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