Lucid Dreaming

Loren BaxterWill BarleyPaul AlbickerSydney Thomas

Brief Overview Introduction to Lucid Dreaming

(Loren) Physiological Correlates (Will) Clinical Applications of LD (Paul) Cognitive Implications (Sydney) Q & A

What is a Lucid Dream? A state where the subject is conscious

that they are dreaming. The dreamer can have different levels of

consciousness: They can simply understand the fact that

they are dreaming, or They can choose how to act and even

exhibit conscious control over the dream environment

Lucid Dreaming in the Past LD was too difficult to study

because lucid dreams are normally rare Only about 20% of the population

reports having one or more LD’s per month

Studying them would require keeping subjects in a lab for months at a time

Stephen LaBerge Proved in 1980 self-study that

Lucid Dreaming is a Learnable skill Motivation and practice Developed MILD method (Mnemonic

Induced Lucid Dream) Extended study to a group of 5

subjects in 1981

How to MILD (Mnemonic Induced Lucid

Dream) Become conscious during REM

WILD (Wake Induced Lucid Dream) Fall asleep but maintain consciousness

Aides Reality Checks Retail Products

MILD Consciousness occurs during REM

sleep Steps:

1) Set alarm to wake a few hours early 2) Immediately rehearse dream 3) 15 minutes of wakeful activity 4) Mantras and visualization: “I will

realize I’m dreaming” 5) Repeat step 4 until asleep

WILD Occurs during hypnogogic state Steps:

1) Relaxation 2) Fall asleep, maintain consciousness

Count: “1, I’m dreaming, 2, I’m dreaming…”

Pay attention to and count breaths Imagine self descending stairs, count

steps

Aides Reality Checks

Habitually check whether you are dreaming

Commercial Products Eyewear detects REM sleep, shines dim

light into eyes Computer software produces sounds

during the night Things to do during MILD (Games, etc.)

Methods for Studying LDs How do the researchers know

when you are in a lucid dream? Trained to clench hands/ move eyes

while in a lucid dream Accurate measure in 90% of reported

lucid dreams studied.

A Distinct Altered State? How is an LD different from

daydreaming?

“Lucid dreamers are conscious of the absence of the sensory input from the external world…” -Laberge

Physiological Correlates Typically occur in phasic (active)

REM sleep. Usually occur in the later sleep cycles Characterized by greater arousal than

NLD sleep

Physiological Correlates 

Conscious Control? Many interesting willful actions

may be preformed while in a LD Control of respiration Clenching of fists results in detectable

movement of arm muscles Sense of time remains intact

Therapeutic Values LD can help treat recurring

nightmares 5 case studies using LD One year follow up 4 no longer had

nightmares, 1 had experienced a decrease in intensity and frequency

Becoming lucid, individual may directly alter the content of the nightmare

Recurring Nightmares LD allows one to realize that the

experience is a dream Interactions with dream imagery

can be altered, reducing uncontrollability

Also reduce perceived importance

Insight Subjects interact with dream in a

creative fashion LD lead to important insight

Family, loved ones Overcome or better adapt to its

handicaps

Traditional Theories-Freud Dreaming and waking cognition

are discontinuous Dreaming Cognition

Bizarre, “magical-thinking” Waking Cognition

High degree of rationality, order and clarity

Discontinuity Theories Reflective awareness

A conscious awareness of an ongoing internal or external event

“the mind not only knows the things that appear before it; it knows that it knows them”-William James

Hallmark of waking mind, lose capacity during sleep

Hobson Abstract self-reference and a self-critical

perspective are lost during dreaming.

Kahan & LaBerge (1994) Phenomenon of lucid dreaming casts

doubt on the common view that cognition during dreaming is inherently deficient

Study by Kahan, LaBerge, Levitan and Zimbardo (1997) Conducted study to assess the

cognitive, metacognitive and emotional qualities of recent waking and dreaming experiences.

Study (1997)-Kahan, LaBerge, Levitan and Zimbardo

Group 1=38 practiced dreamers Group 2=50 “novice dreamers” Methods

Record experiences from prior dreaming or waking episode

Fill out parallel questionnaires for a dreaming and a waking experience

Methods Dreaming state

Report most clearly recalled dream Answer questions assessing…

Choice, internal commentary, sudden/sustained attention, public self-consciousness related/unrelated to target event, private self-consciousness (self-reflection), emotion and unusual experience

Waking state Report experiences from a prior 15-min

period Answer same questionnaire

Results-Comparisons

Waking episodes Higher frequency of choice and self-

reflection Dreaming episodes

Public self consciousness, emotion No Diff=internal commentary No systematic differences between

practiced and novice dreamers were observed.

W/exception of questions of attention

Concerns Cognition of waking episodes might be

correlated to characteristics of retrospective evaluations of waking cognition

Public-self consciousness suggests there is a self-critical perspective in dreaming…but might be due to solitary conditions of reporting waking experiences

Measurements are indirect Narrative reports Individuals’ recollections made in waking state

However… Study not restricted to individuals

practiced in dream recall or self-observation

Few differences between groups None of the measured features was

absent or infrequent in reports of either experience

Recollections of dreaming and waking experiences were similar for some cognitive features and different for others

Implications Episodic recollections of

waking/dreaming experiences more similar than different

Differences are more quantitative than qualitative

Did not reveal global deficiencies between experiences

All measured dimensions present in both experiences

Conclusion Lucid Dreaming is a distinct altered

state of consciousness Studies with LD offer insight into the

world of dreams, a long discussed topic of psychology and cogsci

The differences between the sleeping and waking levels of consciousness are not as disparate as previously believed

Questions What do you think about the

methods used to study LD? Is LD an epiphenomenon of REM During LD's, is cognition deficient

or adapted to the context of an abstract environment?

What does this suggest about sleep/dreaming and consciousness?

ReferencesBlagrove, M, and S.J. Hartnell. "Lucid Dreaming: Associations With

Internal Locus of Control, Need for Cognition and Creativity." Personality

and Individual Differences 28 (2000): 41-47.

Green, C.E.. Lucid Dreams. Oxford: Institute of Psychophysical Research,

1968.

Kahan, Tracey L., et al. "Similarities and Differences between Dreaming

and Waking Cognition: An Exploratory Study." Consciousness and Cognition 6

(1997): 132-147.

LaBerge, Stephen P. "Lucid Dreaming: Psychophysiological Studies of

Consciousness during REM Sleep." Sleep and Cognition (1990): 109-126.

LaBerge, Stephen P. "Lucid Dreaming as a Learnable Skill: A Case Study."

Perceptual and Motor Skills 51 (1980): 1039-1042.

Zadra, Antonio L; Pihl, Robert O. “Lucid dreaming as a treatment for

recurrent nightmares.” Psychotherapy & Psychosomatics. Vol 66(1), Jan-Feb 1997, pp. 50-55