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Lucid Dreaming

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Researching Dreams

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Abstract

Lucid dreams are defined as dreams in which the dreamer knows that she/he is dreaming. This fascinating state of mind is relatively rare but there is a variety of validated induction methods to increase lucid dream frequency. For the dreamer lucid dreams are fun (e.g., flying) and helpful (coping with nightmares or training motor skills). For the researcher, lucid dreaming is fascinating because skilled lucid dreamers can produce signals by moving their eyes in a specific pattern and the recording machine can measure these movements. For example, the dreamer can signal becoming lucid, then count to ten (or taking ten steps), and signal again. The researcher can check the recoding to know how long counting to ten took in the dream. In an fMRI-EEG study, a lucid dreamer did hand clenching in the dream and activity in the motor cortex was found; a sophisticated way to demonstrate the body-mind relationship during sleep.

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  1. Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany

    Michael Schredl

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  1. Michael Schredl
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Schredl, M. (2018). Lucid Dreaming. In: Researching Dreams. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95453-0_8

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