Special questions on lucid dreaming: What? Who? How? When? Why?
Lucid dreams are those dreams in which the person realizes the fact that she or he is asleep (Van
Eeden, 1913). Dreams perception and interpretation has always been a fascinating topic for
scientific researches and studies. However, lucid dreams appear to be even more alluring since
the beginning of the twentieth century. After conducting academic research in this paper I have
tried to gather all the known information that can appear to be answers on common arising
questions on lucidity and its applications; such as the mechanism that takes place in one’s brain
or ways to provoke having lucid dreams. Lucidity is a scientific area that has to undergo a lot of
scientific research, however, lucid dreaming has quite high frequency among population;
therefore this paper may be a helpful tool in using its potential. As “being awake in your sleep”
was proved to be useful in working on nightmares, self-improvement, and skills practice lucidity
can be helpful in one’s lifetime improvement.
Victoria Lyubykh
SCI 150
1
Have you ever experienced free fall from the tower of couple of a few kilometers high? Maybe
some vélociraptors were chasing you in the middle of nowhere? Unfortunately, you woke up
right after the most exciting moment while being in the dinosaur’s jaws or when just about
landing on the ground. The answer is most probably positive, however, you might not remember
it. In most dreams we are not aware of the fact that we are dreaming, a significant exception
takes place while having lucid dreams (Van Eeden, 1913) in which the dreamer attains a clear
perception that he or she is dreaming while sleeping. In this paper I will try to answer the most
common arising questions on lucid dreams.
When the term was first introduced?
Back in 1913, Frederik Van Eeden was trying to classify the kinds of dreams he was
experiencing for the period of sixteen years of his lifetime. He was the first to coin the term lucid
dreaming. So what makes lucid dreams different from other types? When having a lucid dream a
person can experience a state of perfect awareness, can control his or her attention, and can act
freely (Van Eeden, 1913). Van Eeden didn’t deny that physical activities and functions enter to a
condition of dissociation while sleeping but was presuming that it was not dissociation, but, on
the contrary, reintegration. He believed that reintegration is the key feature of a dream, but it was
a different type of reintegration where the process of redeeming was happening in a psychical,
nonspatial mode of existence. This process can interact with the full recollection of daily life,
reflection and voluntary action on this reflection per se (Van Eeden, 1913). Frederik focuses not
only on attempts to influence the dream flow but also on the sensations and feelings. “Yet the
sleep, as I am able confidently to state, is undisturbed, deep and refreshing” (Van Eeden, 1913).
The first written record of lucid dreaming by Frederik Van Eeden goes back to 1897. Although
many of his findings contradict with those of current researches, his paper remains a classic.
2
Who can have those lucid dreams?
According to Thomas Snyder and Jayne Gackenbach who conducted a survey among
university students claim that a majority have reported experiencing at least one lucid dream
during their life, moreover, approximately 20% said they experienced lucid dreaming with
relative frequency (Snyder, Gackenback, 1988). However, Ursula Voss in her article in Scientific
American claims that about eight out of 10 people have had a lucid dream, when they were aware
of the fact they were dreaming, at least one in a lifetime (Voss, 2011).
In what stages of sleep do lucid dreams occur?
Currently, there are five known stages of sleep. Lucid dreaming happens at REM (rapid
eye movement) stage. Most frequently, lucid dreams start from REM sleep (so called “DreamInitiated Lucid Dream” – DILD), however sometimes they can also be initiated from the
waking state (“Wake-Initiated Lucid Dream” – WILD) (LaBerge, Levitan, & Dement, 1986).
Consequently, following the stages from the first to fourth the brain activity gradually slows
down. When descended into the fourth stage of sleep and stayed there for a short period of time
(about twenty-five minutes), one goes back to stage three and then two, and only here REM
sleep stage occurs. Overall, it takes approximately hour and a half to go through stage one to
four and back again. It takes around five or ten minutes for each stage to pass. When another
half an hour passes another REM stage occurs. As you sleep for four-five hours you don’t go
lower than stage two. Vivid dreaming happens in REM stage, therefore, the more you sleep,
ipso facto the more time you spend at REM stage, the more likely you may have a lucid dream
(Lars Rune Foleide, 1999).
3
What happens in my brain when I am having a lucid dream?
Lucid dreaming is characterized by an elevated amount of CNS (central nervous activity)
activity than normal, non-lucid REM sleep. Usually, the brain activity, some parts of it, is
switched off during REM sleep. The aminergous neurons (neurons that use monoamines as a
neurotransmitter; the two specific aminergic neurotransmitters are serotonin and norepinephrine)
are at smallest amounts in REM sleep. The neurotransmitters which are in charge of activating
aminergic neurons in the brainstem are conserved for the following day. These neurotransmitters
are responsible for the attention and learning tasks. The absence, rest, or inhibition of their
function perfectly fits the pattern one finds in non-lucid dreams of a non-critical consciousness,
which blindly accepts bizarre events, and loss of contextual and referencing faculties. When the
aminergic neurons are inhibited in REM sleep, the muscle tonus (residual muscle tension) is also
inhibited or paralyzed. However, while having lucid dreams the aminergic neurons, the critical
faculty, is turned on, while body muscles are still paralyzed. Only here, for some unknown cause,
the “self-referencing” faculty suddenly becomes awake, do we find ourselves having a lucid
dream (Lorgen, 1998).
How lucid dreams can be applied while being awake? Can I control my dreams?
“During a lucid dream, it's possible to act rather than simply react” (cited in Miller,
2012). However, Melanie Schädlich and Daniel Erlacher conducted a study with the goal of
investigation some applications of lucid dreaming. The survey included 301 participants (luciddreamers) who filled an online questionnaire. The most frequent application was having fun
(81.4%), solving problems (29.9%), getting creative ideas or insights (27.6%) and practicing
skills (21.3%). Women turned out to be using lucid dreams more often than men for problem
4
solving and working on nightmares. The results have shown that lucid dreaming can be
beneficial at life improving in different ways; as many people have time to improve their skills
even while being asleep (Schädlich, Erlacher, 2012).
Until recently, the majority of experts didn’t take lucid dreaming seriously – they
considered it a way of having fun by acting freely using wishful thinking to talk to dead people
and meeting pop stars. Nevertheless, lucid dreaming was tested in being useful tool in lowering
nightmare frequency. Psychologists use IRT or imaginary rehearsal therapy method to help
trauma victims to prevent nightmare occurrence during the sleep. Shortly, the dreamers can turn
the nightmare into something that makes them feel better: instead of being chased by enormous
monster they imagine a cute and fluffy puppy. As a result, VA San Diego Healthcare System
patients who were participating in the course of IRT therapy showed 33% fewer nightmares after
five weeks (Miller, 2012).
Another recent research in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics in October 2006 revealed
that people who can increase the frequency of having lucid dreams show lower level of
nightmares afterwards. Ursula Voss argues that results of this survey are not clear enough but
assumes that possibly being aware of a bad dream is about to occur patients distance themselves
on emotional level from the forthcoming fear. Some people can even prevent these dreams to
take place by becoming versed at lucid dreaming (Voss, 2011). Not only lucidity can be a useful
tool in the research of sleep state but also “offers considerable potential for a variety of practical
applications, which include aiding personal- development, enhancing self-confidence,
overcoming nightmares, improving mental (and perhaps, physical) health, facilitating creative
problem solving, and more” (LaBerge, 1993).
5
Are there any drugs to facilitate lucid dreaming frequency?
Thomas Yuschak has conducted a study to explore the effectiveness of using drugs and
supplements to induce the frequency of lucid dreaming. Yuschak was using cholinergic (related
to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine) substances :a) galantamine; b)choline; and sleep
suppressing substances: a) caffeine; b) desmopressin (a synthetic replacement for vasopressin,
the hormone that reduces urine production) and c) sulbutiamine (a synthetic derivative of
thiamine (vitamin B1)). During eleven days a forty year old male was sleeping for 3.5-4.5 hours
before consuming either a deep sleep suppressing substance (DSS), a cholinergic stimulating
substance (CS) or both. The subject has experienced a lucid dream in five out of five trials when
a combination of DSS and CS was consumed.
More information on each of the substances used follows:
1. Galantamine (G) - is used for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease and
various other memory impairments. The dosage of galantamine used for all tests
supporting this paper was 8mg.
2. Huperzine A (Hup) - is a naturally occurring alkaloid found in the extracts of the firmoss
Huperzia serrata species. The dosage of huperzine used for all tests supporting this paper
was 200mcg.
3. Nicotine (N) – is available in different forms; the main application is smoking cessation
aid. The dosage of nicotine used for all tests supporting the test was 7mg delivered via a
transdermal nicotine patch.
6
4. Bupropion (Bu) – is a prescription drug that is classified as an antidepressant and
smoking cessation aid as well. The dosage used was 75mg.
5. Amino acid blend (AAB) - a mix of three complementary amino acids was used: Laspartic acid, L-glutamine, and L-theanine. The dosages used for all tests incorporating
this Amino Acid blend were 2000mg L-aspartic acid, 4000mg L-glutamine, 300mg Ltheanine.
6. Propranolol (Pr) –is a prescription drug used for treatment of hypertension, migraines,
and stage fright. The dosage of propranolol used for all tests supporting the test was 40mg.
To observe the results of the experiment refer to the Figures 1, 2 and 3:
Figure 1: BS1 refers to sleep without consuming either DSS or CS; the figure represents the
7
failure of CS consummation to produce lucid dreams. © Substances that Facilitate Lucid
Dreaming – A Case Study, Thomas Yuschak.
Figure 2: Each of the DSS nights showed a strong tendency to suppress the deeper sleep stages
compared to the baseline night (BN1) as shown by relative power between the delta bands and
dominate alpha bands. © Substances that Facilitate Lucid Dreaming – A Case Study, Thomas
Yuschak.
8
Figure 3: All five of the LDS nights (three shown above) produced Wake Initiated Lucid Dreams
(WILDs). It is hypothesized that the success of this approach is due to the combination of a
cholinergic stimulating substance with a deep sleep suppressing substance which allowed the
subject to move from the waking state directly into a very light sleep with increased
acetylcholine levels. © Substances that Facilitate Lucid Dreaming – A Case Study, Thomas
Yuschak.
As a result, most individual substances turned to be practical in initiating lucid dreams.
Yuschak concluded from these results that the ideal approach is to use REM promoting
substance together with a deep sleep suppressing substance (Yuschak, Thomas).
9
How can I learn more about lucidity?
Since Van Eeden firstly introduced the term lucidity, many research institutes and individuals
were particularly examining and exploring the mysteries of being “awake in your sleep”. In order
to start your personal education on lucidity, its applications and usefulness, you can go through
the book called “A course in lucid dreaming” By Stephen LaBerge and Lynne Levitan (Lucidity
Institute, 1995). This book will be in your particular interest if you want to start practicing lucid
dreaming at home. Another LaBerge’s book such as: “Exploring the world of lucid dreaming”
(Ballantine, 1990) or “Lucid Dreaming” (Ballantine, 1985) can be helpful in self-education on
lucid dreaming. Moreover, if you happen to be a lucid dream master, there is a chance for you to
take part in a research\study conducted by Lucidity Institute (www.lucidity.com).
Lucid dreaming is a mystical feature of a human’s brain. Following the research done, there is no
way to trace the very first occurrence of lucid dreaming; however, the fact itself that is quite
frequent supposes that lucidity is predestinated to be present nowadays. We still have much to
learn on lucid dreaming. The area of research is quite wide: multiple researches have to be
conducted in order to find out how to induce lucidity more safely or what techniques should be
used in order to control dreaming and staying conscious. Lucidity has a big potential to become a
panacea: as it has multiple advantages not only in preventing nightmares, self-development and
stress release but also can help people with incurable diseases or inabilities to become healthy in
their dreams. Moreover, lucidity is a skill one can attain by learning and practice; therefore, I
suppose there is no limit for lucidity’s helpfulness in medicine, entertainment and research.
10
Works Cited
Eeden, Frederik V. "A Study of Dreams." Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research.
Accessed April 3, 2013. www.lucidity.com.
LaBerge, Stephen and others. “Lucid dreaming: Physiological correlates of consciousness during
REM sleep.” Perceptual and Motor Skills, (1981). Accessed April 2, 2013.
www.amsciepub.com.
LaBerge, Stephen. “Lucidity Research, Past and Future.” Lucidity Institute: Nightlight. 5 (1993).
Accessed March 28, 2013. www.psywww.com.
LaBerge, Stephen et al. “Lucid Dreaming: Psychological correlates of consciousness during
REM sleep”. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 7 (1986): 251-258, 1986. Accessed April 1, 2013.
www.philpapers.org.
Lorgen, Eve F. “Lucid Dreaming.” A psychophysiological Approach to an Ancient Spiritual
Practice, (1998). Accessed March 29, 2013. www.bibliotecapleyades.net.
Miller, Kaitlin. “Is it possible to control our dreams?” Popular Science, 1 (2012): 76. Accessed
April 7 2013. web.ebscohost.com.
Schädlich, Melanie and Daniel Erlacher. “Applications of lucid dreams: an online study.”
International Journal of Dream Research, No 2. October 2012. www.archiv.ub.uniheidelberg.de.
Snyder, Thomas J. and Jayne Gackenbach. “Individual Differences associated with Lucid
Dreaming.” Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain. 1988. Accessed April 6, 2013.
www.link.springer.com.
The Lucidity Institute. “Lar’s Lucid Dreaming FAQ.” February 1999. www.faqs.org.
11
Voss, Ursulla. "Unlocking the Lucid Dream." Scientific American Mind, 22.5 (2011): 33-35.
Web. 7 Apr. 2013. Academic Search Complete (69655073).
Yuschak, Thomas. “Substances that facilitate lucid dreaming – cade study.” Accessed April 7,
2013. www.dreamslucid.files.wordpress.com.
12