A lucid dream is considered one in which the sleeping person is aware of being dreaming, which can sometimes allow them to control certain aspects of the dream to adapt it to their preferences, changing the environment, the characters, and even the activities they do. almost as if it were the plot of a movie that he could modify as he pleased.
During a lucid dream, the person has a ‘double consciousness’ in which they realize that everything that happens is not real, but they can actively participate in the dream as if it were. These lucid dreams can occur spontaneously or be induced through specific techniques, such as mental training before sleeping, exposure to certain stimuli during sleep, or through technological devices.
In the fields of psychology and neuroscience, interest in lucid dreams is increasing because they have potential benefits for personal growth, overcoming fears, acquiring skills, and even improving mood. And now a new study may help more people use this practice for their personal benefit.
Until now, the effectiveness of a home method for inducing lucid dreams that combines pre-dream training with sensory cues has not been systematically tested, but research by neuroscientists at Northwestern University is the first to provide evidence that this method, Called targeted alertness reactivation (TLR), it can be successful with minimal technical requirements.
Advantages of intervening in the course of dreams
Adapting the TLR method, previously used in Ken Paller’s sleep lab at Northwestern, the team conducted research using a smartphone app that associates sensory stimulation with a lucid mental state. The results have been published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition and show that the TLR method in its most basic form works.
Participants improved using the app, going from an average of 0.74 lucid dreams per week to 2.11 lucid dreams per week. “It is a notable increase, since even one lucid dream per week is enough for most people who have these types of dreams,” said Karen Konkoly, a postdoctoral researcher in psychology at Northwestern in a note published at the university.
Konkoly explained that the goal of this research was to determine how many lucid dreams could be induced with just a smartphone and to establish a baseline in terms of ease and accessibility. The first part consists of a pre-sleep training provided by an app, while the second consists of reactivating lucidity with a sound signal during sleep.
The 19 participants who completed the first experiment met criteria such as owning an Android phone, sleeping at least 7-8 hours a night, and being able to fall back asleep if they woke up in the last two hours of the night. Before going to sleep, they tested the volume of the app to ensure that the sensory signals were audible, without waking them up.
The app provided nighttime training with a sound cue and instructions to become aware of your physical, mental and emotional state, as well as your surroundings. If they woke up, they answered a question on their phone about whether the sound signal had woken them, and recorded their dreams in a journal.
“We take a ‘sleep engineering’ approach to using sleep for personal benefits, such as practicing skills, solving problems, and fostering personal and spiritual growth.”
To verify that the origin of lucid dreams was the TLR, a second experiment was carried out with a group of 120 users of the app. Everyone received the nighttime training, but on alternate nights the control group received a dummy sound signal or no signal.
On the first night, when everyone received the real signal, 17% of the participants had lucid dreams. On the second night, those who received the signal again maintained this rate, while only 5% of the control group had lucid dreams.
The entries in the participants’ dream diaries provided further evidence of lucidity. One participant described being in his office and noticing other people reacting to a sound, while another, working as a first responder, tried to find the source of the sound until realizing it was the app’s signal.
“By changing sleep, we are opening the door for people to change their dreams,” Paller said. “We take a ‘sleep engineering’ approach to using sleep for personal benefits, such as practicing skills, solving problems, and fostering personal and spiritual growth.” Some research suggests that lucid dreaming can improve a person’s mood the next day, and according to Konkoly, many report feeling happier and less stressed after having a lucid dream.
Paller noted that one drawback of the app is the risk of waking users, and another is the lack of ability to detect when they are in the REM sleep phase, where lucid dreams are more likely. Therefore, the team plans to investigate wearable technology that can reduce the risk of waking users and detect REM sleep.
