Journal of Sleep Research
June 1, 2025
Jennifer M Mundt, Kristi E. Pruiksma, Karen R Konkoly et al.
7 citations
A small trial tested cognitive behavioral therapy for nightmares (CBT-N), adapted for people with narcolepsy, with or without targeted lucidity reactivation (TLR) to enhance lucid dreaming. Six adults who had frequent nightmares (at least 3 per week) received seven treatment sessions. Nightmare frequency dropped from an average of 8.38 per week to 2.25 per week, a large improvement. Nightmare severity and symptoms such as sleep paralysis, hallucinations, and dream enactment also improved. The three participants who received TLR all recalled dreams related to their rescripted nightmare. Participants reported reduced shame and anxiety about sleep and nightmares. The findings offer preliminary evidence that CBT-N and TLR may help manage narcolepsy-related nightmares.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
September 30, 2025
Karen R Konkoly, Saba Al-Youssef, Christopher Y Mazurek et al.
3 citations
Alpha oscillations, a hallmark of waking visual perception when eyes close, do not reliably increase during lucid dreams when dreamers signal that their dream-eyes are closed. In 150 signals from 11 lucid dreamers, dream-eye closure was associated with fading visual content only about half the time. In three participants where visual content presence versus absence could be compared, increased alpha power accompanied momentary lack of visual content. Real-time reporting via sniffing patterns enables dynamic investigation of dream perception.
Neuroscience of Consciousness
January 1, 2025
Daniel J Morris, D Blaise Elliott, S Gabriela Torres-Platas et al.
3 citations
Combining virtual reality (VR) with lucid dreaming—awareness during a dream—can produce immersive experiences that may deepen effects from VR alone. In a small pilot study, four frequent lucid dreamers experienced a VR simulation called Ripple, which prior research found reduces self-other boundaries and enhances feelings of interconnectedness. After two VR sessions, sounds from Ripple were played during REM sleep. Three participants had lucid dreams about Ripple, and all four reported dream elements from the VR experience. Real-time physiological signals confirmed lucidity and dreaming about the VR content. The findings suggest that lucid dreaming can recapitulate and potentially amplify the psychological impact of prior VR experiences.
Brain Sciences
March 16, 2026
Daniel J Morris, Susana Gabriela Torres-Platas, Karen R Konkoly et al.
1 citation
Lucid dreaming—dreaming while aware that one is dreaming—can be intentionally shaped by combining Tibetan-Buddhist visualization practices with modern dream-engineering techniques. In an exploratory sleep-laboratory study, five participants spent seven overnight sessions with polysomnographic monitoring and auditory reminders to visualize Chenrezig, a Buddhist embodiment of compassion, during REM sleep. Two participants reported lucid dreams: a frequent lucid dreamer without prior Tibetan-Buddhist training experienced a lucid dream that included a visualization of Chenrezig after auditory cueing, and a monastic participant with no prior lucid dreaming history reported their first-ever lucid dream the night after their session. The findings suggest that dream content can be deliberately influenced through this integrated approach.
June 20, 2025
Daniel J Morris, Blaise Elliott, Susana G. Torres‐platas et al.
preprint
Combining virtual reality (VR) with lucid dreaming—where a person knows they are dreaming—can create more profound experiences than VR alone. In this study, four frequent lucid dreamers experienced a VR simulation called Ripple, which previously reduced self-other boundaries and enhanced feelings of interconnectedness. Afterward, during REM sleep, sounds from Ripple were played quietly. Three participants had lucid dreams about Ripple, and all four reported dreams containing elements of the VR experience. Lucid dreams were validated in real time via physiological signals. The findings confirm that people can have lucid dreams that recapitulate prior VR experiences, suggesting a synergistic benefit for immersive exploration.
Neuroscience of Consciousness
January 1, 2026
Karen R Konkoly, Daniel J Morris, Kaitlyn Hurka et al.
REM-sleep dreaming can be experimentally guided toward specific unsolved problems and improve next-day creative problem-solving. Lucid dreamers who heard soundtracks of unsolved puzzles during REM sleep reported more dreams about those puzzles. In a post-hoc analysis, participants whose dreams were successfully biased by the sound cues solved more of the associated puzzles after waking. The study provides experimental evidence that REM dreams themselves, not just sleep-related memory reactivation, contribute to creative insight, addressing a long-standing gap in dream research that had relied on anecdotal or confounded evidence.
Neuropsychologia
October 10, 2025
Karen R Konkoly, Daniel J Morris, Matthew Cho et al.
Dreams may help reorganize memories overnight, improving what we learn each day, but solid evidence linking dreaming to adaptive memory reorganization has been lacking. Using Targeted Memory Reactivation (TMR), where sensory stimulation during sleep influences previously acquired memories, researchers cued specific tasks during REM sleep. Participants performed two tasks associated with distinct sounds before sleep; one sound was played during REM. Dream reports showed more incorporation of elements from the cued task than the uncued task, though both were frequently incorporated. Dreaming of a task was linked with decreased negative valence and increased creativity. This approach offers a promising way to investigate dreaming's influence on memory and cognition.