Lucid Dreams
Group 10 : Chi-Hang Lau, Anita Leung, Clarisse
Miguel, Elisa Tsan, Alistair Wong
COGS 175
Dr. Pineda
March 3, 2008
Presentation Outline
 Introduction : What are Lucid Dreams?
 Characteristics
(Anita)
 Experimental Evidence and Techniques
 Induction of Lucid Dreams
 Applications
(Clarisse)
(Alistair)
(Alistair, Chi-Hang)
 Conclusion/Discussion
(Together)
(Elisa, Clarisse)
What is a Lucid Dream?
 The “Conscious” Dream
 Knowing you are dreaming, when you are
dreaming.
 An Alternate State of Consciousness?
 Becoming conscious during sleep
A Brief History
 Aristotle’s On Dreams
 St. Augustine, A.D. 415
 Tibetan Buddhists
(8th Century)
 ‘Dream’ Yoga - reaching the ‘light’
 The Marquis d’Hervey de Saint-Denys
 wrote Dreams and the Means to Direct Them (1867)
 Frederik Willems van Eeden
 coined ‘lucid dream’ (1913)
Characteristics of Lucid
Dreams

Full awareness of dream state
(consciously and perceptually)

Ability to make free decisions
in the dream

Memory functions as if in
waking life


i.e. Full memory of all lucid dream
experiences in waking state as well as
during lucid dream state
Awareness of the meaning of
symbols
Important Brain Areas
Involved in Lucid Dreaming
 Dorsal lateral prefrontal
cortex
 Dietrich
 While non-lucid dreaming, PET
studies show a large deactivation
of areas in DL
 Contrary, in lucid dreaming,
there is DL activation (Hobson 2001)
 Inferior parietal lobe
 LaBerge
 Showed increases in inferior
parietal lobe activity in lucid
dreaming, an area known to
involve consciousness
Stages of Sleep
 NREM (non-rapid eye movement)




Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
1: theta waves
2: sleep spindles and k complexes
3: delta waves (<50% total wave patterns)
4: delta waves (>50% total wave patterns)
 REM (rapid eye movement)
 Tonic: persistent sleep events (striated and
desynchronized muscle inhibition)
 Phasic: intermittent sleep events (rapid eye movements,
muscle twitches)
Polysomnographic recordings
 EEG : electrical activity from brain via electrodes on
scalp
 EOG (electrooculogram) : resting potential of retina
 EMG (electromyogram) : muscular activity
 FP (finger plethysmograph): blood flow
Spectral Analysis
 delta (1-4 Hz)
 theta (5-7 Hz)
 alpha (8-12 Hz)
 beta-1 (13-19 Hz)
 beta-2 (20-29 Hz)
Physiological Differences (Holzinger
et al. 2006)
 epochs of lucid dreaming associated with
more beta-1 activity than non-lucid
dreaming
 Beta-1 activity ratios
 Frontal : parietal
 Non-lucid = 1.00 : 1.16
 Lucid
= 1.00 : 1.77
 Hemispheric differences
 highest increase in left parietal lobe (an area associated
with semantic capacity)
Experimental Inducement
 Experimental Training
 M.I.L.D. Technique (LaBerge, 1981)
 “Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams”
 Increases occurrence of lucid dreams
 Mental and verbal rehearsals upon waking and
before sleeping
 Incorporate into Long-Term Memory
“I will have a lucid dream tonight”
Recognizing a Lucid Dream
 How do we know ?
Recognizing a Lucid Dream
 How do we know ?
 REM Sleep
 Phasic activity (LaBerge et al. 1986)
Recognizing a Lucid Dream
 How do we know ?
 REM Sleep
 Phasic activity (LaBerge et al. 1986)
 Physiological Signals
Recognizing a Lucid Dream
 How do we know ?
 REM Sleep
 Phasic activity (LaBerge et al. 1986)
 Physiological Signals
 Eye Movement (LeftRight L R)
 lucid dream occurring
Recognizing a Lucid Dream
 How do we know ?
 REM Sleep
 Phasic activity (LaBerge et al. 1986)
 Physiological Signals
 Eye Movement (LeftRight L R)
 lucid dream occurring
 Hand Clenching (Left and Right)
(Erlacher et al. 2003)
Recognizing a Lucid Dream
 How do we know ?
 REM Sleep
 Phasic activity (LaBerge et al. 1986)
 Physiological Signals
 Eye Movement (LeftRight L R)
 lucid dream occurring
 Hand Clenching (Left and Right)
(Erlacher et al. 2003)
 More accurate experimental methods
 Match physiological signal to dream occurrence
Induction Techniques
Induction Techniques
 Dream Journal
 Write down your dreams
Induction Techniques
 Dream Journal
 Write down your dreams
 Reality Checks
 Consciously ask if you are in a dream
Induction Techniques
 Dream Journal
 Write down your dreams
 Reality Checks
 Consciously ask if you are in a dream
 Meditation
 Focus and intend on lucid dreaming
Applications of Lucid
Dreaming
 Explore subconscious mind
 Overcome mental obstacles
 Alleviating fears
Lucid Dream Treatment Pilot
Study
 Conducted by Spoormaker and van den
Bout in 2006
 Hypothesis: Can exercises in Lucid
dreaming be used to overcome
sufferers of chronic nightmares?
Lucid Dream Treatment Pilot
Study: Subjects
 23 volunteers
 Excluded people suffering from hypnagogic
hallucinations and/or night terrors
 Excluded subjects currently on medication
 All reported to suffer from Chronic
Nightmares for over a year
 Nightmare defined as a frightening dream to
directly caused a return to full consciousness
(awakening).
Lucid Dreaming Treatment
Pilot Study: Method
 Subjects were given the Sleep-50 to evaluate
sleep
 Subjects divided into three groups, each
given a different degree of LDT.
<Group1>: Each subject given a one on one LDT
seminar
<Group2>: Subjects given group LDT seminar
<Group3>: No LDT seminar was given
Lucid Dream Treatment Pilot
Study: Method (cont.)
 Subjects were reevaluated 12 weeks
later with the Sleep-50
Lucid Dreaming Treatment
Pilot Study: LDT seminar
 2 hour seminar
 Subjects educated about Lucid Dreaming and
triggering methods
 Given imaging exercises the nightmare, while
reaffirming them as a dream.
 Instructed Subjects to try to induce nightmares
before sleep to occur during sleep.
Lucid Dreaming Treatment
Pilot Study: Results
Lucid Dreaming Treatment
Pilot Study: Results (cont.)
Lucid Dreaming Treatment
Pilot Study: Discussion
 Study had many limitations:
- small sample size
- limited time frame
- LDT seminar limited
- Sleep-50 fail to report more detailed
information on subjects.
- Only 6 subjects successfully reported
full Lucid Dreaming
Lucid Dreaming Treatment
Pilot Study: Discussion (cont.)
 Study Headway
- Statistically significant results.
- LDT did target nightmare
specifically, not quality of sleep
- As a pilot study, leaves much room
for further study.
Discussion !
 Questions ?
References
1.
Dietrich, Arne. Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: The transient
hypofrontality hypothesis. Consciousness and Cognition 12, 2003. pp. 231–256.
2.
Erlacher, Daniel D., Michael Shredl, Stephen LaBerge. Motor area activation during
dreamed hand clenching: A pilot study on EEG alpha band. Sleep and Hypnosis.
Volume 5(4). 2003. pp. 182-187.
3.
Fisher, Leslie E., Benjamin Wallace. Consciousness and Behavior. Waveland Press, IL,
2003.
4.
Gackenbach, Jayne, Stephen LaBerge. Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain: Perspectives on
Lucid Dreaming. Plenum Press, New York, 1988.
5.
Holzinger, Brigitte, LaBerge, Stephen, Levitan, Lynne. Psychophysiological Correlates of
Lucid Dreaming. Dreaming. Vol 16(2), Jun 2006, pp. 88-95.
6.
LaBerge, Stephen S., Lucid dreaming: Physiological correlates of consciousness during
REM sleep. The Journal of mind and behavior. Vol. 7(2-3), 1986. pp. 251-258.
References (Cont.)
7.
LaBerge Stephen S. Lucid dreaming verified by volitional communication during REM
sleep. Vol 52(3), 1981. pp. 727-732.
8.
Spoormaker, Victor I., Jan van den Bout, and Eli J. G. Meijer. Lucid Dreaming Treatment
for Nightmares: A Series of Cases. Dreaming, Vol. 13, No. 3, September 2003. pp.
181-186.
9.
Wantanabe, Tsuneo. Lucid Dreaming: It’s Experimental Proof and Psychological
Conditions. J. Intl. Soc. LifeInfo. Sci. Vol. 21, No.1, March 2003. pp. 159-165.
10.
Spoormaker, Victor I., Jan van den Bout. Lucid Dreaming Treatment for Nightmares: A
Pilot Study. Psychother Psychosom 75, 2006. pp. 389–394.
11.
The Lucidity Institute. http://www.lucidty.com. (accessed February 2008).
12.
Dr. Susan Blackmore. “Lucid Dreaming: Awake in Your Sleep?”
http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Articles/si91ld.html (accessed February 2008).