Sleep Disorders / Reference
Lucid Dreams: What Do
They Mean?
Medically Reviewed by Jabeen Begum, MD on June 24,
2024 Written by Kris Martins, Stephanie Booth
8 min read
What Are Lucid Dreams?
Lucid dreams are when you know
you’re dreaming while you’re asleep.
Studies suggest that about 50% of all people
have had at least one lucid dream. About 20%
of lucid dreamers have them monthly. And a
small group of people have them every week
or even every night.
Lucid dreaming has been part of various
religions for thousands of years. But it's only
been studied by scientists in the past century.
In 1913, Dutch psychiatrist Frederik Van Eeden
coined the phrase a"er documenting his own
experience with dreams.
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By the late 1970s and 1980s, researchers
confirmed lucid dreaming was real. They did
so by devising a way to tell when sleep study
participants had these intense dreams. Before
they fell asleep, the participants were asked to
move their eyes in a certain pattern, such as
twice to either side and then back to center,
once they began having lucid dreams. When
they made these eye movements, researchers
finally had the proof that lucid dreaming is
real.
How to know if you’re lucid dreaming
For reasons that experts still don't understand,
we usually don't know when we're dreaming.
And you probably won't remember any
dreams you had unless you're woken up while
you're having them. But if you're having a
lucid dream:
You're aware that the events flashing
through your brain aren’t really
happening.
The dream feels vivid and real.
You may be able to control how the
action unfolds, as if you’re directing a
movie in your sleep.
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You're probably doing something active
inside your dream (such as flying).
Lucid dreamers may access more parts of their
brain while they're sleeping than other people.
But more studies are needed to understand
what that means. (Photo Credit: E+/Getty
Images)
When Do Lucid Dreams Happen?
These heightened dreams are most common
during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, a
period of very deep sleep marked by eye
motion, faster breathing, and lots of brain
activity. In fact, during REM, your brain is
almost as active as when you're awake.
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You usually enter REM sleep about 90 minutes
a"er falling asleep. It lasts about 10 minutes.
As you sleep, each REM period is longer than
the one before, finally lasting up to an hour.
But some sleep scientists believe that lucid
dreams may also happen just outside of REM
sleep.
What Causes Lucid Dreams?
Lucid dreaming appears to be a kind of
"hybrid" state where you aren’t fully awake
but are also not quite asleep. Neuroscientists
don’t know exactly how and why it happens.
But they have some ideas.
Studies have found physical di#erences in the
brains of people who have lucid dreams. The
very front part of their brain called the
prefrontal cortex — the site of high-level tasks
such as making decisions and recalling
memories -- is bigger. That suggests that you
may be more likely to have vivid dreams if
you're self-reflective and o"en go over
thoughts in your head.
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A "glitch" in your natural sleep patterns,
especially during REM sleep, could also make
lucid dreaming more likely.
And this phenomenon might also have to do
with another reason that experts haven't
found yet.
Who's most likely to have lucid dreams?
Evidence is still sparse, but here are the
findings so far:
One small study found that people with
narcolepsy, a chronic sleep disorder,
were more likely than other participants
to have lucid dreams.
Another study linked video games that
make you move around a lot when you
play, such as Nintendo Wii games, with
this type of dreaming.
Another research has shown that you're
more prone to have these vivid dreams if
you're creative, are open to new
experiences, feel like you have a lot of
self-control, and would describe yourself
as not having vast personal boundaries.
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Although anyone can have this type of
dream, one large study found that you're
most likely to have your first one as a
teenager.
Benefits of Lucid Dreams
Several studies have shown that lucid
dreaming can help with nightmares. You can
learn to confront scary things you see in your
dreams and control what happens next.
Vivid dreaming might also help your waking
life with benefits such as:
Less anxiety. The sense of control you feel
during a lucid dream may stay with you and
make you feel empowered.
Help with depression. Early research shows
that these types of dreams allow you to feel
more creative and curious about yourself,
which can ease feelings of depression.
Better motor skills. Limited data suggest that
you may be able to improve simple skills, such
as how quickly you can tap your fingers, when
you "practice" during a lucid dream. This
might be because the same part of your brain
turns on whether you imagine the movements
while you're awake or run through them
during a lucid dream.
Improved problem-solving. These vivid
dreams may be more helpful in solving
creative problems (such as a conflict with
another person) than in solving logical
problems (such as a math problem).
More creativity. Some people taking part in
lucid dream studies were able to come up with
new ideas or insights, sometimes with the help
of characters in their dreams.
Reduced posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) symptoms. A"er a lucid dreaming
workshop, one study found that people with
PTSD improved both their PTSD symptoms
and their well-being.
Is Lucid Dreaming Harmful?
Research on lucid dreaming is still limited. So
far, there's no data that proves that it's
harmful. But it could raise your risk for:
Poorer sleep quality. Lucid dreaming could
prevent your brain from sinking into deep REM
sleep. Vivid dreams can also wake you and
make it hard to get back to sleep. For some
people, either of those scenarios can lead to
sleep deprivation, which can greatly a#ect
how you feel during your waking hours. For
instance, if you're sleep-deprived, you'll
probably feel groggy and have a hard time
remembering things. And you'll likely feel
more stressed than you would a"er a good
night's sleep.
Confusion, delirium, and hallucinations. In
people who have certain ongoing mental
health issues, lucid dreams may blur the line
between what’s real and what’s imagined.
Sleep paralysis. This is a condition that's
been linked to lucid dreaming. It happens
when you wake up from REM sleep too quickly.
You're conscious, but you can't move your
body, which can be a scary sensation.
Although sleep paralysis isn't harmful to your
health, it can cause anxiety of fear. Some
people avoid sleeping because they don't
want it to happen again.
How to Have Lucid Dreams
One easy way to try to dream more is to get
plenty of rest. Ideally, you'll sleep 8 or more
hours a night. That's important because you
cycle through REM sleep every 90 minutes.
More REM sleep can mean more dreaming in
general.
Sleep hygiene can also help you get a good
night's sleep. Keep your bedroom "cave-like" - cool, quiet, and dark.
Small studies have found that you may be able
to raise your chances of dreaming lucidly. One
way to do it is to prime your mind to notice
weird details in your dream so you can alert
yourself that it’s not real.
More research is needed to know if any
method can actually trigger a lucid dream.
Some things researchers have tried include:
Reality testing. This is when you pause at
di#erent times of the day to ask yourself, "Am I
dreaming?" You can try to do something
impossible, such as push your finger through
your palm. Or you can do something that's
usually hard to do in a dream, such as read a
page in a book. If you get used to testing your
reality while you're awake, you may remember
to do it while you're dreaming.
Dream diary. Keeping a journal may help you
dream more lucidly, maybe because writing
about your dreams helps you focus on them.
Other research found that dream journals
didn’t help on their own but might be useful
when combined with other methods.
Wake back to bed. In this method, you wake
yourself up a"er 5 hours of sleep, stay awake
briefly, and then go back to bed to try to enter
an REM sleep period.
Mnemonic induction of lucid dreams
(MILD). You wake up a"er sleeping for 5 hours
and tell yourself several times that the next
time you dream, you'll remember you’re
dreaming. This strategy uses something called
prospective memory — the act of
remembering to do something in the future —
to trigger a lucid dream.
Wake-initiated lucid dreaming (WILD). This
is a way to go from being awake to
immediately having a vivid dream. It taps into
something called hypnagogia, a very early
stage of sleep that is o"en linked to creativity.
Surprisingly, your brain activity during this
time may be as active as it is during deep REM
sleep.
Drugs. Studies have focused on the e#ects of
several drugs, such as supplements and
medicinal plants, on sleep and dreams. But it’s
not clear how safe they are or how well they
work.
Technology. Some specially designed masks
and headbands have sounds or lights that
might bring on a lucid state. Other devices can
record and play messages used in the MILD
technique while you’re asleep.
How to Wake Up From a Lucid
Dream
To awaken yourself, you can try to close your
eyes in the dream. You can also try clenching
your fists.
Lucid Dream Research
Experts are trying to learn more about this
type of dreaming in a few di#erent ways. For
instance, they may see if they can train people
to have lucid dreams or monitor the brain
activity of people as they dream this way.
Researchers are also curious to explore what
dreaming like this can teach us about
consciousness and our waking lives.
Here are some important tools researchers
rely on:
Electrooculogram (EOG). If you're part of a
lucid dream study, you'll probably be asked to
signal with your eyes once you realize that
you're dreaming. This test measures eye
movement and electrical activity at the back
of your eyes. Small electrodes (tiny metal
devices) are gently stuck on the skin around
your eyes for this test.
Electroencephalogram (EEG). Your brain
never stops working, even when you're asleep.
Its activity can be measured with this test. It
records electrical impulses through electrodes
that are placed around the outside of your
head.
Transcranial direct current stimulation
(tDCS). This is a special device that's placed
over your head. It delivers a very mild
electrical current to your brain to change its
regular pattern. Researchers use tDCS to try to
pinpoint which parts of your brain you use
when you dream.
Takeaways
If you have a lucid dream, you're asleep but
aware that you're dreaming. Researchers don't
understand the cause of these vivid dreams
but are trying to learn more. So far, lucid
dreams appear to have some benefits, such as
helping you deal with nightmares, reducing
anxiety, and boosting creativity in your waking
life.
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