qualitative discussion on responses to those “semi-lucid” dreams (rated just a little, moderately, or pretty much lucid) to explore why participants rate their dreams as having intermediate levels of awareness. Together, the present study explores the frequency of semi-lucid dreams, what they are, why they might arise, their correlates, and how they impact methodological concerns in lucid dreaming research

Lucid dreams from reactivating breath-counting during REM sleep

People typically become aware that a dream was “just a dream” only after awakening. Alternatively, people can become aware that they are dreaming during the dream. These lucid dreams are thought to involve increased prefrontal cortex activity relative to non-lucid dreams, and they are associated with volitional control over dream content. Lucid dreams could be valuable for many purposes, such as part of a therapy for nightmares. Yet, the long-standing challenge of inducing lucid dreams in the laboratory has limited research on such applications. Recent studies made progress in showing that memory reactivation during an early-morning nap can induce lucid dreams. Here, we propose that reactivating mindfulness during REM sleep can also be an effective strategy for inducing lucid dreams. Preliminary results and a brief literature review support this notion. Participants (N = 5) underwent a wake-back-to-bed procedure with standard polysomnography to track sleep stages and verify lucid dreams with electro-ocular eye signaling. After approximately 5 hours of sleep, participants were awakened to complete a breath-counting task while ambient music cues played in the background. When participants returned to sleep and reached REM sleep, cues were replayed to reactivate the task context. This procedure induced signal-verified lucid dreams in two participants. This rate of induction success approached that of recent full-scale investigations, though additional evidence will be needed to substantiate these initial results. Nevertheless, the present findings suggest that mindfulness-associated sensory stimulation in REM sleep has high potential value for promoting lucid dreaming

Dream lucidity is associated with positive waking mood

Lucid dreaming is a unique phenomenon with potential applications for therapeutic interventions. Few studies have investigated the effects of lucidity on an individual's waking mood, which could have valuable implications for improving psychological wellbeing. The current experiment aims to investigate whether the experience of lucidity enhances positive waking mood, and whether lucidity is associated with dream emotional content and subjective sleep quality. 20 participants were asked to complete lucid dream induction techniques along with an online dream diary for one week, which featured a 19-item lucidity questionnaire, and subjective ratings of sleep quality, dream emotional content, and waking mood. Results indicated that higher lucidity was associated with more positive dream content and elevated positive waking mood the next day, although there was no relationship with sleep quality. The results of the research and suggestions for future investigations, such as the need for longitudinal studies of lucidity and mood, are discussed

Lucid dream induction with sleep EEG wearables

Lucid dreaming (LD) is defined as a state of awareness of the ongoing dream state while sleeping. Lucid dreaming is a rather rare phenomenon; however, it can be learned and trained, and various studies have proposed different techniques to ‘induce’ lucid dreams. Nonetheless, these studies either lacked physiological measurements and were therefore merely limited to self-reported questionnaires, or in the case of including physiological measurements, their generalizability was restricted mainly due to the exclusive recruitment of ‘experienced’ lucid dreamers. Only a few studies attempted to reliably induce lucid dreams in ‘naive’ participants, but they involved small sample sizes and have not yet been replicated. To overcome these limitations, we designed a multi-center study including three laboratories, in the Netherlands, Canada, and Italy respectively, with the aim of recruiting 60 participants overall (i.e. 20 participants per laboratory). This is the largest sample size for a lucid dreaming induction study with physiological measurements to date. We will test the applicability of a combination of two lucid dreaming induction techniques: targeted lucidity reactivation (TLR) and sense-initiated lucid dream (SSILD), which will be implemented by presenting perceptual cues (visual, auditory, and tactile) before and during REM sleep. To do so, we will employ minimal measurement modalities, i.e., an EEG headband and three additional chin EMG electrodes. We will also use this dataset to develop and validate the first open-source dream engineering toolbox, Dreamento (DREAM ENgineering TOolbox, Esfahani et al., 2022). Participants will visit the laboratory three times throughout an approximately two week period, including an intake session and two morning naps (stimulation and control, in counterbalanced order across subjects). During the intake session, participants will receive information about the study and complete preliminary screening questionnaires. Then, participants will complete daily dream diaries for the following two weeks. The morning nap sessions will be held at least one and two weeks after the intake session, respectively. Both nap sessions consist of the same cognitive training procedure during wakefulness, but differ in terms of the sensory stimulation procedure during sleep. Participants will receive sensory cues upon detection of REM sleep during the stimulation session, but not during the control session. They will be instructed to signal their lucidity using a predefined intentional eye movement pattern (left-right-left-right, LRLR) and will be awakened once the REM period ends to report any subjective experience and complete a lucidity questionnaire