Lucid Dreaming
Loren Baxter
Will Barley
Paul Albicker
Sydney Thomas
Brief Overview
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Introduction to Lucid Dreaming (Loren)
Physiological Correlates (Will)
Clinical Applications of LD (Paul)
Cognitive Implications (Sydney)
Q&A
What is a Lucid Dream?
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A state where the subject is conscious that
they are dreaming.
The dreamer can have different levels of
consciousness:
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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
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LD was too difficult to study because
lucid dreams are normally rare
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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
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Proved in 1980 self-study that Lucid
Dreaming is a Learnable skill
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Motivation and practice
Developed MILD method (Mnemonic
Induced Lucid Dream)
Extended study to a group of 5 subjects
in 1981
How to
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MILD (Mnemonic Induced Lucid Dream)
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WILD (Wake Induced Lucid Dream)
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Become conscious during REM
Fall asleep but maintain consciousness
Aides
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Reality Checks
Retail Products
MILD
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Consciousness occurs during REM sleep
Steps:
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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
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Occurs during hypnogogic state
Steps:
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1) Relaxation
2) Fall asleep, maintain consciousness
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Count: “1, I’m dreaming, 2, I’m dreaming…”
Pay attention to and count breaths
Imagine self descending stairs, count steps
Aides
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Reality Checks
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Habitually check whether you are dreaming
Commercial Products
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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
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How do the researchers know when you
are in a lucid dream?
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Trained to clench hands/ move eyes while
in a lucid dream
Accurate measure in 90% of reported lucid
dreams studied.
A Distinct Altered State?
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How is an LD different from
daydreaming?
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“Lucid dreamers are conscious of the
absence of the sensory input from the
external world…” -Laberge
Physiological Correlates
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Typically occur in phasic (active) REM
sleep.
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Usually occur in the later sleep cycles
Characterized by greater arousal than NLD
sleep
Physiological Correlates
Conscious Control?
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Many interesting willful actions may be
preformed while in a LD
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Control of respiration
Clenching of fists results in detectable
movement of arm muscles
Sense of time remains intact
Therapeutic Values
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LD can help treat recurring nightmares
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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
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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
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Subjects interact with dream in a
creative fashion
LD lead to important insight
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Family, loved ones
Overcome or better adapt to its handicaps
Traditional Theories-Freud
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Dreaming and waking cognition are
discontinuous
Dreaming Cognition
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Bizarre, “magical-thinking”
Waking Cognition
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High degree of rationality, order and clarity
Discontinuity Theories
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Reflective awareness
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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
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Abstract self-reference and a self-critical perspective are
lost during dreaming.
Kahan & LaBerge (1994)
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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)
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Conducted study to assess the cognitive,
metacognitive and emotional qualities of
recent waking and dreaming experiences.
Study (1997)-Kahan, LaBerge,
Levitan and Zimbardo
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Group 1=38 practiced dreamers
Group 2=50 “novice dreamers”
Methods
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Record experiences from prior dreaming or
waking episode
Fill out parallel questionnaires for a
dreaming and a waking experience
Methods
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Dreaming state
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Report most clearly recalled dream
Answer questions assessing…
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Choice, internal commentary, sudden/sustained
attention, public self-consciousness
related/unrelated to target event, private selfconsciousness (self-reflection), emotion and
unusual experience
Waking state
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Report experiences from a prior 15-min period
Answer same questionnaire
Results-Comparisons
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Waking episodes
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Dreaming episodes
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Higher frequency of choice and self-reflection
Public self consciousness, emotion
No Diff=internal commentary
No systematic differences between
practiced and novice dreamers were
observed.
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W/exception of questions of attention
Concerns
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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
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Narrative reports
Individuals’ recollections made in waking state
However…
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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
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Episodic recollections of waking/dreaming
experiences more similar than different
Differences are more quantitative than
qualitative
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Did not reveal global deficiencies between
experiences
All measured dimensions present in both
experiences
Conclusion
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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
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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?
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What does this suggest about sleep/dreaming
and consciousness?
References
Blagrove, 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