Tickle me, I think I might be dreaming! Sensory attenuation, self-other distinction, and predictive processing in lucid dreams.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience January 1, 2014 Jennifer Windt, Dominic L Harkness, Bigna Lenggenhager
In ordinary waking life, people cannot tickle themselves because the brain attenuates sensations produced by one's own actions. However, people woken from REM sleep dreams can tickle themselves, and a new web-based study explored whether this also occurs during lucid dreaming. Participants rated sensations during self-tickling and being tickled while awake, imagining, and lucid dreaming. Preliminary results suggest that during lucid control dreams, the usual difference between self-tickling and being tickled by another disappears; both feel similar to self-tickling while awake. The authors speculate that sensory attenuation for self-produced tickles may extend to tickles from dream characters. The study's main contribution is theoretical, using predictive processing to discuss sensory attenuation, self-other distinction, and agency.