People who are asleep and having a lucid dream—aware that they are dreaming—can perceive questions from an experimenter and answer them in real time using eye movements and facial muscle contractions. In a study of 36 individuals during REM sleep, including frequent lucid dreamers, a novice, and a patient with narcolepsy, participants performed perceptual analysis of new information, held information in working memory, computed simple answers, and gave volitional replies. Correct answers occurred on 29 occasions across 6 individuals, documented by four independent laboratories. This two-way communication channel allows real-time interrogation of dream cognition and characteristics.
A web-based self-help application called DreamMend, which uses an AI-powered chatbot to deliver imagery rehearsal therapy, reduced nightmare frequency and distress more than a waitlist control over 8 weeks. Nightmare frequency decreased in the intervention group while remaining constant in the control group, and distress decreased significantly more in the intervention group. The findings suggest that digital, AI-supported imagery rehearsal therapy is a feasible and effective self-help intervention for nightmares, though larger and more diverse trials are needed.